News

Tui targeting 50% app sales as it puts Ryanair packages on sale

Tui has set itself a target to achieve 50% of its sales via its app, and has pledged to develop technology that already accounts for double-digit figures in the UK

Package sales through agents still core to our business, insists Tui chief

’2024 has been a very good year for us,’ said Tui chief executive Sebastian Ebel after the group’s earnings soared by a third to €1.3 billion off the back of record cruise performance

Travel's plea to make youth mobility 'a priority' lands with nearly 30 MPs

Some 28 MPs attended a drop-in event at parliament hosted by Abta and UKinbound, part of their ongoing advocacy campaign to highlight the importance of improving youth mobility between the UK and Europe in the absence of posted working post-Brexit

Greenland among eye-catching additions to Intrepid's 2025 programme

The Maldives and the West African nations of Benin, Togo, Senegal, The Gambia and Ghana also feature in the adventure specialist’s new programme, which spans more than 120 countries and 200-plus new experiences

Holiday Extras founders pass on ownership after 42 years

The remaining stake in Holidays Extras has been sold by founders Gerry and Carol Pack, in a deal that sees them exit after 42 years, with son Matthew heading up the brand and its management team

British Airways launches direct flights to Finland's most northerly airport

TTG joined a group of agents onboard BA’s inaugural flight to Ivalo in Lapland last week

The rise of rail and 'coolcations', and why agents will have to 'work for it' in 2025

Reflections on a strong but challenging 2024, a disappointing Budget and demand for cooler climes were some of the debates waged in the final Agenda 2024 seminar hosted by TTG and PwC

EU to take progressive approach to rollout of new border rules

The EU will now take a phased approach to rolling out its new biometric border checks next year after France, Germany and the Netherlands last month said they weren’t ready to

Virgin Voyages hands SJ Walker bigger remit in sales team shake-up

UK sales director SJ Walker’s remit has been broadened so she is responsible for all of the adults-only line’s UK trade distribution while global training manager Luke Day has been promoted to global trade engagement senior manager

Scottish agents set to miss out on business rates relief again

The Scottish parliament has again denied high street agents help with business rates despite extending relief to the hospitality sector

Cunard's Queen Elizabeth to undergo 'significant' refit next year

The 2,000-passenger ship, which launched in 2010, will enter dry dock from 25 February to 13 March 2025 at Seatrium’s Admiralty Yard in Singapore

Lisbon to hold referendum on the future of short-term rentals

The city’s government will put the issue to residents, with questions likely to revolve around whether properties intended for housing should be permitted to be used as short-term rentals

Classic Collection to ramp up trade activity next year after 'transformative' 2024

More fam trips and educationals, new training resources and marketing assets and additional trade call centre support all in the pipeline, says B2B director Si Morris-Green

Inspire My Holiday aiming to connect agents with one million potential customers

The holiday inspiration platform plans to launch its ’Find An Agent’ service on Boxing Day which will give individual agents ’free exposure’. So far, ’hundreds’ of agents have signed up

On the Beach hails Classic Collection's return to profitability after restructure

Classic Collection has a ’significant opportunity to become the go-to B2B provider of Ryanair packages’, according to On the Beach Group chief executive Shaun Morton

EasyJet to trim domestic flight network in response to APD hike

Chief financial officer Kenton Jarvis branded Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to increase the domestic and short-haul rates of Air Passenger Duty by £1 and £2 per passenger respectively not ’a smart move’

Jet2 to explore mid-haul routes and meet with Doncaster Sheffield

Taking questions from agents at the Jet2holidays conference in Paphos last week, chief executive Steve Heapy opened up on some of the airline and operator’s short-to-medium term planning

Hurtigruten and HX finalise separation following buyouts

The lines have been acquired by investment consortia, both led by asset management firm Arini Capital Management. The buyouts are expected to be completed in January 2025.

AI search, space travel and Christmas in Cyprus: nine unmissable Jet2 conference takeaways

Jet2holidays returned to Cyprus for its 10th VIP agent conference this week, bringing with them a grumpy time machine to take delegates on a journey through all things Jet2 past, present and future

Heidi Alexander named new transport secretary after Louise Haigh resigns

Heidi Alexander – the MP for Swindon South – had been serving as a justice minister until her promotion to transport secretary. It came hours after the previous incumbent Louise Haigh resigned from her cabinet position

Black Friday driving 'mini peaks' as value becomes top consumer priority

’At the beginning of November, Black Friday queries were already up by 7.3% on last year – Black Friday is definitely a shift we didn’t have previously,’ Google industry manager Ailish English tells Jet2holidays conference

Black Friday: UK holiday fraud hotspot named after £12m hit last year

Police have warned consumers to be vigilant about holiday buying scams on Black Friday after fraud totalling more than £12 million was reported in 2023

Virgin Voyages, Carnival Corp, Balkan Holidays: this week's travel trade people moves

People moves this week include a leadership shake-up at Carnival Corp and industry veteran Chris Cundall becoming JTA Travel Group’s new head of UK sales

Jet2 chief pins anti-tourist sentiment on 'unlicensed tourism'

Steve Heapy said demonstrations this summer in places like Majorca, the Canaries and Barcelona were a reaction to ’incompetent and impotent" politicians failing to regulate short-term rentals, not traditional package tourism