Operators

Conversations around DEI are changing – so have travel ads kept up?

Travel’s peaks push shows the industry is taking some steps in the right direction, but firms’ 2023/24 campaigns also point towards more progress needing to be made, writes inclusive communications director Shilpa Saul for TTG

Carrier reports record-breaking year via agents and launches overseas retreat

Sales through agents have reached new highs as the operator plans its first mini-conference

Jet2 chief Steve Heapy to address SPAA dinner next month

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays boss Heapy will be joined at the event by chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Dr Liz Cameron CBE

Holidays profit to ease £40m hit for easyJet from Middle East crisis

Airline forecasts £126 million headline loss for typically quieter winter quarter to 31 December, which was hit by an ongoing pause in flights to Israel and Jordan and ‘a temporary slowdown in flight bookings for the wider industry’

Fred Holidays hires Riviera Travel's Paul Mellon as new BDM

Paul Mellon joins Fred Holidays as business development manager having previously held roles at Riviera Travel, Wendy Wu Tours, The Holiday Team, Funway Holidays and Western & Oriental.

First agent beneficiaries of Jet2's £650,000 apprentice levy revealed

Airline and operator will split £500,000 in apprenticeship levy funds to 50 companies across the country

Storm Jocelyn prompts fresh weather warnings from Jet2 and Ryanair

Airline and operator urges passengers to leave extra time to get to their departure airports with more high winds and heavy rain forecast

Riviera Travel to host 100 agents on fam trips this year

Escorted touring and river cruise specialist will host 60% more agents on fams than it did last year

Experienced Kate Samuel and Sue Livsey join Inside Travel Group

Kate Samuel appointed senior Japan tailor-made product manager, while Sue Livsey takes up newly-created head of InsideAsia role with B Corp company

Jet2 adds Verona to Manchester 2024/25 ski flight programme

Airline and operator to launch weekly Saturday service in December

Limitless Travel recruits former Riviera head of sales operations

Lisa Dodds to head up day-to-day sales operations at Limitless and recruitment

New trade-friendly Italy specialist launches to UK market

Magari Tours is offering “off-the-beaten track” sustainability-focused trips

Gold Medal smashes single-day call record as peaks hots up

It comes after the operator broke its record for web bookings twice over the past two weeks

‘We don't send our guests to war zones – but we can give partners there hope’

‘Regent has over the years pioneered travel to lesser-trodden paths around the world – and despite the complex situation in places like Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, we will never abandon our partners on the ground’

Jet2: winter weather ‘may affect UK operations this week’

Airline and operator says it is working closely with the Met Office, which has issued a slew of yellow weather warnings covering the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland with temperatures poised to plummet further

Intrepid pledges more than £500,000 to charity causes this year

Over the past year, the non-profit Intrepid Foundation has raised £1.4 million for charities around the world

Accessible holiday specialist names new CEO as founder steps back

Ben Kirby to head up Birmingham-based Enable Holidays

Qantas to reopen Top End link with new Singapore-Darwin route

Qantas to revive its route from Darwin to Singapore after an absence of almost two decades

Riviera Travel reveals second key account manager hire in a week

Chris McCloskey follows Lloyd Morris to Riviera, and will link up with the river cruise and escorted touring specialist as its new key account manager for Scotland and Ireland next week

Kerry Golds named non-executive chair of PetsPyjamas

Former A&K chief Kerry Golds has been appointed non-executive chair of pet-friendly travel company PetsPyjamas

Tui to host nearly 200 agents across 14 fam trips this year

The programme will feature 14 trips over the course of the year, including a stay onboard a Marella Cruise and a skiing trip

Travel Counsellors, Advantage and Barrhead hail record sales

Travel Counsellors and Advantage Travel Partnership spell out record peaks sales mid-way through January

CAA and DfT confirms delay to Atol reform due to ‘complex’ work

The CAA had planned to launch the initial phase of a revised Atol regime in April 2024

New tour operator promises to ‘put sustainability first and the destination second’

Sustainable Journeys is the new UK tour operator launched by Melissa Tilling, chief executive of Charitable Travel with Estonia as its launch destination.