People moves

Explore boss Michael Edwards to head up Hotelplan stablemate Inntravel

Former Intrepid Travel chief growth officer to take on additional managing director brief for walking specialist Inntravel, while Susan Avison has been promoted to general manager

Ex-dnata chief Ailsa Pollard to succeed Blue Bay's Alistair Rowland as Abta chair

Pollard to take over from Blue Bay Travel boss Rowland after he served the maximum term as chair of six years

Princess Cruises hires Cunard's Sophia Lief to fill vacant sales manager role

Lief has been with Carnival UK since 2023, where she began as commercial planning manager for P&O Cruises

'I want to mentor others': agent leaves top luxury brand to launch own business

Leanne Rees has left Swords Travel after two and a half years to pursue her dream of running her own company

Premier Holidays launches search for new head of trade sales as Debbie Goffin prepares to retire

Goffin's sales and marketing brief to be split between recently promoted head of marketing Sara Park and an as-yet-unnamed new head of trade sales

Celebrity BDM Janna Thomson leaves line after 20 years to join Attraction World

Thomson to take up new partnership success manager role within the attraction ticket specialist's retail team

Not in the Guidebooks names new BDM to drive expanded trade programme

Edwards to drive 'major' new trade programme from NITGBs, which includes more fams, new trade marketing tools and assets, and additional virtual and in-person training

If Only names ex-Cook agent as new trade lead for Scotland and Ireland

Sangster joins the luxury tour operator in a newly created role from Hays Travel where he managed the agency's Dunfermline branch

Virgin Atlantic names new-look leadership team following Shai Weiss departure

New chief exec Corneel Koster, who has been succeeded as chief customer officer by Juha Jaervinen, took over from Weiss on 1 January 2026

Specialist agency hires Neal Hussey to help build client base

The luxury expedition sector is a major target for Cruise2's new head of commercial and business development Neal Hussey who took up his new role on 5 January

Former Vertical Systems boss Chris North takes up new business development role

North took time out from the industry in October 2023 following a more than 25-year stint with Vertical but has returned to help a supplier drive its expansion in the UK and Ireland

Specialist line bolsters UK trade team ahead of landmark year

Matt Irwin joins the five-ship line as trade partnerships manager while Henry McCoy-Filby takes up the role of inside sales executive

Operator creates new global partnerships team to 'deepen' service to agents

The team will continue to build key relationships with travel agents and oversee the launch of a new trade website

Dertour outlines Francis Torrilla succession plan with new joint chief executive structure

The company confirmed it anticipates the joint chief executive structure will be in place for a year, with a view to Francis Torrilla retiring towards the end of 2026

Faye Anderson promoted to national sales manager role at Cyplon Holidays

Anderson will continue to look after agents in the south, but will also lead on national sales strategy

Barrhead Travel names Catherine Finlan as first-ever sales director

Barrhead Travel has created two new director positions, including its first-ever sales director role, growing its senior leadership team to 11.

Catherine Finlan, head of sales for England and Northern Ireland, steps up to the sales director post after celebrating 30 years in the industry.

Finlan's career started on the shopfloor at West Midlands Co-operative Travel; she rose up through the ranks becoming a Thomas Cook regional sales manager in 2016 before joining Barrhead in 2019.

Lusso appoints Rachel Healey to newly-created head of business development role

Agent-only tour operator Lusso has hired Healey as part of a long-term strategy to improve its trade relationships

Advantage strategy director Lee Ainsworth to take on additional membership brief

TTG 30 Under 30 alumnus Ainsworth has been with Advantage for 10 years, rising up through the organisation taking on roles across tour operating, operations and latterly strategy

Royal increases support for agents with expanded UK&I sales team

New trade resource added ahead of Legend of the Seas' European bow next summer in sales team shake-up

Celestyal's Danielle Radford joins Hurtigruten as new UK account manager

Radford will work with the line's UK sales team to grow key accounts, bolster trade engagement and develop new partnerships with agents and operators

John Docherty and Demi Johnson join Wendy Wu Tours as BDMs

Docherty arrives from easyJet holidays and will look after agents in Scotland, while Johnson joins from Trailfinders and will manage agent relationships in the north

Yasmin Mckechnie to succeed Hayley Moore as Princess Cruises' sales director

Mckechnie, who joined Princess in April 2024, promoted to sales director UK and Europe, effective from 1 December

Explora Journeys names new executive director for the UK and Ireland

Tate Husband has been appointed by the luxury ocean travel brand to help accelerate growth in the region

HX promotes Nathaniel Sherborne as top team shake-up continues

Sherborne moves into senior sales and commercial post overseeing broader range of markets