Touring and Adventure

Barrhead's Gary Speirs joins APT as BDM north, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Speirs takes over from Koral Lipton, who left APT for Explora Journeys this week

Adventure sector set for ‘powerful’ year despite shrinking booking window

Speaking at this year’s Adventure Travel Networking Conference, Spike Insight revealed a positive year ahead but concerns remain about shortened booking windows in a buyer’s market

Agents driving uptick in demand for youth-focused travel – Intrepid

Adventure specialist broadens 18 to 29 range to those in their mid-30s following an increase in enquiries from travellers in their early-30s interested in the operator’s young adult trips

Operational issues and recruitment challenges easing – Aito

Association reveals more findings from its latest business confidence tracker survey

ITC appoints Cheryl Elliott-Edwards to newly-created trade team role

Elliott-Edwards joins group from Emirates, bringing more than 25 years’ industry experience to the role

Make the most of safari bounceback, new business founder tells agents

Nelson Travel was born out of the pandemic, with this Africa expert finally finding the drive to set up on his own

Why it pays to venture beyond Tallinn and explore more of Estonia

Tartu’s tenure as European Capital of Culture in 2024 provides fresh impetus to explore more of this Baltic destination that’s ripe for slow travel

Newmarket Holidays hands trade lead Richard Forde expanded role

Head of trade sales Forde to take on partnerships brief in addition to managing trade team of seven

Pura Aventura recertifies as B Corp after boosting score by nearly 20%

The specialist, one of the co-founders of the Travel by B Corp group, said it wouldn’t reverse any of the changes it has made during the course of its B Corp journey

Wendy Wu Tours thanks agents for 'tireless support' after best-ever month

The Asia specialist paid tribute to agents after breaking its monthly sales record

Byway sees sales boost amid ‘shift in the mindset of holidaymakers’

Flight-free travel company Byway is seeing a sales boost as 2024 bookings so far have already topped 2022 levels and are worth nearly a third of 2023 sales

AndBeyond set to launch exclusive 12-person yacht in the Galapagos Islands

The luxury yacht will make its maiden voyage to the remote islands off the coast of Ecuador this summer

ATN24 Conference and Marketplace to open for appointments

The two-day hybrid ATN24 Conference & Marketplace is now sold out for conference delegates and suppliers but buyers can still register and can book their meeting slots from 15 February 2024

TTC Tour Brands recruiting for three sales team roles

Group on the look-out for a homeworker-focused sales manager and two new area sales managers, including its first dedicated solely to agents in Scotland and Northern Ireland, under new director of sales Kelly Walker

Explore MD: ‘Our single biggest challenge is growing without doing more damage’

TTG caught up with Explore managing director Michael Edwards to find out and how its first Purpose Paper will drive its B Corp journey

Explore: ‘If you’re not B Corp Certified in our space, it’s a disadvantage’

Adventure specialist becomes latest travel business to obtain B Corp Certification after going through a rigorous process dating back to November 2021

Explore Worldwide becomes travel’s latest B Corp Certified business

Adventure specialist completes two-and-a-half year journey to achieving sustainability milestone

Trade sales up 11% as Explore celebrates strongest-ever January

The adventure specialist set a new record for single-day sales on 18 January, and also recorded both its best ever week and month of sales during January

Inghams and Explore parent Hotelplan UK put up for sale

Hotelplan Group’s Swiss owner, Migros, has put it up for sale to concentrate on its main supermarket business

Joseph Grimley returns to travel with Fred Holidays as BDM

Former Scenic Group sales director to Riviera’s Paul Mellon at Fred Holidays, which has doubled the size of its trade team

Intrepid smashes UK and Ireland sales record twice in a week

Adventure specialist breaks sales record on 30 January and again on 31 January, and reports a 30% hike in industry revenue compared with January 2023

Explore bolsters trade team with new agency sales executive

Alison Davis joins Explore Worldwide from her previous role as aviation product executive at Audley Travel and will be focused on increasing the trade team’s presence in the business

Jason Kemp to join G Touring as key account manager for Scotland and the north

Kemp will take up his new role with Travelsphere and Just You parent G Touring in March, bringing more than 25 years’ travel industry experience

Intrepid Travel expands UK partnerships team to increase agent focus

Lucy Wildman joins the adventure specialist as senior partnerships manager (south), while Jo Reeve and Natalia Marin Reyes have had their roles expanded