Topics

Heathrow gains two new routes, including Cancun, and three new airlines

Start of winter timetables brings new services and carriers to Mexico, India, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia

Dame Irene Hays honoured for 'exemplary leadership and unwavering dedication to careers in tourism'

Hays Travel chair and owner awarded 2025 Tourism Society Award in recognition of her 'outstanding lifetime contribution to the development and success of UK tourism'

Three ways to sell Al Ain, Abu Dhabi’s ‘Oasis City’

With a name translating to ‘the spring’, the sprawling desert oasis of Al Ain is just a 90-minute drive east from Abu Dhabi City, but it offers a lot more than abundant date palms.

The UAE’s only Unesco-designated heritage sites are found here, meaning cultural tourists can explore the remains of Neolithic, Iron and Bronze Age civilizations uncovered in archaeological digs.

AE Expeditions recruits Cunard regional sales manager James Atherton as new BDM

Atherton, who started his career in cruise handling baggage at Southampton docks, has also worked in P&O Cruises trade sales team

Ireland: 'No one does Halloween better than us'

From the origins of Jack O’Lanterns to the first trick or treaters, Halloween is tied to Ireland’s folklore and the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. This heralded the coming of winter, a time when light turned to darkness and the veil between this world and the next was thinnest, allowing ghosts, fairies and demons to pass through and menace the living.

AT WTM London, Tourism Ireland (stand N8-210) will be introducing eight Halloween hubs around the country – where visitors can have a frightfully good time at spooky trails, haunted experiences and hair-raising events.

WTM London to host largest-ever ministers' summit this year

Last year's summit, WTM London's 19th, brought together more than 50 tourism ministers

More than a shore excursion: why Gibraltar is worthy of a week-long holiday

A compact British Overseas Territory at the entrance to the Mediterranean, Gibraltar is often thought of as an island, but is in fact a peninsula bordering Spain with a towering rock at its centre.

Its location means warm shoulder seasons. There’s also a calendar of events to help you sell breaks year-round, from Christmas celebrations to a spring food festival and autumn literary festival.

Nick Marks returns to industry with Dolphin Dynamics following demise of Baldwins Travel

Baldwins Travel was wound up in July after a turbulent few years with its highly respected staff moving on to different agencies across south-east England

The Paddington bounce rolls on for Peru

Hot on the heels of Paddington's third movie comes Paddington the Musical – and Lima's new airport is now up and running too, with expanded capacity

Beachcomber's Gary Bagnall reveals 'daunting' decision to jump into homeworking after 25 years with specialist

Gary Bagnall confirmed he built both the Baggers Travel and The Mauritius Club websites over several months although he is yet to make a booking through either brand

'In a world full of uncertainty and online scams, customers increasingly value the human touch'

Oasis Travel's Sandra Corkin reflects on what it is that makes travel agencies such an enduring feature of the UK's high streets, and why they can – and will – thrive anew

Industry rallies around agency team as brand shuts its doors after more than 60 years

'Covid took much away from us... [and] left a financial burden that was becoming more and more difficult to manage,' said director Gavin Morton

Celebrity Cruises partners with TTG to launch interactive virtual training for home-based agents

Taking place between November 2025 and April 2026, the Xcelerator Programme aims to support home-based agents in running stronger businesses, connecting with like-minded peers and gaining the practical tools and confidence to grow their sales.

Malta succeeds in cutting peak traffic to Blue Lagoon

Introduced on May 1 this year, a new online booking system has succeeded in reducing visitor concentration at the popular yet fragile beauty spot by 68%.

Last year up to 12,000 visitors were recorded at Comino’s Blue Lagoon at any one time during peak hours, and the new free booking system allows a maximum of 4,000 visitors at any one time. Bookings generate a QR code, and wrist bands are issued at entry points.

The average number of visitors at the Blue Lagoon at each of the three daily time slots introduced this summer is 1,979.

Mauritius: 'Come to us for high-end curated experiences'

Tourist board realigns its strategy with the global trend that has travellers seeking out more meaningful cultural experiences, as well as restorative and sensory-rich activities

Agency takes to the streets with cabin trolley full of fizz and snacks to celebrate 10th anniversary

The team at Olive Lounge Travel, which was named TTG Top 50 Top Agency in Yorkshire earlier this year, said they wanted to bring 'a touch of travel magic' to the town and make it 'a community celebration'

Cayman Islands: 'Holidays are broken, but we can fix them'

“Welcome to vaCay” is a new platform and campaign that offers travellers the antidote to over-scheduled, exhausting holidays. It’s been conceived off the back of new research, commissioned by the tourist board, which shows the vacation (or holiday) is broken.

'Travel's just had its annual health check – and the vital signs are good'

The Travel Trade Consultancy's Martin Alcock runs the rule over travel's vitals, finding strength in package demand but worries around consolidation and the increasing dominance of the industry's major players

From a Peaky Blinders bar to transatlantic flights: Birmingham Airport reveals growth plans

What new destinations, routes and aircraft are on the horizon at Birmingham Airport?

To date we have 35 airlines operating out of BHX with a mix of low-cost carriers, full service scheduled carriers, charter carriers, long-haul carriers and cargo operators. These 35 airlines provide direct connectivity to 140 destinations, with one-stop connectivity to over 600 destinations through Emirates, Qatar, KLM, Lufthansa, Jet2.com and easyJet to name a few.

MSC Cruises names Alyshia Bartlett as new UK head of sales and lays out trade growth strategy

Bartlett to step up to new role after 10 years with the line, which has plans to grow its sales team to 19 with three new hires

The inside story from this year's Top 50 Champions trip

Agents were invited on a fam trip hosted by headline sponsor the Malta Tourism Authority, who found you can make the best plans, but you can't bank on the weather...

An agent's personal fam: 'It felt like I was on a movie set'

Gill Williams from The Travel Village had a rare opportunity to travel on Uniworld's Peruvian Rivers and Rainforest Discovery itinerary

Jet2 matches Tui with earliest summer programme launch, putting 2027 on sale

Operator joins Tui in seeking to capture ultra-early 2027 business amid concerns about the UK economy

'New-to-cruise – let's go!': agents told market ripe for new business, plus nine other Advantage cruise conference highlights

Is now the time for agents to grow their cruise customer databases? Why a cruise holiday can give customers peace of mind financially? And why if staff are loyal to agencies and cruise lines then customers will keep coming back for more?