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How travel advisors can offer alcohol-free travel for sober clients
Therapist Alexander Brown set up a travel agency for sober clients in 2022 after noticing a greater need to support those in addiction recovery
Agents to keep ‘up to 100% of commission’ in new homeworkers start-up
Azure’s new luxury homeworking agency hopes to give members more flexibility and freedom.
Air India ramps up summer schedule but suspends Kochi-Gatwick route
Air India will put on extra services from Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham this summer, but its non-stop Kochi-Gatwick flight will cease operating from 30 March
Crystal commits to paying agent commission faster
Luxury line will also back date speedier commission payments for all existing, qualifying bookings
Kuoni parent Dertour Group acquires Hotelplan Group and UK brands
Deal covers Hotelplan’s Inghams, Inntravel, Santa’s Lapland and Explore Worldwide brands, but not holiday home specialist Interhome
Aviation minister hints government won't pay for Heathrow third runway groundwork
Aviation minister Mike Kane has indicated funding for the enormous cost of moving the M25 for Heathrow’s third runway won’t come from the public purse
Royal Caribbean, AmaWaterways, Ambassador Cruise Line: all the latest travel trade people moves
Moves this week see a top-selling agent for Royal Caribbean join the line, while AmaWaterways and Ambassador Cruise Line have also shaken up their trade operations in the UK and Ireland
Imagine if all the hotels in the world were run like these...
These hotels attract rave reviews for their efforts in minimising their environmental footprint and giving back to local communities for the ultimate guilt-free stay
Off Broadway Travel acquires south London agency Travel Designers
It follows Travel Designers owner Nicholas McKay’s decision to step back from day-to-day running of his agency and transition towards retirement after 25 years
Scammer behind £400,000 cruise voucher fraud jailed for five years
Richard Lester, 56, ran a website selling people vouchers and listing the cruises for which they could supposedly be exchanged at discounted rates, but booked few of his clients and kept the money for himself
Heathrow to upgrade Terminals 2 and 5 ahead of third runway push
Heathrow has made a number of commitments to invest in Britain’s busiest, including increasing capacity at Terminal 2 and Terminal 5, as it pushes ahead with its plans to expand via a third runway
Preferred Hotels & Resorts targets agents with smart new tech
Independent hotels brand unveils “innovative” portal to help the trade book its properties
Eight places on ITT board up for election this year
The association is also looking to fill a currently vacant position on the board representing the hotel sector
Kellie Samuda says ‘transparency’ is key to new homeworking agency
The luxury travel veteran hopes to grow to 50 homeworkers as her new business takes off
Six reasons to work with Florida this year, from new trade show to fly-drive mission
A new UK trade event was among a number of exciting updates from this year’s Florida Huddle. Madeleine Barber reports from Ocala in Marion County where the annual get-together was held
Five top trends cruise agents need to know – from Carnival UK's sales chiefs

1. Cruise prices are higher – but customers are happy to pay

It might have been a bit of a slow start to peaks, but one trend that’s emerged in the overall market is a rise in pricing, and cruise is no exception.

Alison Earnshaw to leave World Travel Holdings UK after nearly 20 years
Group’s UK managing director to step away for personal reasons later this year
Eurostar vows to restore full London-Amsterdam capacity by September
European rail operator has restarted direct services between London and Amsterdam following works at Amsterdam’s central station, and hopes to increase the route to five daily services by 2026
Increase in January customers offset by fall in spend with agents – Barclays
Barclays Consumer Spend report finds transactions through agents in January grew but at reduced value, with airlines not faring so well
Heathrow begins finalising third runway plan following govt support
Heathrow will submit a plan for its third runway in the summer, its chief executive has confirmed after the chancellor indicated support for the project
Tui heaps praise on independent agents, but focus on app sales bears fruit
Tui has said independent agents are ’very important’ to its business in the UK, but has also highlighted the success of its app during peaks
Tui bullish about growth prospects despite tough winter for UK and Ireland
Group reveals significant uptick in early winter revenue and earnings, although seasonal losses in its northern Europe region – which comprises the UK, Ireland and Nordic countries – have deepened by more than 75% to €88.5 million
Tui chief pins slow start to peaks on change in UK strategy
Tui’s boss has said a change in direction towards more dynamic packaging meant its January sales were slower than normal, with fixed capacity remaining tight and sold at higher margins
From toes to travel: why this Essex chiropodist switched careers after 15 years in healthcare
Joe McDonnell spent 15 years as a footcare clinician before making the switch to travel in late 2024