Speaking at a media event in central London, Bruce Poon Tip, owner of Travelsphere parent company, G Touring, revealed how Covid pandemic had forced him to shelve plans to revive the brand six years ago before adding that he believed now was a better time to bring the brand back.

More: Travelsphere revives dormant Page & Moy brand with new collection

"People want more purpose-driven travel –  they like the idea of community tourism," he said. "People want to stay in destinations for longer and are valuing the experience of travelling far more. I think the market is now ready to talk about these things. It's truly an honour to revive this brand." 

He added that believes the dominant sales channel for the premium four-star plus brand will be travel agents in the UK.

'People are trading up'

Both Adam Kemp, Managing Director at G Touring, and Travelsphere Trade Sales Director Tom Morgan revealed there has been an emerging sales trend of customers "trading up", suggesting that agents are well placed to sell Page & Moy's product.

Kemp, speaking on stage alongside Poon Tip and G Touring Marketing Director Charlotte Field, said: "Over the last 12 to 18 months, we've definitely seen more people trading up. People are spending more on their holidays. Even in Europe, people are going to Switzerland or Norway and attaching upgrades to their bookings.

"We've had a lot of feedback that people want a lot of leisure time and then there are others that want a packed itinerary."

He added: "What we're looking to do with Page & May is fill that gap. We're giving people more free time so they can see the destinations in their own time. We won't have one night stays at Page & Moy."

Morgan told TTG: "We've seen that Travelsphere customers booking through an agent will spend around £400 more than if they booked direct."

Opportunity to recruit?

While Kemp confirmed there will be fam trips and a training programme to support the relaunch although he explained educationals won't be announced until the new year.

The Page & Moy Collection is being released in two stages, with six 2027 itineraries being announced today and the rest being launched in December. The programme will begin in 12 months' time.

Morgan explained that the wider agent community will receive details about Page & Moy's relaunch on Thursday. However, G Touring's 10-strong trade engagement panel were told about the relaunch of Page & Moy last week at a meeting.

"We did a cheesy unveiling on a PowerPoint presentation," explained Morgan.  "The agents all gave us really good feedback and were positive about it but there one or two who were worried about giving away their age because they were around when it operated before."

Orignally founded in Leicester in 1962 by Leon Page and Tony Moy, Page & Moy built its reputation pioneering specialist travel. It first joined the Travelsphere family in 2004 before being retired in 2013. Poon Tip acquired All Leisure brands – including Travelsphere and Just You – in early 2017. 

Asked if G Touring would recruit more staff to support the Page & Moy relaunch, Morgan said there "may be" new faces joining in the future.

"We will not be expanding the product team but we may be adding to the trading team," he noted.