Jason had only been an agent with Travel Counsellors for around a year when he spotted an email inviting applications for TTG's 2026 LGBTQ+ Travel Ambassador programme. After four decades in travel, including 25 years with British Airways, he was still new to the sales side of the business and wanted to figure out which destinations and products to focus on. 

"I was thinking about different angles that I could utilise, different skills that I've got," he says.

As a gay man who has travelled to more than 80 countries, LGBTQ+ travel felt like an "obvious place" to start. So he applied and was successful, which led to him joining the programme's fam trip to Paris and Amsterdam this August.

Watch: ‘This Parisian gay area shows all the wonderful colours of our community’

"I certainly didn't go on the trip thinking I would change agencies," he says. "But I am beyond thrilled that this is the result."

The trip, which coincided with pride celebrations in Amsterdam, was Jason's first ever agent fam. "I didn't want it to end," he said. "Everyone was so immersed in all the LGBTQ+ events and experiences, and the atmosphere in Amsterdam was incredible."

Jason Callender

Among the people he met was Sandra Doyle. The two began chatting and Jason found himself intrigued by Sandra's LGBTQ+ specialist agency, Destination Rainbow.

Later Sandra suggested he speak to her colleague, Elle Pinkard. A Teams call followed, then an in-person meeting, and suddenly, Jason found himself taking a job at Destination Rainbow.

"It just felt like the right thing for me to do," Jason says. Part of the attraction was the opportunity to specialise, combining his own experience as an LGBTQ+ traveller with the "customer service ethos" he developed during his years with British Airways.

"I'd already been thinking that this was something I could bring to my clients,” he says. “Not me being LGBTQ+ in a box-ticking way, but having lived an authentic travel experience over lots of years as that person.

"I can reassure people and give them confidence that they can travel to these places, too."

Jason Callender

Jason is now joining Destination Rainbow alongside Sandra and Elle, bringing another perspective to the existing team.

"You've got Jason as a gay man, Sandra as a gay woman, and myself as a gay woman with a family," Elle tells TTG. "We've covered all bases!"

Bringing Jason into the business has felt like a natural fit, Elle tells TTG. "We spent a few days together at the travel studio, getting to know each other, sharing ideas and seeing how our joint experience, energy and passion can add even more to what we’re building here," she says.

Jason has already begun contributing ideas for refreshing Destination Rainbow's website and will join Sandra at an LGBTQ+ wedding fair next year, while the team is also looking forward to attending WTM London together.

"He really has gotten off to a brilliant start," Elle says. "It genuinely feels like the start of something very special, and I love that it all came full circle from that original fam trip."