Now Lets Travel plans to add three stores in northeast


Now Lets Travel plans to add three shops across the northeast of England from October. The Brilliant Travel member has


a call centre in Sunderland and a retail store in Jesmond, Newcastle, but rising demand has encouraged owner Paul Johnstone to look at opening in Wallsend, Peterlee and Stockton-on-Tees. Johnstone, who opened his first


city-centre branch last December with seven employees, expects 15 new positions to be created across the three new stores, which were originally scheduled to open in 2020. He is recruiting for team leaders and travel consultants. He said: “I believe the future of


travel and its recovery lies with the high street travel agent as customers need advice more than ever.”


Intrepid buoyed by rise in sales from UK and US


Lucy Huxley


The chief executive of Intrepid Travel parent Intrepid Group says bookings are “picking up” and sees the UK as one of two markets driving short-term sales for the adventure specialist. James Thornton told Travel Weekly


he expects Intrepid’s sustainability efforts – it gained B Corp status in 2018 – to pay off as the public becomes more conscious of the environment. “Australians can’t travel, so the UK


and the US are the only parts of the world we’re getting sales from at the moment,” he said. “So that’s where our business is going to come from for the next six months.” Intrepid had 110 departures to 19


destinations in August, down from the usual 120 destinations it offers. Thornton said “it’s a start”, noting Intrepid will operate 186 departures to 23 countries this month. “We are slowly seeing enquiry


The Now Lets Travel team, with Brilliant’s Linda Pyle (right)


metrics picking up. People either want to go away in three days’ time or are booking far in advance.”


Platinum World opens with new name in Gloucester


Platinum World Travel has opened a store in Gloucester “four times the size” of its former site in the Forest of Dean – and plans to open a further seven by 2027. Founder and director Arron


Mitchell and co-director Matthew Chamberlain have rebranded the agency as Resfeber Travel and aim


8 2 SEPTEMBER 2021 James Thornton He reported many “bucket-list”


bookings, such as for the Inca Trail, Antarctica and safaris. Thornton said Intrepid’s UK


holidays programme, launched during the pandemic, will be expanded and believes domestic travel will remain “part of the mix” for UK customers, partly due to heightened climate


People either want


to go away in three days’ time or are booking far in advance


change awareness. “This is important to consumers, especially younger travellers,” he said. “We’ve got a great head start.” Intrepid is to host its first


Cornwall fam trip this month, with 12 agents joining trade lead Joanna Reeve on a walking and yoga-based trip. The agents won their places in July on National Travel Agent Day, an initiative brought to the UK by Intrepid in 2020. Thornton also revealed plans to


launch a Decathlon Travel brand after the sports retailer’s owners, Genairgy, made the largest-ever investment in Intrepid in March. Decathlon Travel is to be available in French-speaking


markets before a 2023 UK rollout. i Read the James Thornton interview in full at travelweekly.co.uk


Arron Mitchell in the new Resfeber Travel store in Gloucester


gone from a market town to a city.” The Gloucester shop has no


desks and features a bar, a ‘beach’ area which people can post on Instagram and an airline-themed seating area with an armchair. Mitchell, a former STA Travel


branch manager, is targeting locations with university students. He had been planning to move to Gloucester since January. Last year, he set up a specialist


to add shops in Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham and Cheltenham. They are seeking to open their second store by the end of 2022.


Mitchell said: “We moved from


Coleford because a lot of customers were coming from Gloucester. Our new shop is four times bigger. We’ve


youth tour operator, Syte. Resfeber is a Swedish word


meaning the excitement one feels before travel.


travelweekly.co.uk


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