NEWS Ireland sales to more than 500 agents at annual conference. Andrew McQuarrie reports from Porto


Ferrara outlines ambition to acquire stake in cruise sector


I InteleTravel


‘ambassadors’ attend the business sessions


nteleTravel chief executive James Ferrara has outlined his desire for the agency to acquire a cruise company, revealing previous attempts at deals fell through. Ferrara told Travel Weekly he would like InteleTravel


to grow as a tour operator and secure ownership in the cruise sector. “We’re such a powerful cruise seller that I would like us


to have a stake in the product,” he said. “Any cruise line that we do business with winds up growing because of us.” He added he was disappointed that two acquisitions in


the cruise sector had failed to be completed, adding that one of the deals had fallen through “at the last minute”. “I really wanted us to have a vertical integration in


cruise,” he said, adding: “Why should we just enrich other people’s business? If we’re going to send a huge amount of business somewhere, we ought to have a stake in it and then we profit as both the distributor and the manufacturer of the product.” During last year’s InteleTravel conference, Ferrara said


he harboured ambitions of InteleTravel becoming one of the top-20 largest Atol holders by the end of 2025. The current 20th-ranked Atol holder is Travel


Republic, which is authorised to carry 103,691 passengers, while InteleTravel’s licensed capacity for the year to September 2025 was 730. However, Ferrara confirmed there is still a desire to


group holidays from £400


the best values in the travel industry, when you consider that even Airbnb, which used to be a great-value proposition, is now equal to or greater than hotel rates,” he said. “A week in a resort is equal to one


night in an Airbnb rental.” The agency will also be rolling out


‘Holibob’, which will allow agents to send activity recommendations when the client is overseas, Ferrara said, while the AI-based “itinerary builder” teased at last year’s conference is set to be unveiled in the coming months.


ramp up the amount of dynamic packaging carried out by the agency. He referenced On the Beach’s recent announcement


that it would be winding down B2B brand Classic Collection and pointed to an opportunity it presented. “It is possible to fill in a gap now left by Classic,” he


said, adding that the intention would not be to “replace” the operator. “The idea is never to fully replace our suppliers – that’s not a goal,” he said. Reflecting further on On the Beach’s decision to


close Classic Collection, he said he was “surprised” when companies decided to focus on a B2C approach.


Google expert advises agents to create ‘inspiring’ videos


Google travel specialist Ludovic Carrasco encouraged InteleTravel agents to create compelling video content to engage clients, citing a “boom” in viewing figures. Carrasco said there had been a 14%


increase in travel content’s viewing figures on YouTube in the year to December 2024. “There is a boom in terms of


video content viewing in travel,” he said, adding: “There is such a great opportunity here for you.” He recommended that agents use the ‘ABCD’ approach to create videos,


travelweekly.co.uk Ludovic Carrasco


based on capturing and holding the viewer’s attention, displaying branding from the outset, creating a “link” by giving the story a human touch or using emotion, and directing the viewer to take action. “Try to create videos to inspire


people and catch their attention,” he said, noting that AI could potentially be used to help with content creation. He also highlighted growing


demand for certain destinations, with Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the UAE projected to achieve particularly strong growth in the next 15 years.


2 OCTOBER 2025 11


James Ferrara


PICTURES: NVStudio


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60