NEWS ROUND-UP
COMMENT: “After years of being seen as the old-fashioned side of travel, the high street agency is back and here to stay” Miles Morgan, page 26
New management team to reassess If Only’s strategy
Juliet Dennis
juliet.dennis@
travelweekly.co.uk
If Only’s new management team is reviewing its strategy following the appointment of four of the five senior executives who quit Travel 2 and Gold Medal last June.
Andy Freeth, Gordon McCreadie,
Tracy Docherty and David Irving started work at the long-haul operator’s head office in Milngavie near Glasgow, on Monday. However, one of the five, Matt
Appleby, who was also due to join If Only, has been appointed product and purchasing director at Destination2. His change of heart follows the appointment of Andrew Botterill as executive chairman of Destination2’s parent company TravCorp at the start of February. McCreadie, Docherty, Irving and
Appleby were due to join If Only last September, with Freeth set to take up his role in December. However, they were prevented
from doing so as a result of legal action by their former employer, which was settled out of court. Freeth has joined as chief
Travel Designers launches loyalty card with range of benefits
South London agency Travel Designers is to launch a VIC loyalty card for its ‘very important clients’. The A5 card will be distributed with tickets or confirmation for any booking, and is valid for a year.
Rutherford’s parents lauded at awards
The families of Westoe Travel apprentice Chloe Rutherford and her boyfriend Liam Curry, who died in last year’s Manchester terrorist bombing, have received a special recognition award at the Pride of North East Awards. They were honoupred at
the event, run by the Pride of Britain Awards, for setting up the Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust to help aspiring performers and sports stars achieve their dreams. Bursaries are open to anyone living in the northeast, with plans to extend the scheme nationwide.
Silver Travel Awards add special category
FROM LEFT: New recruits Andy Freeth, David Irving, Tracy Docherty and Gordon McCreadie, with If Only managing director Brendan Maguire
executive, McCreadie as sales and marketing director, Docherty as business development director and Irving as head of specialist business. The operator said the new
recruits would spend the next few weeks deciding on If Only’s strategy with the existing management team. If Only has recently launched its
It offers a range of benefits in
return for booking, including discounts at other local businesses, and with Travel Designers’ partner operators, airlines and airport lounge providers. Travel-relevant brands are
also included in the offers, which will be updated every month, meaning VICs get money off items such as towels, luggage and children’s holiday clothing. Nicholas Harding-McKay,
8
travelweekly.co.uk 5 April 2018
US programme, and it is believed that the new strategy is likely to include the launch of a Caribbean programme early this summer. Founder and managing director
Brendan Maguire said the product and commercial director role, which was due to be taken by Appleby, would be filled in the coming weeks.
A travel company or destination that has ‘delivered outstandingly’ for mature travellers will be recognised at the Silver Travel Awards. A panel of judges will assess ideas, initiative and innovation in marketing; product development; and overall operations. The winner will be revealed at
the awards ceremony on July 9 at London’s National Portrait Gallery. Entries should be submitted in no more than 400 words, with supporting images, by May 4. Contact service@silvertravel
advisor.com for an entry form.
director at Travel Designers, said: “It’s a way of saying thank you to people who are booking with us – and gets them back on our website. It also doesn’t cost us much. “It’s a very simple idea, as
Travel Designers’ Kelly Hamstead with the VIC card
is often the case with good marketing ideas.” Harding-McKay said the scheme would not risk breaching new data protection laws because the companies are not capturing data.
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