Travel Department eyes growth via UK partners


Robin Murray


Irish escorted tours and group specialist Travel Department is in talks with several UK agency consortia as it looks to build on a period of “exponential growth”. The company began courting the


UK trade in 2023, initially working with Barrhead Travel in Scotland, followed by partnerships with Oasis Travel in Northern Ireland and several Aito agents in England. Chief executive James


Coughlan said the operator is now looking to grow its UK footprint through more trade partnerships, having just become a member of the Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers (Atas). “We’re in talks with a number


of consortia about broadening our distribution and hope to announce developments in the next few weeks,” said Coughlan, who joined from Abercrombie & Kent in February 2024. “We’re gradually building our


profile in the UK and we’ve had some really encouraging results.” Travel Department’s portfolio


ranges from European tours to long- haul itineraries, active holidays, short breaks, tailor-made tours for small groups, solos travel and river cruise. Founded in Ireland in 1996,


the company is also growing its international reach. It now sells its product to the Canadian and Australian markets and a US launch is on the horizon. “We’re working with a partner


who is distributing our product through agent partners in those destinations and we’re seeing a really encouraging upturn in bookings,” added Coughlan. “We hope to be in a position to


launch within the US this year.” Travel Department recruited


Gemma Walker as trade sales manager for Scotland and Brian Fulton as key account and business development manager for Northern Ireland earlier this year. It also


Tui leases aircraft to up capacity from three regional airports


Tui is bolstering peak summer flying from regional airports by leasing additional aircraft. Four 189-seat Boeing 737-800s will supplement Tui Airways capacity from Birmingham, East Midlands and Norwich airports. Irish charter carrier Fly4 Airlines started running the flights last week. The airline is due to operate more than 2,200 flights from the three airports to 25 European destinations.


6 8 MAY 2025


upgraded its agent booking portal. “Gemma and Brian are doing a


fantastic job building relationships with the trade and we’re seeing huge growth in those markets,” added Coughlan, who hinted there could be further trade- facing appointments in future. The agency is “reviewing further


opportunities to drive greater share from the UK trade”, he said, which “in the future may lead to the business increasing its trade sales team on the road to support these initiatives”. Coughlan reported “exponential”


year-on-year growth in river cruise bookings, with sales up by about 60%, and identified active holidays as another potential growth area.


Cruise sector ‘vital’ to tourism


ecosystem, says minister Tourism minister Chris Bryant has said the cruise industry is “vital” to the UK’s tourism ecosystem. He was speaking at the first Clia UK Cruise Tourism Summit, on Celebrity Cruises ship Celebrity Eclipse in Liverpool. Clia hosted the event after joining the government’s Visitor Economy Advisory Council earlier this year.


Youth mobility scheme could be on agenda at UK-EU summit


More than 60 travel industry leaders have written to Nick Thomas-Symonds, minister for EU relations, urging him to pursue youth mobility arrangements between the UK and EU as part of talks to reset the UK’s relationship with the bloc. Luke Petherbridge, Abta’s public affairs director, said there had been “positive noises from ministers and MPs” ahead of a UK-EU summit in London on May 19.


travelweekly.co.uk James Coughlan


Abta unveils offer to host an agent at convention for £45


Abta is offering tour operators and cruise lines the chance to host a travel agent of their choice at this year’s Travel Convention in Majorca by adding £45 to the standard registration fee. Every place booked at the


standard rate of £750 plus £45 will entitle them to an additional agent’s place – the first time Abta has made such an offer. A Travel Convention


spokesperson said: “We’ve always had tour operators or cruise lines host groups of agents, but we want any operator to be able to host an agent. So, for a small amount more on the standard rate, they can.” It will be up to the Abta member


making the registration to decide whether to host the agent’s travel and accommodation. Abta is also offering a ‘buy


three, get one free’ deal on standard registrations. Any member, partner or company registering three or more attendees at the standard £750 fee will be offered one free additional registration. The Travel Convention 2025


will take place in Calvià, Majorca, on October 6-8.


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