NEWS


go.travelweekly.co.uk/webcasts TTNG’S GARY LEWIS


GROUP TOUR OPERATORS


Ulla Hefel Böhler


Brian Young


Giles Hawke


Gary Lewis


Travel Weekly’s Lucy Huxley


Travel Network Group is ‘the right fit’ for Global


T


he boss of The Travel Network Group says the consortium is “the right fit” for The Global


Travel Group and there will be a “seamless transition” for members as they move across. TTNG chief executive Gary


Lewis said talks about acquiring Global and its 285 members started as soon as the Covid-19 crisis hit, and the deal was helped by TTNG’s “fantastic relationship with [Global parent company] dnata”. He said the relationship with


dnata’s other brands, such as Gold Medal and Travel 2, had helped TTNG grow from 600 to 1,020 members over seven years. Lewis highlighted similarities


between TTNG and Global, comparing Global’s ‘managed service’ proposition to TTNG’s Worldchoice Plus, and Global’s Independent Options group to its Worldchoice members. And he highlighted that both operated a trust account model. The similarities mean TTNG can


provide a “seamless transition” and quickly “drive synergies”, Lewis said.


travelweekly.co.uk Lewis said he did “not expect


many Global members to leave” for alternative consortia, but accepted that some were “unhappy” with the way they had been supported through the coronavirus crisis. Lewis pledged to help solve the


issues, but insisted that “all the news has been positive” from Global members, despite many having questions over the issue of refunds – responsibility for which would “stay with Global and dnata”. He said refunds “will be protected


by dnata” but that TTNG would “help with the resource” to “solve those problems” as a “partnership”. Lewis added that “things that would


normally scare a buyer don’t scare us” and said announcing the deal before completion – which he expects within seven weeks – was “unusual” but based on the trust between the two sides. Separately, Lewis said 26 TTNG


members had had to close their doors as a result of Covid-19, but said the number was “remarkable” and that the group had averted a “catastrophe” which he had feared could have left two-thirds of its members in trouble.


Group specialists ‘must bide time to resume operations’


T


here is an appetite for group travel, particularly for 2021, but operators agree they


must wait for the “right time” to resume operations. Escorted touring specialists,


and members of the Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers, admitted there was a “nervousness” ahead of the sector’s return and agreed it was important to take all precautions to ensure customers feel safe as restrictions begin to ease. Cosmos has cancelled all


tours until the end of September. Chief executive Giles Hawke said the situation was “too volatile” to reinstate trips sooner. He said winter was “the earliest” that holidaymakers would join tours “in volumes” but said “we’re not seeing any reticence” for 2021 bookings. He said Cosmos could reduce


group sizes and would offer more small-group tours, for up to 20 guests, in 2021, but warned these could be “a bit more expensive” as “fixed costs are largely the same”.


Most clients want to


stick with what they’ve booked, so are pushing trips to 2021 or 2022


Insight Vacations and Luxury


Gold chief executive Ulla Hefel Böhler said she was “absolutely not prepared to compromise” on the Covid hygiene standards of the sister operators’ hotel partners. Bohler said most customers


“want to stick with what they’ve booked” so had been pushing trips back to 2021 or 2022 on the same tours to the same destinations, but that there had been “green shoots” of new bookings in Europe for this year. G Adventures has introduced


a Travel with Confidence Plus Collection of tours with group sizes of up to 12 people. Managing director Brian Young said the company’s scope of product in Europe as well as farther afield meant it could bring back different destinations “at the right time”.


9 JULY 2020


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