NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW 4
Robin Searle
robin.searle@
travelweekly.co.uk
More than 200 frontline agents are to be hosted at the inaugural Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers (Atas) Conference in Birmingham on October 18.
The two-day event will take place at the city’s International Convention Centre, and will include an immersive and experiential trade show, advice on how to sell touring and adventure holidays, and a gala dinner and awards. To celebrate the first year of
the event, all agent delegates will be hosted free of charge by the association’s 24 supplier members. Atas was set up in April by the leading operators in the
Travel Weekly will be official
trade media partner of the conference, and editor-in-chief and conference moderator Lucy Huxley said she believed the event would be essential for agents seeking to develop their businesses. “The success of Clia’s annual
touring and adventure sector. The association aims to incentivise agents to increase knowledge and sales within the sector, with a range of news, features, company profiles and links to training at
touringandadventure.com. Giles Hawke, chairman of Atas and chief executive of Cosmos, said: “The Atas Conference is set to be a fantastic showcase for the range of holidays offered by our members, and I am delighted that we will be hosting our travel agent partners for the inaugural event.”
conference has demonstrated how a concerted focus from suppliers within a particular sector can be incredibly effective in developing awareness and sales within the trade,” she said. “With agents increasingly needing to demonstrate specialist knowledge to stand apart from the crowd, the Atas Conference will provide a fantastic opportunity
R
5 STORIES HOT Agents go free at first Atas event
for agents to develop their understanding of a sector with
huge growth potential.” › Conference Preview, page 18 › Hawke: Comment, page 34
Atas chairman Giles Hawke
5
Hays hits 150 and seeks more stores
Amie Keeley
amie.keeley@
travelweekly.co.uk
Hays Travel is to add three new shops to its retail network this summer – and confirmed more acquisitions are “in the pipeline”.
A shop in Moreton, Merseyside,
opened on Monday, and will be followed in July by new stores in Hove, East Sussex, and Widnes,
Cheshire, taking the number of Hays stores to 150. The agency chain said each of the new shops would employ about five staff. Hays Travel said its recent acquisitions, including Holiday Travel in Bridlington, which it bought in March, were proving “highly successful”. A foreign exchange bureau will be added next month. Retail and training director Jane
6
travelweekly.co.uk 15 June 2017
“It’s not just the new stores trading well but the older shops too”
Schumm said the retail division was trading “extremely well” having had an “excellent May and a great June” so far. “We are trading above targets,”
she said. “Other acquisitions are in the pipeline.” Managing director John Hays said bookings between November and April were up by 27% compared with last year. “I am really pleased with
trading,” he said. “It’s not just the new stores trading well – we are also seeing great results from our older, more mature shops.
“We continue to look for businesses to buy.” Meanwhile, Hays Travel Independence Group has welcomed six new members in the last year, with two more due to join in the coming months. Hays said no members had left. The new members are Seaside
Travel, which has opened a new branch in Sacriston, County Durham; Big Green Mountain; Just Journey; Oppulent; Paying Too Much Holidays; and Experience It Now Travel. The consortium will host its annual conference at the Andalucía Plaza in Marbella from October 27-30. The theme is ‘leadership in a fast-changing industry’, and Thomas Cook will be headline sponsor.
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