Holiday Best to launch agent booking portal


Juliet Dennis


Start-up tour operator Holiday Best has pledged to roll out its online booking portal to 450 registered travel agencies within six weeks. The operator launched to


consumers in July last year and began discussions with the trade in the autumn, initially focusing on Turkey. With an Atol for 81,000 passengers


in its first year, Holiday Best promises ‘real package holidays’ at keen prices, including transfers and reps in resort. It has exclusive flights with Turkish airline Southwind Airlines out of regional airports and key hubs. Chief marketing officer John


Milburn, former homeworking and marketing director at Hays Travel, said talks with agents had taken longer than expected, while the peak sales period and technology updates had also delayed the trade rollout. So far Holiday Best has signed


commercial deals with three consortia, as well as miniples and standalone agencies. Milburn said: “We’ve spent the


past eight weeks improving our B2B site; our plan is to get all our agents on the portal in the next six weeks. “We’re in active conversations


with another two or three consortia


Chief executive Hakan Kavalci, far left, and chief marketing officer John Milburn, far right, with senior members of the team


and one or two homeworking groups.” The company’s B2B site is being


trialled by some agents prior to its full rollout. Milburn said he had already


received positive trade feedback and was confident the operator could capitalise on late summer demand from families. He cited the exclusive flight


programme and its hotel prices and £25 deposit offer as particularly attractive to the trade. “We are focused on offering agents


something they cannot get elsewhere,” he said. “A lot of agents have looked at our site already, seen the prices and value-for-money proposition and


Abta to hold Travel Convention


in Greece’s Costa Navarino Abta’s 2024 Travel Convention will be held in Costa Navarino, in the southwest Peloponnese in Greece, from October 7-9. The convention was previously held there in 2015, with Navarino Dunes hosting the event shortly after it launched. The host partner for this year’s event is the Greek National Tourism Organisation. More details will be available in the coming weeks.


8 21 MARCH 2024


asked to work with us. It’s back to the classic package holiday of 20 years ago; people love it.” Milburn hopes agents will


ultimately account for at least 35% of sales. “A lot of consortia want to see if we deliver what we say. Then we’re hoping there will be a ripple effect,” he said. He said the company’s national


advertising campaign earlier this year, which included ITV, outdoor, radio and digital promotions, had led to a “fantastic” consumer response. “The TV ad was a great success,


but social media has been our foothold in terms of driving traffic and conversions,” he added.


EasyJet to grow UK seat sales


with new base in Birmingham EasyJet will have 10% more seats on sale to and from the UK this year compared with 2023, with the opening of a base at Birmingham airport. Four aircraft will be added to the UK fleet in 2024, with more in 2025. Passenger numbers at Birmingham are expected to be up nearly 60% year-on-year, with 16 new routes.


InteleTravel poised to acquire tour operator in the UK


InteleTravel’s president has told UK partners the company is “about to announce an important acquisition in the UK of a tour operator”. Speaking to tour operators and


cruise lines on a visit to London, James Ferrara said: “This will allow us to custom design product and take more of a role in our own destiny and that’s important for us. “What we’re trying to do is offer


the most powerful distribution in the travel business and, at the same time, take advantage of the synergies, the combined purchasing power and our scale to create a fully integrated enterprise to serve our partners, our employees and our members in the best possible way.” Ferrara hinted he was waiting


for the Civil Aviation Authority to complete March Atol renewals for the deal to go through. He added operating at such scale


“allows us to do some great things”, highlighting the company’s loyalty programme as one example. Ferrara said InteleTravel would


release a mobile app for its advisors in the coming months. “We will roll


it out to agents soon,” he said. “It’s an incredibly sophisticated tech marketing management tool.”


James Ferrara


Blue Bay Travel hires Sanderson


as it overhauls commercial roles Blue Bay Travel has hired Stacey Sanderson as senior cruise product manager amid a raft of appointments and promotions, including Greg Armstrong’s move from product management director to chief commercial officer. Nicky Streeter is now senior commercial manager while Steve Silver takes on the role of senior product manager. Alice Whalley moves to commercial executive.


travelweekly.co.uk


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