‘Don’t just back the big boys’ says agency boss


Ella Sagar


Henbury Travel owner Richard Slater has urged operators to invest in marketing and training with smaller agencies as a collaboration with Riviera Travel is helping to drive a projected eightfold rise in sales over four years. Slater cited the successful


collaboration with the river cruise and touring specialist as proof that targeted local marketing investment can deliver commercial results for independent high street businesses. The Macclesfield agency sold £40,000 in bookings with Riviera in 2022. Slater subsequently asked the operator to support it with a £500 budget for a local roundabout billboard – a space Henbury Travel had previously used to advertise Disney, Jet2 and P&O Cruises. Fuelled by that street advertising,


coupled with increased ongoing marketing spend, Henbury Travel expects to secure £330,000 worth of bookings for Riviera this year. Recent collaborative successes


include an afternoon tea event in April, which generated £71,000 in sales for Riviera. This marked a significant increase from their first joint in-store event in 2024, which brought in £20,000 in bookings.


Richard Slater with Riviera Travel’s Katie Hughes; inset: the billboard ad


Slater said: “A lot of operators


could learn from working with smaller agents to drive sales. It was refreshing for the team to feel the love as a small agency, and it paid off for everyone involved.” He added it was “a two-way


relationship”, with Riviera’s trade team regularly delivering training and helping to “drive opportunities”. In return, Slater has facilitated


discussions with regional hubs such as Manchester Airport regarding flights to grow the touring business, alongside running campaigns inspired by popular TV travel programmes. “It is amazing to have the support


of a tour operator through training and a small investment,” Slater


Julie Franklin joins Designer Travel as a homeworker


Julie Franklin has joined homeworking agency Designer Travel as a professional travel expert. The former head of agency sales at Inghams and Santa’s Lapland, who left Hotelplan UK in January to spend time with her family, marks 40 years in the travel industry this month. Designer Travel director Karen Pocock said Franklin would be a “great asset”.


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said. “My whole team appreciated the support and they have done everything they can to get bookings across the line by introducing the product to our clients.” Slater said river cruises remain the


agency’s “best sellers”, particularly on the Danube and the Douro, but escorted tours are “catching up fast”. Henbury Travel was named the


top northwest agent for Riviera Travel in 2025, while Slater was this year named national touring champion in the operator’s Riv Awards for helping to drive long-haul bookings. “Rather than chucking money just


at the big boys, work with smaller agents who have the drive,” he added.


Newmarket names agents in running to win £25k car


Newmarket Holidays has revealed the five travel agents with a chance of winning a new £25,000 electric car. The operator, which ran a


month-long booking incentive in partnership with Travel Weekly, received nearly 2,000 entries in the prize draw for the Renault 5 E-Tech. The five agents drawn to be


finalists are: Lucy Taylor, Hays Travel; George Triggs, Travel Counsellors; Ryan Mitchell, Barrhead Travel; Natasha Woodley, Hays Travel; and Melanie Sheppard, Premier Travel. The group will be hosted by


Newmarket Holidays at Travel Weekly’s Agent Achievement Awards on July 9, where the winner will be announced after an on-stage draw. The car will be parked outside


host venue Park Plaza London Westminster Bridge as guests arrive. To enter the draw, agents had to


make a qualifying booking between May 13 and June 20, with each booking counting as one entry. Newmarket Holidays chief


commercial officer David Sharman said the incentive had “really worked”, adding: “It’s been fantastic. We achieved what we wanted. We talked about doing something different, having fun and celebrating the fact that agents have been brilliant again this year throughout the Middle East crisis.”


Ryanair extends O’Leary’s contract with lucrative deal


Ryanair has extended group chief executive Michael O’Leary’s contract until April 2032. The deal, subject to a shareholder vote, includes a “modest salary” but offers 10 million shares if full-year profits exceed €4 billion or the share price maintains a €42 threshold, potentially netting O’Leary a €153 million paper profit.


Advantage helps members comply with CMA pricing rules


Advantage Travel Partnership has issued practical guidance and a toolkit to help its independent members comply with the Competition and Markets Authority’s inclusive pricing rules. Developed with legal counsel, the resource helps agents assess if marketing materials constitute an “invitation to purchase” under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.


travelweekly.co.uk


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