NEWS ROUND-UP
Blackpool rocks as industry marks The Travel Village’s 60th birthday
Operators and agents join Phil Nuttall (far left) and his staff and family (left) at Blackpool Tower ballroom
Guests arriving at Te Travel Village’s 60th birthday party were welcomed to Blackpool Tower’s iconic ballroom with a performance of Te Liberty Bell on the iconic Wurlitzer organ by owner Phil Nutall, who famously has only four fingers on one hand. Te event, in the historic venue
The Travel Village Group threw a party in Blackpool for 500 industry guests. By Harry Kemble Mum managed
Speaking on stage, Nutall talked
emotionally about the family-owned business’s journey from its Bourne Travel days to Te Travel Village Group as it is known today. He also revealed how his parents
used each year by BBC show Strictly Come Dancing, was a chance for the business to welcome its industry friends to its home town. Te Travel Village Group –
which includes Te Cruise Village,
Rivercruising.co.uk and the Holiday Village brands – launched as Bourne Travel in 1959 aſter Nutall’s grandfather, Eric Bourne, developed a passion for selling travel from his post office.
10 27 JUNE 2019
managed to organise direct flights from Blackpool to Spain during the package holidays boom. “Mum’s relationship with
Tomson Holidays, Intasun and Enterprise Holidays was so strong, it wasn’t long before she managed to get flights put on from Blackpool to the Costas – and almost single- handedly booked every seat,” he said. He singled out industry stalwart
Trevor Davis for praise. In 1991, the International Leisure
Group account manager told Nutall’s parents not to pay off their credit
to get flights put on from Blackpool to the Costas – and booked almost every seat”
account. ILG was hours away from collapsing and Davis had been instructed to collect cash from each of his accounts. “With the winter programme, we
had a very large credit account, which had to be paid by the eighth of every month,” recalled Nutall. “To this day, our family will be
forever indebted to Trevor Davis who made the call on March 7, 1991, to my mum to say: ‘Don’t send
the cheque – we are going to go.’” Davis, who was part of an on-
stage panel at the party, said Bourne had been the “perfect” account. Before quizzing the panel, Travel
Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley revealed how Nutall had called her from the ambulance aſter sawing off his finger when building a pergola. Nutall thanked the room, packed
full of suppliers and other agencies, for their support of the business. “What we have not lost in the
travel industry, as we head to a new decade, is everything that Eric stood for: vision, passion, resilience, loyalty, and an openness to new ideas and trends,” he added. “But most of all, Eric made sure
that his customers were the most important people in his business.”
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURES: Steve Dunlop
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