From left: Moderator Peter Greenberg discusses trends with Bryan Kinkade, AfarMedia; Diana Ditto, Collette; and Norma Dean, Delta


Paula Vlamings (left), Tourism Cares; Robin Tauck, Tauck Inc; and John Sutherland, Collette


UK sales team expansion


Collette has expanded its UK sales team and is to relaunch its Explorations product in the coming months.


Head of UK partnerships


Stephen Mills said the move would help the team increase Collette’s visibility in front of travel agents, through whom around 90% of sales are made. The appointments of Lisa


Rhodes for the north and Tony Mahoney for Wales, Northern Ireland and the southwest bring the regional sales team up to four and follow the earlier appointment of Simeon Douglas, who looks after the Midlands, in March. The team reports to Mills and head of UK sales Neil Sehmbhy. Mills said the expanded team will mean they attend more industry events to boost Collette’s presence among the UK trade. He said: “We haven’t had a


full team for about a year, so this shows Collette’s continued investment in growth across the UK. We are really excited to galvanise the Collette brand and are looking forward to what the next five or 10 years bring.” Alongside this, Collette’s


Explorations brand is set for a


“We want to be a relationships-led business offering amazing products”


refresh, with a new dedicated website – explorations.com – set to go live in August. Explorations tours are designed to offer a more experiential travel product, and from August 7 will have no more than 19 passengers in a group, down from its previous limit of 24. Collette’s top 10 destinations in


the UK market are all long-haul, including its Exploring New Zealand tour at number one. It has been running a ‘save on


10’ promotion that will continue into April 2019, offering savings of


up to £600 on 10 popular tours. Mills also revealed the operator


was planning to increase the number of fam trips it runs for UK agents to help them learn about Collette’s tours first-hand, with details yet to be announced. “When people experience our


product, they fall in love with us,” he added. “And we want to support our trade partners, big and small. We want to be a relationships- led business offering amazing products, amazing experiences and trips of a lifetime to guests.” Sehmbhy said a ‘Why Collette?’


flyer has been distributed, listing Collette’s unique selling points. As part of its marketing assistance, Collette is also planning to help agents host in-store events for customers.


Collette aiming to lead the way in tourism CSR


Escorted tour operators have a responsibility to educate guests on sustainable travel and tackle overtourism, says Collette’s John Sutherland, manager of corporate responsibility. “We are trying to fold


this into our business model so other companies can see Collette is doing better because it’s being sustainable,” he said. “Then they will see it’s something they have to do because their bottom line will be affected when customers take note.” In March, Collette launched its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) platform, focused on four key pillars: people, community, product and environment. Paula Vlamings, chief


STEPHEN MILLS: ‘This shows Collette’s investment in growth across the UK’


executive of Tourism Cares, urged operators to look at their supply chains to ensure they are working with like- minded businesses that boost economies within destinations. She added: “Because


[operators] are so big, they will pay attention, and that will have a ripple effect.”


28 June 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 13


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