82 | TRADE NEWS
Northern Ireland Expansion Celebrated at Barrhead Travel Conference 2025
THE annual Barrhead Travel Conference took place from 29th September to October 1st, amid the stunning backdrop of Dubrovnik, Croatia, taking
place in
Hotel Dubrovnik Palace. NI Travel News’ Erin English was in attendance at this year’s conference, aptly themed “Innovate and Elevate,’ outlining the
company’s
plans to elevate growth and development throughout 2026. Opening up this year’s
conference was
Nicki Tempest Mitchell, Managing Director of Barrhead Travel Group, who reflected upon the pledge made at the company’s 2024 conference in Ibiza, the pledge to ‘thrive within 2025.’ In 2025, Barrhead Travel celebrated its 50th anniversary. In Tempest-Mitchell’s opening speech, she remarked upon the success of Barrhead Newtownabbey branch, highlighting that the branch “has gone from strength to strength, achieving its full goal by the end of Q1.” Further stating that “its opening was just before the all important peaks which was a perfect Segway for a strong performance.” In addition, Tempest-Mitchell expressed excitement for further expansion within the Northern Irish market with the recently opened new store in Craigavon’s Rushmere Shopping Centre.
Honing in on the conference’s theme of innovation and elevation, Barrhead Travel’s Managing Director highlighted the company’s aims
to be “laser-focused on Looking forward into 2026, delivering
innovation” in a bid to increase “stand-out within the marketplace.”
Barrhead
Travel’s sights are set on utilising innovative technology,
continuing investment into
the retail model, elevating training and development, and a re-brand of marketing and customer communications. Nicki Tempest-Mitchell outlined how Barrhead Travel was on-track for “another productive year” in 2026 with sales currently up 16% when compared with last year’s figures.
In a bid to “future-proof” operations, Barrhead Travel Group are set to launch a brand-new customer app in Q1, making the company’s debut into the app world. Speaking about the launch of a new Barrhead Travel App, Nicki Tempest Mitchell stated the development of an app will “underpin service,” and will elevate “new client acquisition for branches, call centres, and homeworkers.” With emphasis on the future generation of customers who value technology as a “base-line expectation.” The new app will allow customers to manage balance payments,
download
customer documentation, and send push notification updates to customers. Plans for an upcoming rebrand were also outlined, with full details set to be revealed in December.
Nicki Tempest-Michael
highlighted how the new plans are “deeply rooted in Barrhead Travel’s identity,” but
www.nitravelnews.com
will outline “a clear path for the future” set to embed the company “deeper into our local communities and our customers.” Details of the 2026 Barrhead Travel Group Conference were also unveiled. With the 2026 conference taking place from 1st October 2026 at Hotel Dino in Baveno, Italy. The Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony took place on the second night of the Barrhead Conference, with success for Northern Ireland for both Barrhead Travel Newtownabbey, and Buzz Off Travel, Ballymoney. Barrhead Travel Newtownabbey was celebrated with the Rising Star award, recognised for exceeding its yearly target within three months after opening. Lisa Hamill, Regional Sales Manager for Northern Ireland highlighted the significance of the win, highlighting.
“It’s phenomenal, this
year’s conference was opened by talking about Newtownabbey and how the store achieved its target within its first three months of trading. For the Newtownabbey branch to win the Rising Star award for what they have achieved within this past year, it’s incredible.” Buzz Off Travel, Ballymoney were also recognised at this year’s conference, picking
November/December 2025
up the award for Biggest Growth amongst Brilliant Travel Managed Service Travel Partners. Speaking on the win, Chris Hagan, Managing Director of Buzz of Travel noted, “I was delighted to pick up the award for Biggest Growth amongst Brilliant Travel Managed Service Travel Partners at the Barrhead Travel Group conference in Dubrovnik. The award is testament to the hard work and determination of the whole team over the past 12 months and also as a result of the excellent partnership we enjoy with the Barrhead Travel Group. We continue to see excellent sales growth year on year, with early sales for Summer 26 looking particularly strong.”
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