InteleTravel is launching a training programme to help its members promote and sell accessible travel. The programme will start with a live workshop on 29 November with presentations from key partners. A panel of advisors, all with accessible needs, will debate their personal challenges and the difficulties of finding accessible-friendly products. Suppliers participating in InteleTravel’s Inclusive Travel For All (ITFA)initiative  include TUI, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Ocean Florida. The initiative is also backed by ABTA, said InteleTravel. ITFA will have dedicated newsletter content, webinars, quarterly workshops, sessions at the InteleTravel annual conference and an option for a taster session learning British Sign Language and International Sign Language. The launch of the initiative follows a recent InteleTravel Facebook poll, which found that only 7% of travel advisors thought the industry supports the accessible travel sector, while 33% said they have enquiries from customers requiring accessible travel. The British Deaf Association says that one in five of those aged 55 years and over will be deaf or experience hearing loss.  It will be working with InteleTravel to educate advisors on dealing with the hidden disability. Another ITFA partner is Hidden Disabilities Sunflower, a global programme that provides support for individuals with non-visible disabilities, including autism, ADHD, dementia, epilepsy and aphasia, which affects an individual’s ability to communicate. Advisors attending ITFA events will be qualified to use the InteleTravel certified badge and certificate. InteleTravel UK and Ireland Managing Director Tricia Handley-Hughes said: “Homeworking provides a lifeline for those with a disability which prevents them from performing an office-based role.  “InteleTravel includes many such advisors who have proved through their sales revenues that disability is not an obstacle to earning a good income. “In addition, we have seen a big increase in the number of customers requesting accessible holidays and an ageing population who want to continue enjoying travelling. As an industry we need to modernise our approach to how we satisfy those needs.”

InteleTravel will hold its second river cruise conference next year. The River Cruise Experience will again be an exclusive charter in association with Riviera Travel. It will be on board Riviera Rose, departing Porto on 29 March 2026. During the two-night sailing, there will be presentations, educational content, a treasure hunt and partner networking. InteleTravel UK and Ireland Managing Director Tricia Handley-Hughes said: “The growth in the river cruise sector and the addition of new ships for 2026/27 requires focus and education to maintain our momentum. “This is timely for us as we review our cruise training for launch on 1 January 2026."

InteleTravel has launched a fully integrated portal for concert tickets and live events following its acquisition of Tickitto in February. InteleTravel said TIckitto has access to £49 billion of event tickets worldwide, including concerts, premier league football, rugby and cricket matches and Formula 1 races. The integration will be available on a global basis. Agents can now choose sell tickets only or dynamically package holidays with more than two million hotels and flights in the InteleTravel booking engine. InteleTravel UK and Ireland Managing Director Tricia Handley-Hughes said: “This strategic development gives our advisors the advantage of not just competitive pricing for live events, but the opportunity to build packages via a seamless process for major sporting events and concerts. The experience market is growing rapidly and the opportunity to watch events as part of a holiday is increasingly attractive to customers. “We know that this sector is a lucrative market where agents can generate extra commission earnings and add value for customers, so I’m delighted our advisors now have the edge.”

Representatives of various homeworking groups have given a mixed response to InteleTravel UK Managing Director's plans for a forum to encourage greater collaboration among competitors. Tricia Handley-Hughes told the trade press she wants to foster greater collaboration among homeworkers from rival companies. Advantage Travel Partnership CEO Julia Lo-Bue Said welcomed ‘any discussion that encourages collaboration and innovation’ across the sector, pointing out that ‘collaboration is already thriving across the wider industry in many other areas, from regulatory standards to advocacy’. “These efforts demonstrate that while direct collaboration between competing homeworking models may be limited, we remain committed to supporting our members in ways that protect their commercial interests while encouraging broader industry cooperation where it adds value,” she said. However, Julia also pointed out there would be ‘a degree of caution when it comes to collaborating with other homeworking groups due to commercial sensitivities and the competitive nature of the market’. Other consortia heads, who did not wish to be named, told Travel Gossip that they already have good relationships with each other. One said they ‘wouldn’t hesitate to put a call in’ to a colleague in a rival consortia, such as to discuss potential concerns. Jake Cullum-Hollins, CEO of The Good Travel Agent, which has 92 homeworkers, said: "There is already a strong sense of community among genuine homeworking travel businesses and with supplier, support such as the upcoming Non-Retail Jet2 Summit, which many of us are excited for, will continue to strengthen those connections. “Dedicated events for homeworkers are exactly what the industry needs to share knowledge and grow together. “While InteleTravel continues to recruit through methods like PlanNet Marketing, we do not feel their approach aligns with our values so we would not look to join or support any forums they arrange,” he said. An individual homeworker, who didn’t wish to be named, said she felt it was ‘audacious’ for InteleTravel to call for closer collaboration ‘from the very people who’s industry they have set out to exploit’. She said Intele’s tactic of telling customers how much commission agents make – and how they can save money by acting as agents themselves – made her reluctant to co-operate with them. David McKerry of We Do Travel, a member of Explorer Travel, agreed that said collaboration ‘at the top’ might help standardise rules, agree ethics or codes of conduct, which he said should include ‘not shouting about inflated commission’. However, he pointed out enforcement could be ‘a bigger issue’. “Most of us already collaborate with industry friends outside our own agencies,” he added. “Our groups are based on those that inspire us, those that we can learn from and those that will support each other.” Other homeworkers said they were already members of WhatsApp groups with agents from competing consortia they’d met at events or on fam trips. “It’s nothing new,” said one, “we collaborate all the time!”

INDEPENDENT travel agency, InteleTravel, is answering questions about their business practices after The Sun’s investigation shined a light on the true cost of joining their organisation to sell travel. With glamorous celebrities like Strictly’s Vicky Pattison and TOWIE’s Jess Wright promoting the scheme on their huge social platforms, it was revealed they could be earning over £200,000 as fans sign up to the scheme.

InteleTravel has confirmed a line-up of speakers for its 2025 overseas conference, which will take place in the Portuguese city of Porto from 26-28 September. It will include ABTA Director of Industry Relations Susan Deer, who will talk about the challenges of over-tourism, and Google Account Strategist travel Ludovic Carrasco, who will reveal holiday search trends, social media behaviour and travel predictions for 2040. White Hart Associates Head of Travel and Leisure Chris Photo will present on the latest booking trends, while InteleTravel executives from the US will reveal the benefits of AI and new tools to support agents. More than 45 suppliers will attend the two-day event. InteleTravel UK and Ireland Managing Director Tricia Handley-Hughes said: “As we mature and go from strength to strength both in the UK and Ireland, we are seeing increasing advisor productivity and confidence. “The focus this year is very much on looking further ahead, which is reflected in the content, and on equipping agents with new skillsets.  I am very excited for what will be, without doubt, our biggest and best conference yet.”

Price-matching doesn’t buy loyalty, managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes reminded consultants at the agency’s Luxury Travel Summit for its top sellers

Moves this week see InteleTravel ’complete’ its expansion for the year, while Lindblad Expeditions has set up its first-ever UK travel advisory board

Moves this week include InteleTravel recruiting Advantage Travel Partnership’s Kelly Cookes, while Carnival Cruise Line’s former international sales director Luke Smith has joined an ultra-luxury cruise line

The Advantage Travel Partnership has lost its chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes to InteleTravel, where she will take on the new role of commercial director from 1 September

Southend Airport joined forces with 10 suppliers in a collaborative event to host over 100 InteleTravel advisors, treating them to a behind-the-scenes tour to showcase its benefits.

InteleTravel said one in 10 travel bookings are related to a live event, concert or sporting event, and this acquisition will enable its network of 130,000 advisors to take advantage of this trend.

InteleTravel has paid an undisclosed sum for a ticketing specialist that will operate as a stand-alone brand and provide product for its agents

Having previously only sold holidays to her family, Elizabeth Riley wants to branch out to serve the town of Llanidloes – and make local residents ’proud’

The new sales come after Dublin-based Lucille Furlong made a booking for 234 people earlier this year, which included members of the Star Struck Dance Academy