Trade-only luxury operator If Only has nearly doubled the size of its Atol licence for the next 12 months and confirmed plans for a new Glasgow head office.
The operator is now licenced to carry 15,387 holidaymakers per year, up from 8,200.
The company has increased its licence after a record August for Indian Ocean sales and its biggest ever recruitment drive, raising its number of employees by 18%.
Its new destinations, the USA and the Caribbean, are expected to drive the majority of the growth If Only expects in the next year. They already make up 20% of the operator’s sales having been introduced earlier this year.
Sales to Arabia have grown by 32% in the year to date, Asia sales are up 18% and Australasia has shown growth of 170% year to date against 2017.
Head of call centre David Irving said: “The team at If Only have blown me away with their vast and in-depth destination knowledge, it’s certainly a huge factor in our growth and the regular positive feedback from our agent partners is great to hear”.
If Only has also promised its biggest ever peaks campaign and largest ever luxury giveaway for agents.
Sales and marketing director Gordon McCreadie said: “We want to thank agents for their amazing support by giving the trade more of what they love whilst staying true to the ethos, staff expertise and history of If Only. Thanks to our agents we have great momentum to fulfil our mission in making If Only the leading independent trade-only operator in the luxury travel market”.
The If Only headquarters will be moving to a new site in central Glasgow in mid-November and the operator has pledged to keep investing in new travel experts and developing its technology after installing a new telephony system that has reduced call handling times by 20%.
The number of fam trip places offered by If Only has increased by 25%, with 60 agents having been taken away to luxury long-haul destinations in the last quarter.