Egypt tour operator Red Sea Holidays has appointed Ashley Secker as senior trade relations manager.
Secker, who joins from Newmarket Holidays, will support and develop the operator’s agency sales channels and has more than seven years’ experience in the travel industry.
Red Sea Holidays is expanding its travel trade sales function and reinforcing its commitment to high street agencies as well as OTA (online travel agent) partners.
“It’s an exciting time for me to join”, said Secker. “Demand for Egyptian sunshine holidays has really been hotting-up over the last year, so there’s a huge opportunity. My aim is simple: get Egypt back on the map as the best value, guaranteed sunshine destination and put Red Sea Holidays at the front of agents’ minds when thinking of Egypt. It’s a big challenge but one I’m passionate about”.
Red Sea Holidays says it has seen a rising demand for holidays to the Egypt despite Sharm el Sheikh airport being off limits to British carriers since the downing of a Russian charter flight in 2015.
The operator said passenger numbers to Egypt have “recovered strongly over the last year” because of the destination’s price competitiveness versus euro destinations and “an absence of the availability issues that have plagued Spain and the Canaries”.
Red Sea Holidays’ managing director Andrew Grant said: “Market confidence has been returning and we’ve had a great year. Our trade partners have been a huge part of that. With Ashley on board to give our agents the support they need, we can look forward to even better things in the coming year.”