Student travelers and sport fans are being targeted by two new brands developed by Southall Travel.
ST Fly and ST Sports have been unveiled as part of ongoing business expansion following the appointment of ex-GTMC chief executive Paul Wait as chief operating officer.
ST Fly will handle the needs of the travelling student community offering offer flights, packages, tours and experiences to the 18-30-plus student travel and youth adventure market.
ST Sports plans packages to enthusiasts looking to travel the world playing sports or watching major events such as the Grand Prix, international cricket and rugby.
The additions will bring the group’s consumer facing portfolio to six brands.
Richard Axelsen, Michael Robinson and Steve Watson have joined the business to lead the ST Sports launch whilst ex-STA Travel sales director Jackie Knell has been appointed on a consultancy basis to launch ST FLY.
Charlotte Forrester and Adrian Pointer have been added to the ground product team to focus on the US/Caribbean and Far East/Australasia.
Additional sales staff are being hired in order to support the ST Fly brand.
Chief executive, Kuljinder Bahia, said: “These are extremely exciting new additions to the group and we are confident both brands will prove very popular amongst the student and youth market and sports fans alike.
“We have worked extremelly hard to deliver what we believe will be fantastic brands for both markets.
“The youth market is spending more, travelling more and travelling further afield and according to research, young people represent 20% of the total global travel market so this is a huge opportunity for our business. Sports travel is also growing at a rapid rate and we are extremely excited to be entering this new market.
“As a group, now and going forward, we are fully focussed on delivering premium traffic customers to both our airline and hotel partners.”