Aito Agents expands with addition of six-branch Beverley Travel

Expanding high-street chain Beverley Travel has joined Aito Agents following the organisation’s recent networking event and launch of its partnership manifesto.

The six-branch chain, which also has 15 homeworkers and plans substantial growth, joins another agency, luxury retailer Curated Escapes, as the latest members of the agent arm of The Specialist Travel Association (Aito) while Planet Rail has been announced as a new tour operator member.

The agents joined after being recommended by members of the Aito Agents panel and attending the association’s Mid-Year Marketplace event.

Speaking at this year’s Aito ’famference’, held in Saas-Fee in Switzerland, Aito Agents chair Gemma Antrobus called the recruitment of new members “brilliant news”, adding: “The panel has been instrumental in the recruitment of these new agents.”

Beverley Travel director Karl Douglas said Aito’s values “mirror the direction” of Beverley Travel Group, highlighting the association’s “specialist expertise, strong partner relationships, and exceptional client care”.

He added: “As we grow, we’re becoming more intentional about who we partner with—working closely with a select group of specialists to deliver higher-quality, more tailored travel experiences for our customers.”

Beverley Travel agent Megan Woodcock, from the group’s newest branch in Hull, was one of 13 newcomers at the fifth ‘famference’, which included a mix of 40 agents and suppliers for informal networking while exploring a lesser-known destination.

She said: “It’s been really nice to meet so many different agents and operators, pick their brains and gain knowledge I would not have had if I hadn’t come on this trip.”

Antrobus said the trip embodied Aito’s new Gold Standard Partnerships Manifesto, which was focused on making ‘the right partnerships’ and building  ‘trust and respect’ between agents, operators and business partners. She added: “It’s our responsibility now to go home and talk about this destination [Saas-Fee] to clients.”

Aito Agents now has 82 members while Aito has 102 supplier members. Beverley Travel’s decision to join follows 12-branch agency Spear Travels’ departure last year following its acquisition by Hays Travel.