Inside Travel Group to expand portfolio and luxury focus

Inside Travel Group has unveiled plans to add programmes in Taiwan and Sri Lanka and grow its luxury portfolio this year.

Taiwan will launch in July with seven self-guided itineraries, while Sri Lanka will follow in the autumn, taking the operator’s portfolio to 13 countries.
The move comes after the Asia specialist outlined plans in 2025 to treble the size of the business in the next five years.

Co-founders Simon King and Alastair Donnelly said the new tours had been years in the making and were based on client feedback about “dream destinations” from 2021.

They said the new destinations also gave agents scope to create longer twin or triple-centre trips, such as combining Taiwan with Japan and South Korea, and Sri Lanka with India.

From a trading perspective, King said this year had “started well” with a strong peak period, particularly for UK trade sales following the launch of an agent hub and a £20,000 holiday incentive.

However, since the start of the Middle East conflict on February 28, the family market, which was due to be a major focus this year, has “struggled”. Donnelly said continuing uncertainty, combined with the rising costs of flights – by up to £500 per person in some cases – were putting families off booking.

King said the luxury market was “more resilient”, prompting the company to add more self-guided cultural adventures for the sector across all destinations. It will also introduce an additional group tour in South Korea, the operator’s second‑most popular destination.

Donnelly explained luxury experiences would prioritise “authentic connection” with local people and guaranteed access to events such as sumo tournaments in Japan.

King revealed the operator was also making progress with its “undertourism” strategy in Japan, with 16% of all trips so far this year including a lesser-visited destination.

He said fam trips in future “should always include” a less-frequented destination to give agents more insight into the country.

Speaking about trade strategy, King and Donnelly promised to “lean into agents that are good partners”, adding the new Inside Travel Agent Hub had seen “great engagement” since its launch in January.

More than 1,400 agents have registered for a new series of webinars, with several attracting more than 300 attendees.

The company’s second £20,000 holiday trade incentive has already seen twice as many agents sign up compared with last year’s incentive.