ITC has joined the Association of Touring and Adventure Suppliers to promote its responsible tourism specialist Rainbow and small-group and tailormade tour brand Regent to agents.
The Chester-based luxury travel group said the sister brands have seen strong sales over the peaks selling period thanks to pent-up demand and requests for ‘bucket-list’ bookings.
Di Selby, ITC trade partnership director, said the Regent and Rainbow have joined Atas to reach travel agents who are “passionate” about selling and recommending touring and adventure holidays to their clients.
“We want to provide an understanding of what our Regent and Rainbow brands are about, build confidence to sell their tours and showcase what makes us different from other tour operators in the market,” she said.
She explained how Rainbow and Regent tours “exceed expectations”, taking clients off the beaten track and beyond the usual tourist sites “with the best local guides”.
“Rainbow creates authentic travel experiences to some of the most beautiful natural wonders across Africa, Latin America and Madagascar. At Regent, holiday experiences are as diverse as gazing at the Northern Lights, exploring the hidden corner of Central Asia, snowmobiling the Arctic Circle and observing orangutans in Borneo,” she added.
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“We’re excited to reach new travel agents that may not have considered or even heard of Regent and Rainbow before.
“Agents help raise our share of voice in the market and are trusted representatives of our products and brands.
“It’s all about having consumer security and protection by booking though a travel agent, rather than doing it alone.
“Once that personalised connection is formed with clients, those all-important, tailormade experiences are curated just for them.”
She said the brands aim to build on their “established and trusted” trade relationships and increase the numbers of enquiries and referrals from agents.
“We want to map the relationships more tightly by making sure the trade knows who to call and connect with within the Rainbow and Regent brands,” she added.
Candice Buchan, head of Rainbow, commented: “January and February were phenomenal for Rainbow. Trading has come back stronger than ever, and we finished February with some of our best results in our history.
“We are finding that bigger parties are wanting to go away for longer. People want to fulfil bucket list experiences now and there’s significant demand, despite economic challenges.
“Our average holiday price is quite a bit higher than previous years. This is due to airfares and is in line with global inflation.”
Andrea Godfrey, head of Regent, added: “Holidays are now considered a necessity rather than a luxury item so we’ve seen an increase in bookings, particularly across our Nordic destinations.
“This has been helped by our partnership with Norwegian cruise company Havila, offering sustainable and environmentally friendly cruises.
“We are seeing a trend towards more experiential and adventure-based trips, as well as sustainable travel with a focus on outdoor and nature-based activities. Customers are opting for longer duration trips, possibly to make up for lost time.
“Holiday prices have been on the rise, partly due to pent-up demand, reduced availability, and increased inflationary costs.
“We have observed price hikes ranging from 10% to almost 40% in certain destinations that are experiencing significant pressures.”
Despite the rising prices, the brands are not reporting concerns about the cost of living among clients.
“Rainbow and Regent offer such extraordinary experiences that we are still getting a good expression of interest,” said Selby.
“Clients may not have travelled in a while and some of our featured countries have only recently opened. There’s huge pent-up demand.”
Selby continued: “At our core, we’re passionate about exploring the world responsibly, ensuring we leave lasting positive contributions to the places and people we visit.
“Our travel specialists across Regent and Rainbow aren’t just well-travelled; many have spent years living across our featured portfolio. They’ll show clients the world through a unique, first-hand lens.”
She said agents receive training, incentives and product updates via email and on the closed Facebook Agents group.
“We also provide rich marketing content within our tool kit and curate fam trips for highly valued partners. We’re currently finalising a Rainbow trip to Costa Rica,” she added.
“It’s important to us to build strong, personal relationships with our trade partners. Currently we’re seeing around 40% from trade sales and we are always growing and learning.”
Claire Brighton, Atas account director, said: “It’s very exciting to welcome two new brands to Atas with the arrival of ITC’s Rainbow and Regent.
“They both offer very distinctive holidays that take clients to fascinating parts of the world – and offer huge sales opportunities for travel agents.
“I look forward to hearing more about their products and support for our agents.”