Youth specialist TruTravels has taken on a new business development manager as part of a wider recruitment drive and growth strategy.
James Lavin is tasked with helping the operator’s expansion by supporting existing travel agents and developing new agency partnerships. He is based at TruTravel’s head office in Kingston, London.
Lavin started his travel career nearly 14 years ago as a Thomas Cook travel agent. He also worked as a rep in Kos for Club 18-30 and as UK and Ireland sales manager for youth brand Contiki.
Other recent recruits at the G Adventures-owned brand have been in marketing, sales and customer service teams.
Mark Pope, co-founder of TruTravels, said: “Agents continue to be a large part of our UK business and the business development manager role is part of our new vision on how we support and service our partners.
“We’ve seen travel trends and the need of our agents change to favour remote support and virtual training and resources. The new BDM role will mirror that shift…focusing on providing quick and efficient support to agents.”
Lavin said this “fresh approach” will see him tailor the operator’s support to the varying needs of different agencies.
“Time that was previously spent on the road can now be spent servicing and catching up with our agents to ensure a seamless partnership and the best relationships possible,” he said.
“Building back better with our agents is my main focus for 2022.
“Being based in the TruTravels HQ, I’ll have more time to focus on training, providing agents with marketing materials and collateral and being a centralised resource that they can call whenever they need.”
TruTravels has been targeting a wider range of travellers in the past 18 months, launching holiday styles such as Flashpacker and FitVentures, so Lavin will be expanding the firm’s agency network to attract customers beyond the youth sector.
These could include agencies that focus on sailing, fitness breaks and upgraded accommodation.
“Similarly, more mainstream agencies are recognising the value in the youth market, with a number creating dedicated youth teams to capture the demand from this travel-hungry demographic,” Lavin added.
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Pope added: “Agents are a massive part of our business and continue to be a large focus for us as we emerge from the pandemic.
“More than ever travellers will be looking to experts for advice and expertise to navigate restrictions.
“Agents help to build trust and confidence and we view them as part of the TruTravels team.
“There’s also a huge opportunity for us to educate agents about our product as we diversify.”
The operator has seen “huge demand” for Latin America and has been running Costa Rica and Mexico tours since November.
Pope said enquiries and bookings rise quickly as soon as countries relax their entry restrictions, especially Thailand.
“Sales are bouncing back and January was a really positive sales month…with us surpassing our 2019 booking levels,” said Pope.
“Pre-pandemic, our operations were predominantly in Asia and, as many countries are still yet to open, the hard work we’ve put in the past 18 months refocusing our operations and launching new destinations is paying off.
“Latin America is extremely strong and is in the driving seat of our sales as we start the new year.
“Last year we operated a shortened, yet sold-out, season in Greece and Croatia, and we’re expecting this year to be bigger and better.
“We were on course to carry 10,000 passengers in 2020. In the past 18 months we’ve launched four new countries and three distinct travel styles…so the sky’s the limit for our passenger numbers and continued growth.”
Last month, TruTravels revealed details of its new fun fitness brand, FitVentures, with group tours departing from May.