The Selling Travel Connect: Luxury events were held at London’s Tower Suites by Blue Orchid on November 26, attracting 51 travel agents, and a day later at Manchester Hall, drawing around 30 agents. Suppliers active in the luxury sphere presented their latest offerings.
Here’s an overview of key points made to attendees:
Bahamas
The Bahamas is booming, offering exciting opportunities for travel agents.
News includes that Sandals Emerald Bay will be reopened as the family-friendly Beaches Exuma resort.
The Bahamas People-To-People Programme is celebrating 50 years of existence. This programme offers travellers authentic cultural connections with local hosts across ten islands at no additional costs.
Travel agents can earn rewards of up to £100 for booking trips to the Bahamas by logging bookings at Bahamas Travel Agents Rewards.
Expedia TAAP
“Expedia TAAP is a leading platform for travel agents, connecting them to Expedia Group’s vast global network of hotels, flights and more. With 15+ years of experience, we offer robust technology, quality travel supply and dedicated support to help agencies thrive,” commented a spokesperson from Expedia TAAP.
Sunlife
Sunlife operates four properties in Mauritius. The most premium is Sugar Beach on the west coast, which was originally a sugar plantation. Next to it is La Pirogue, which has a more local, authentic feel, offering accommodation in individual thatched bungalows. On the east coast, Sunlife operates Ambre a, four-star, adult-only, all-inclusive property, that represents great value. Long Beach is also on the east coast and is a family-friendly property whose facilities include a climbing wall and a full-size football pitch.
Everyone staying at Sunlife’s resorts in Mauritius receives complimentary green fees on the 18-hole, Championship golf course at Ile aux Cerfs.
Emirates
Travellers can fly to Dubai from eight UK airports: London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester, Glasgow and now Edinburgh. From Dubai, Emirates flies to more than 130 destinations across six continents.
Emirates’ new lounge at London Stansted’s Satellite 1 offers direct boarding to aircraft. It is Emirates’ sixth dedicated lounge in the UK, complementing those in London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester.
On December 1, a second daily Emirates flight from Dubai to Perth will be resumed, operated by a B777-300 aircraft, in addition to the current A380 service. The relaunched daily service between Adelaide and Dubai means Emirates operates 70 weekly services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide from Dubai.
First and Business Class passengers make use of a Chauffeur-drive service, access to lounges plus inflight features such as the A380 Shower Spa and Onboard Lounge.
Tourism Australia
Australia’s luxury accommodation offering is growing and a new wave of five-star properties will open over the coming years. The Calile Hotel in Brisbane was recently awarded the best hotel in Oceania for 2024 and is ranked among the top 50 hotels in the world. The Calile Noosa is expected to open in 2026. In Queensland, The Sundays, Hamilton Island’s new boutique hotel – in the heart of Australia’s World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef expected to open in Autumn 2025.
Victoria is also welcoming new high-end hotels. The Hannah St Hotel in Melbourne is due to open in late-2025 and 1 Hotel, Melbourne is also set to open in 2025. Outside of Melbourne, a Six Senses property will be opening at a three-story Art Deco mansion in the Dandenong Ranges.
In 2026 South Australia will welcome the Oscar Seppeltsfield, a new six-star luxury hotel and day spa in the Barossa Valley.
Also in 2026, the opening of the Waldorf Astoria is scheduled in Sydney. It will be the Hilton brand’s first opening in Australia.
Great Journeys
A once-in-a-lifetime travel experience to treasure, Great Journeys’ fully guided rail tours of New Zealand’s picturesque landscapes visit world-famous destinations and local gems. The rail journey is every bit as spectacular as spending time in destinations along the route.
Guests can relax in style in the company of Great Journeys’ Travel Director during the scenic train journeys, exploring destinations and participating in activities along the route.
Catalan Tourist Board
In 2025 Catalonia will be the World Region of Gastronomy – the first place in Europe to be awarded the title. It is part of an innovative and regenerative tourism model in which gastronomy goes beyond restaurants to open doors to people discovering the region and its unique local food and wine production.
Over the coming years, several new flight connections to Catalonia will be available from airports in the UK and Ireland. In 2025, flights to Reus Airport will start from Liverpool (Jet2), London Luton (Jet2) and London Southend (easyJet). Reus will also have flights from Bournemouth (Jet2) in 2026, the year in which flights between Newcastle and Barcelona (Jet2) and Edinburgh and Girone (Jet2) will start operating.
Abercrombie & Kent
Abercrombie & Kent has a global infrastructure of over 55 DMC offices across 30 countries and a presence in 50 countries. That provides full control of the customer experience from beginning to end and teams with unparalleled ‘insider’ local knowledge.
In 2025, Pure Amazon will be introduced, Abercrombie & Kent’s first riverboat in Peru. Operating on the Maranon and Ucayali rivers, the riverboat features 12 elegant, architect-designed suites and cabins, an indoor-outdoor restaurant serving local and international dishes, a Jacuzzi, a sun deck and wellness space. There will be a maximum of 22 passengers per cruise with a staff-to-guest ratio of one-to-one.
The company has a range of brands: Cox and Kings, Crystal Cruises, Sanctuary Retreats, A&K Villas, Luxury Expedition Cruises and Eco Ventura.
Barut Hotels
Family-owned, Barut Hotels operates five-star properties and its luxury villas in Antalya, Side and Didim offer an ultra all-inclusive option representing the ultimate in quality, service, choice and value for money.
On the Delice Peninsula, between Izmir and Bodrum, Anda Barut Collection opened in May 2023. The resort is divided into three zones: adult, community and family. Exceptionally stylish, Anda Barut Collection offers unadulterated luxury and relaxation.
Van Isacker
On the west coast of Barbados, Blue Monkey Hotel and Beach Club is opening in the spring of 2025. Bookings are now open for this Leading Hotels of the World property with 28 one and two-bedroom suites near Paynes Bay beach. Infusing the charm of a Caribbean getaway with five-star service, this property offers guests unique, boutique offerings and a distinctly modern vibe.
Recently opened at The Leela Palace Udaipur, Arq at Picholais an exclusive collection of one and two-bedroom ultra-luxury villas that create a new standard of Indian luxury. Every experience is refined, elevated and tailored to offer the purest essence of immersive indulgence.
Rotana
Saadiyat Rotana Resort and Villas is Rotana’s flagship luxury property in Abu Dhabi.
Available for bookings until December 20 for stays from January 11, 2025, the latest offer at Saadiyat Rotana Resort and Villas allows children under the age of 12 to receive a complimentary upgrade to a full board meal plan, regardless of the meal plan originally booked. This means more time for family fun and fewer concerns about meal costs while staying at the beachfront property.
Sun Siyam
From November 1, Sun Siyam Resorts introduced a 24-hour all-inclusive concept across all five of its Maldives properties: Siyam World, Sun Siyam Iru Fushi, Sun Siyam Olhuveli, Sun Siyam Iru Veli, Sun Siyam Vilu Reef. Dedicated 24/7 food and beverage outlets were introduced in each resort. In doing so, it became the first hospitality group in the Maldives to offer 24-hour all-inclusive across all resorts.
The Maldivian-owned company is known for its commitment to attainable luxury and product innovation. Guests can enjoy gourmet dining at multiple restaurants, premium drinks and an extensive selection of activities – all included. That embraces snorkelling safaris, dolphin cruises, sunset fishing and a spa or water sports credit.
Each resort brings its own unique touch to the all-inclusive experience. For example, Iru Veli’s Premium All-Inclusive Signature Plan covers activities like paddleboarding and windsurfing, and even offers jet ski or spa credits along with three excursions.
The events in London and Manchester
The events were well-received and provided travel agents with opportunities to drop their cards to win prizes provided by the suppliers present.
The winners in London were Elena Palkova of Intele Travel (Bahamas), Maryna Scherbakova of Luxe Sojourns (Sunlife), Gillian Davies of Travel Counsellors (Emirates), Darrell Toakley-Williams of Darrell James Travel (Tourism Australia), Lyida Sollitt of Travel Counsellors (Great Journeys), Mark Riordan of Travel Counsellor (Expedia TAAP), John Coles of Kew Bridge Travel (Catalan Tourist Board), Dany Konsein of Travel-PA (Abercrombie & Kent) and Daryl Glean of Travel Counsellors (Barut Hotels).
A day later, the winners were Kathryn Parfey of British Airways (Bahamas), Stacey Ramnath of Travel Counsellors (Sunlife), Janet Connolley of Designer Travel (Great Journeys), Vicky Donaghey of Travel Counsellors (Van Isacker), Simon Bollington of Travel Counsellors (Sun Siyam), Jane Bailey of Bond Travel (Catalan Tourist Board), Karen Moore of Travel Counsellors (Barut Hotels) and Faisal Khan of The Travel Brand (Rotana).
“Last night’s event was a fantastic opportunity for Abercrombie & Kent to showcase their unique experiential, boutique brands to a well-established, experienced, group of luxury travel agents from in and around the London area,” commented Craig Liddle, Regional Sales Manager for Abercrombie & Kent and Cox and Kings.
These events are a great way of connecting with lots of agents at once and building brand awareness and strong relationships. As you can appreciate travelling round the capital with brochures and sales materials is neither easy practical or cost effective, so events like Selling Travel Luxury offers a fantastic solution.
Simon Bollington of Travel Counsellors attended the Manchester event and rated it as great. “It is a chance to learn about destinations and hotels, and the changes in the different room varieties and how close they are to the facilities,” he commented.
The next Selling Travel Connect event will be held at the Hyatt Regency London Stratford on December 9 and will have Africa as its theme. Find out more and sign up on the Selling Travel website.
London Winners
Manchester Winners
