Gold Medal, the flagship brand of dnata Travel Group UK, have today launched their second brochure of 2024, Caribbean & Mexico, showcasing their expanded portfolio of products and the variety of unique experiences that the B2B operator can offer.   Featuring a range of stunning destinations across 116 pages, including Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica, the new brochure features ever-popular resorts plus several newly opened resorts and a series of renovated properties. There is also a great choice of family-friendly and adult-only options allowing customers to choose their perfect escape. The brochure provides inspiration for smaller islands too, such as Aruba, St Vincent, The Grenadines and Turks and Caicos.   The brand identified the demand for a new brochure, as Barbados and Antigua sales have increased by 22% and 26% year on year, while Jamaica and Grenada have shown significant growth by over 40%, greatly impacted by the increased flight capacity to both islands.   To celebrate the launch of the Gold Medal Caribbean & Mexico 2024-25 brochure, Gold Medal are giving agents the chance to join them on an FAM trip to Barbados. In partnership with Barbados Tourism and Aer Lingus - there’s one of four places up for grabs.   To be in with a chance of winning a place, agents must make a Caribbean or Mexico package booking with Gold Medal, between 14 May - 15 July. Double entries will be awarded for packages with Aer Lingus flights.   Deborah Wadhams, Head of Long-Haul product shared, “This brochure has been created by our passionate team who have so much knowledge to share. With an outstanding selection of all-inclusive properties throughout the portfolio, agents’ need look no further for assured fun-filled and stress-free holidays to the Caribbean and Mexico.   Wadhams continued, “With the increased global focus on sustainability, we were also keen to highlight some of our resorts that are showing meaningful commitment in this area, so agents can discover these resorts for their more conscious travellers too."

The top performing six Vertical Travel Group sales agents for Gold Medal, Pure Luxury, Incredible Journeys and Cruise Plus were recently hosted on a VIP reward trip to Thailand. The agents from the Holiday Elite and Your Holiday Booking brands were invited on an eight-night break from 17 - 25 March, organized by Gold Medal and Vertical Sales Manager Suzanne Brunt. Experiences included Elephant Hills, Khao Lak as well as free time to explore Phuket. Brunt said: “This trip is the second dedicated incentive from Gold Medal and their sister brands which has been launched at our two most recent conferences.” “We are very lucky to work within an industry which sees well deserved reward trips such as this” Holiday Elite homeworker Kerry Kitto added: “I had the most amazing time visiting Thailand and witnessing first-hand the different resorts and hotels.” 

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  Gold Medal released their first dedicated Florida Private Homes & Villas guide last week that showcases five private rental homes, perfect for a trip to Orlando with the family. The guide launched at a time when Gold Medal Florida bookings and car hire in the destination are both performing well.   Florida Destination Manager, Leanne Davies, visited all the featured resorts firsthand to give agents and their customers a confident insight into the rental properties available in this fun-filled destination.   Leanne shared, “I was lucky enough to travel to Orlando and spend some time with one of our partners - Tropical Escape Vacation Homes, gaining invaluable insight into the communities and homes that we feature. This guide showcases five of the homes I visited, with some personal top tips and recommendations throughout.”   With the release of the guide, Gold Medal are rewarding agents with INSTANT £75 Farebank Rewards on all Florida Private Villa package bookings until 30 April 2024 online or via the sales centre. To discover the guide and for more incentive information, agents should visit goldmedal.co.uk.   Gold Medal have also reported that bookings for Florida car hire are in growth. Bookings for car hire in Orlando have reached almost 50% growth year on year, with data suggesting that customers are starting their holiday with an Orlando Villa stay, before driving across to the Gulf Coast beaches of St Petes, Fort Myers and Clearwater.   Including car hire in a Florida package with Gold Medal means customers can easily see more of the destination on their holiday. Gold Medal ensures customers receive a ‘skip the counter’ service after a long flight, plus they provide the option to add an additional driver free of charge.   Adrian James, Product & Commercial Director shared, “We have worked hard to expand our offering of private homes and villas in Florida and we are now able to proudly share our portfolio with agents. Understanding the different options and breadth of product available for agents and their clients was something our product manager, Leanne, wanted to explore and there was no better way for her to do this than to see it firsthand. The creation of this guide was a result of her visit, and we always strive to ensure the products Gold Medal provide are hand-selected and come highly recommended.”

Dnata Travel Group UK’s flagship B2B brand Gold Medal is bring back its Mega Fam in September.   Gold Medal is giving 24 winning travel agents, in four groups, the chance to experience the Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand or Abu Dhabi. Then they will all meet up in Dubai for a five-star stay at One&Only Royal Mirage for the Mega Fam finale. Gold Medal’s last annual Mega Fam was in 2019. Back this year as the first post-pandemic Mega Fam, the trip includes return flights with Emirates and luxury accommodation. There are 24 travel agent places to be won and a variety of ways to enter. Gold Medal will be awarding one place for an agent who attends Gold Medal's webinar with Emirates on 26 March. Also, every week for four weeks, one winner will be selected in a bookings prize draw and announced on Gold Medal's Facebook page. Additionally, three wild card places will be awarded; and sixteen places will be awarded from a prize draw at the end of the incentive period on 30 April 2024. Agents can enter their bookings into the prize draw by emailing [email protected]. Sarah Lancashire, Marketing Director dnata Travel Group UK said: "Our incentives are always well received and throughout peaks we saw record numbers of entries into all our incentives.” “This trip takes Fam trips as we know them to a whole new level and provides travel agents with an experience no other operator can offer."

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  Gold Medal, the flagship B2B brand of dnata Travel Group UK, have today confirmed that the biggest multi-centre FAM trip of the year is set to travel again this September.   Gold Medal are giving 24 winning agents, in four groups, the chance to experience the Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand or Abu Dhabi, before all meeting in Dubai for an extraordinary stay at five-star One&Only Royal Mirage for the Mega FAM finale.   The last annual Mega FAM ran by Gold Medal travelled in 2019, and the iconic annual trip was incredibly popular amongst agents, but sadly due to travel restrictions, these came to a pause in 2020. As it returns for 2024, the trip will include return flights with Emirates, luxury accommodation at iconic hotels, and the opportunity to celebrate in style with Gold Medal at exciting destinations.   There are an incredible 24 places to be won on this trip with a variety of ways to enter. Gold Medal will be awarding one place for an agent who attends Gold Medal’s webinar with Emirates on 26 March; every week for four weeks, one winner will be selected in a bookings prize draw and announced on Gold Medal’s Facebook page; three wild card places will be awarded; and sixteen places will be awarded from a prize draw at the end of the incentive period, 30 April 2024.   Agents can enter their bookings into the prize draw by emailing [email protected].   Sarah Lancashire, Marketing Director dnata Travel Group UK shared, “Our incentives are always well received by agents, and this was clear throughout peaks where we saw record numbers of entries into all our incentives. It is for that reason that I am delighted to share the news with agents that our previously popular MEGA FAM is set to return this September, and they can all be in with a chance of winning a place. This trip takes FAM trips as we know them to a whole new level and provides agents with an experience no other operator can offer.”   Lancashire continued, “We are so grateful to our trusted industry partners that help us make these opportunities possible. Our unrivalled programme of FAM trips would not exist without their support and our joint dedication to providing agents with the best possible education. We can’t wait to award places to a whopping 24 agents on this trip of a lifetime.”

  Dnata Travel Group UK’s B2B brands Gold Medal, Pure Luxury, Cruise Plus and Incredible Journeys launched four dedicated peaks campaigns at the start of January, which ran until 29 February. Each brand-specific campaign was designed to inspire travel based on the latest trends, whilst highlighting the extensive long-haul, luxury, cruising, and touring product available for agents to book.   As the peaks period came to an end last week, the dnata brands have reported their discoveries and highlights.   Gold Medal, the flagship brand of dnata Travel Group UK enjoyed a successful peaks period with some of their top destinations - Dubai, Florida, and Las Vegas - all showing year on year growth. The standout performance however came from Thailand, which reached 25% growth in bookings.   The brand saw a 24% increase in muti-centre bookings, suggesting customers are looking to experience more variety and breadth from their holidays, and a significant increase in family bookings, and solo traveller bookings.   Maldives was the highest growing destination for their ultra-luxury brand, Pure Luxury, reaching a 40% growth in bookings year on year. New York also outperformed the previous peaks period, with a 40% growth in bookings. They both sit in Pure Luxury’s top destinations for peaks, alongside Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Las Vegas and Florida.   Most luxury bookings made were to travel in February and March 2024, with a significant number heading into December for festive breaks.   Cruise Plus – the brand that specialises in tailor-made cruising holidays around the globe - had their best week on record this peaks period and saw growth into every cruise type. The strongest performances were reported into the luxury and ultra-luxury cruise sectors, that both reached triple digit growth following advancements made in 2023 by the brand into Luxury by Cruise Plus.   Agents trading with Cruise Plus increased by 15% year on year, with over 60% of their customers being couples.   The touring and adventure brand of dnata Travel Group, Incredible Journeys, recorded its biggest booking to date over their eight-week campaign, and broke their own records three weeks in a row. Bookings for Lapland proved immensely popular as Finland had the highest growth in bookings, followed by Sri Lanka, Peru and Japan.   Agents booking with the brand increased by 34% compared to the last peaks period, and their average booking value grew by over 14%.   Adrian James, Product & Commercial Director dnata Travel Group UK B2B shared, “All our B2B brands had a successful peaks and achieved some exceptional records. It was great to see that agents are picking up the phones and calling our expert teams more than ever before, with call volumes in substantial growth year on year for each brand – Gold Medal (+20%), Pure Luxury (+20%), Cruise Plus (+42%) and Incredible Journeys (over 100%).   Not only this, but it is apparent agents have increased trust in our Gold Medal website. The web alone took over 200% more bookings and achieved an increase of over 200% in sales, which is a reflection of the substantial investments made across the last 12 months.”   James continued, “We are constantly looking for ways to expand our product portfolio and provide agents with the most relevant and competitive offers. As we look ahead to the rest of 2024, this will continue to be a focus of our brands with more exciting campaigns, brochures and opportunities to inspire travel, still to come.”

  Medal have reported Thailand as “the place to be in 2024” following growth across all metrics this peaks.   Thailand has always been popular for the long-haul tour operator – consistently featuring in their top 5 destinations throughout the year, however this Peaks period has seen a 30% growth in bookings year-on-year – equating to 12% of all bookings for the trade-only specialist.   The momentum for Thailand has been growing weekly since the start of January; week one saw a +23% growth in sales compared to the previous year, week two +24%, and week three +36%.   Gold Medal are seeing Phuket as the most popular resort within Thailand, followed by Bangkok, Khao Lak and Krabi. These top four have all seen growth in bookings year-on-year; Phuket by 30%, Bangkok by 20%, Khao Lak by 80%, and Krabi by over 100%.   Since relaunching their online booking functionality last year, Gold Medal agents have been exploring the website and making more bookings online, amplifying this substantial growth in Thailand bookings year-on-year.   Although single-centre and twin-centre bookings have both seen growth compared to the same period last year, the trend for multi-centre trips continues - with a growth of over 40%. The spike in multi-centre bookings suggest customers are wanting to experience more of this incredible country on their Asia holiday.   Deborah Wadhams, Head of Long-Haul Product, Gold Medal shared, “Thailand is a seemingly limitless destination, offering bustling cities, tropical jungles and some of the best beaches in the world - it is no wonder that we are seeing a growth in bookings across the board - couples, solo travellers and families - all wanting to experience the beauty and awe-inspiring variety of the country.”   Wadhams continued, “Not only are customers venturing to different areas across Thailand, but we have also seen they are choosing to spend more on their holiday this peaks than in previous years. The desire to experience the far east has been continuously growing, but it would appear that Thailand is the place to be in 2024.”

  Dnata Travel Group UK’s B2B brands Gold Medal, Pure Luxury, Cruise Plus and Incredible Journeys plan to take January peaks by storm with four standalone, brand specific campaigns with supporting books, launching 02 January and running until 29 February. As always, the brands have launched their campaigns with several market-leading booking incentives for their agents:   Gold Medal – The Worldwide Holiday Sale 2024   Centred around their most popular destinations, resorts and airlines across the globe, and drawing on the expertise of the Gold Medal teams, The Worldwide Holiday Sale 2024 will arm travel agents with everything they require to entice their customers to travel the world this year and into 2025.   To celebrate the launch of The Worldwide Holiday Sale 2024, January sees the return of Gold Medal’s most engaged incentive to date, The Gold Medal Grand Giveaway. One lucky agent per week will win £1,000 Farebank Rewards, for bookings made between 02 January - 29 February 2024.   Pure Luxury – Travel Trends 2024   Featuring 65 luxury properties, the campaign is broken down into eight hand-selected themes: Beach Retreats, Romantic Escapes, All-Inclusive, Newcomers, Wellness, Epicurean Escapes, Wanderlust and Family Holidays.   Following the success and popularity amongst agents for their 2023 campaign, Pure Luxury have reimagined the same thematic style for 2024 with updated inspiration, a fresh look and feel, and a significant number of additional offers. Plus, an even bigger 84-page book, available in both print and digital.   Pure Luxury are celebrating the launch of Travel Trends 2024, by giving agents the chance to win one of eight places on two ultra-luxury FAM trips – one travelling east and one travelling west in 2024. Agents could be joining Pure Luxury on the beautiful west coast of Mexico in partnership with One&Only Resorts and AeroMexico, or on the idyllic island paradise of Mauritius.   Cruise Plus – Worldwide Sale 2024/2025   This campaign from Cruise Plus features the very best in worldwide Ocean, Luxury, River and Expedition cruising, combined with an extensive array of ground and touring product to create bespoke itineraries.   The campaign features 28 tailormade cruise and stay itineraries across Cruise Plus’s most beloved destinations: the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific, Alaska, South America, Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean. 2   When agents book with Cruise Plus between 02 January - 29 February they can be in with a chance of winning one of five places on a Luxury by Cruise Plus FAM trip, in partnership with Explora Journeys. This incredible FAM trip embarks at Vancouver and disembarks at LA, with a stop at San Francisco along the way. In addition, when making a Cruise Plus booking agents can enter to win a seven-day Arabian cruising holiday for two with MSC, staying in a Balcony Cabin.   Incredible Journeys – Little Book of Incredible Journeys   Incredible Journeys are proud to be working in collaboration with their esteemed touring partners on their latest campaign – Little Book of Incredible Journeys, combining experiences they offer with an extensive array of scheduled air and exceptional ground product to create bespoke itineraries.   The supporting 76-page book features 32 expertly curated tours to Incredible Journeys’ top destinations including Far East, Africa, Latin America, Indian Ocean, Australia & New Zealand, USA & Canada, Europe and Arabia & North Africa.   Agents can win one of three amazing touring holidays with Incredible Journeys. They have teamed up with their touring partners to provide a Marrakesh and the Coast tour from G Adventures; a Best of Greece tour from Trafalgar; and a Vietnam Express tour courtesy of Intrepid. Bookings made with G Adventures, Trafalgar or Intrepid will receive an extra entry to the prize draw.   In addition, throughout January and February, all bookings made with Gold Medal, Pure Luxury, Cruise Plus and Incredible Journeys will be entered into a weekly prize draw to win luxury gifts. January’s themed prizes will be based on wellness and detox, whilst February will focus on wine hampers and restaurant vouchers.

 

With a chance to win a holiday to Canada, including a stay at the iconic Ice Hotel

 

For the first time ever, dnata Travel Group UK’s B2B brands have released a multi brand campaign titled Winter Escapes, launching 01 November. Gold Medal, Pure Luxury, Cruise Plus and Incredible Journeys have shared their winter recommendations and the experiences they offer across four themes: Festive Breaks, Unique Experiences, Winter Sun and Winter Wonders.

  A dedicated Winter Escapes digital brochure will be available to agents on the dedicated micro-site complete with downloadable content, and a variety of winter snow and sun offers featured in marketing communications throughout November. Agents can expect to find worldwide tailor-made 3-5* holidays to destinations such as New York for Christmas breaks; The Galápagos or Japan for once in a lifetime trips; or the Caribbean - for those seeking a sunshine escape during the cold UK winter months.   To celebrate the launch of Winter Escapes, the brands are giving agents the chance to win a holiday to Canada, in association with Air Canada. This exclusive incentive will run between 01 November and 15 December 2023. The holiday includes return economy flights, car hire for the full holiday duration, 3 nights in Quebéc City and 1 night at Hôtel de Glace. To enter, agents must simply make a Gold Medal, Pure Luxury, Cruise Plus or Incredible Journeys package booking departing between 01 November 2023 – 31 March 2024 or 01 November 2024 – 31 March 2025. Make a booking including flights with Air Canada for double entry.   Sarah Lancashire, Marketing Director dnata Travel Group UK B2B shared, “Our brand-new Winter Escapes campaign features sought-after winter sun and snow worldwide holidays, luxury retreats, cruises and touring – perfectly showcasing the expertise of each of our dnata Travel Group UK B2B brands.   Lancashire continued, “Our focus has been predominantly on sunshine holidays, but we know that many destinations come to life in the winter months. We have worked closely with our incredible supplier partners to source a wonderful and inspiring selection of snow activities unique to winter in captivating destinations across the globe, that we know our agents and their clients are going to love. That being said, we also recognise the charming appeal of jetting off to warmer climates during the winter months, so agents can expect to see winter sun inspiration too”.   Sample Gold Medal package from the Winter Escapes campaign: 3 nights 4* Hotel Holt, Reykjavik Standard Room, Room Only 4 nights 4* RIU Plaza New York Times Square Deluxe Superior King with View, with Breakfast Return indirect flights from London Heathrow with Icelandair 19th February 2024 2 adults, £1,449pp

  Gold Medal welcomed agents to their head office in Leyland last week as part of their Access All Areas day – their signature ‘behind the scenes’ event. The event provided agents with the opportunity to connect with selected suppliers from across the globe through deep-dive educational 45-minute sessions, as well as the opportunity to network with fellow agents and, of course, the Gold Medal team.   Partners attending the all-day event were Tourism Western Australia, Emirates, Visit Ras Al Khaimah, Sun Siyam Resorts, Qatar Airways, Walt Disney World Resort and British Airways. Each focused session delivered by these supplier partners provided extensive insight into each brand and the opportunity for agents to ask questions and learn more about key focus areas.   Karen Fletcher, Trade Partnerships Director at Gold Medal shared, “Access All Areas is the perfect platform for our agents to build relationships with suppliers, and each other. Providing educational sessions in a comfortable and relaxed environment always receives strong engagement and the feedback from our attendees has been really positive”.   Fletcher continued, “We are proud to have strong partnerships within the trade and are very grateful that they also see the value in meeting our agents, and sharing their first-hand knowledge that can’t be found just from brochures or online. The day also allowed agents to meet our sales and operations teams, people who they may speak to daily but have never met in person – again advancing relationships to create more successful partnerships.”   The event began with a warm welcome and presentation and concluded with time for refreshments and prizes.

  Gold Medal are giving agents the chance to win a multicentre holiday to Singapore and Thailand to celebrate their new Far East & India brochure, launching today 28 September. Filled with 17 brand new hotels, 12 new experiences and 116-pages of expert insider knowledge, agents across the UK can inspire their customers with the incredible beauty, diversity, and culture that this destination has to offer.   200 agents will receive the Gold Medal Far East & India brochure today, with dedicated eshots, web landing pages and social media content planned in across the eight-week campaign. The supporting collateral has been created to guide agents to the best offers and to delight their customers with holiday recommendations, hand selected by passionate experts who have over 40 years’ experience.   To celebrate the launch, Gold Medal are giving agents the opportunity to win a 9-night holiday for two people to Singapore & Thailand, with Singapore Airlines. Agents who make a package booking from 28 September until 02 November to any Far East or India destination can enter the prize draw by sending their booking references to [email protected] with the subject line ‘Take me to the Far East’. One lucky winner will be announced in November.   Gold Medal are also reminding agents about their competitive Farebank Rewards, which are available on every booking. Double Rewards are available from 28 September – 31 October on bookings made to the Far East and India.   Head of Product – Long Haul, Deborah Wadhams shared, “Our experts have balanced adventure with relaxation, and ancient cultures with sandy beaches throughout the creation of this brochure, with every holidaymaker’s request in mind. After looking at recent booking trends, and from listening to our agents, we have identified that customers are wanting longer stays in the Far East and India, with multicentre holidays being a popular choice. Therefore, this was a priority for us to include to ensure we are supporting our agents in offering what their customers are looking for from their travels to this incredible destination.”   Wadhams continued, “The Far East and India have so many incredible hotels and touring opportunities. We would highly recommend a stay at Elephant Hills, which offers a 100% ethical elephant encounter in Thailand; or experiencing a Vespa sidecar ride through Singapore to tour this historical city. The colourful culture of India can be explored on a ‘Delhi to Kathmandu Adventure’ where the pristine serenity of Nepal’s Himalayan mountains awaits eager explorers. No dream holiday is unachievable with our expert sales team ready to support agents throughout every stage.”   Gold Medal launched their September peaks campaign earlier this month, titled “The Experts Edit” which features a hand-picked selection of world-class hotels, resorts and tours from across the globe. Information about this campaign along with its booking incentives can still be accessed by agents on Gold Medal’s dedicated microsite, alongside their latest Far East and India brochure.

  Pure Luxury, the ultra-luxury sister brand of Gold Medal, have shared their latest collection of sensational resorts across the most beloved destinations as part of their September peaks campaign. Titled The Portfolio, the campaign has been developed with true passion by their inhouse experts and is supported by Pure Luxury’s micro-site and a brand-new book. The campaign begins 05 September and will run for eight weeks.   The Portfolio highlights the extensive knowledge of the Pure Luxury team and the exceptional quality of partners they work with. The stylish 60-page book is split by destination, making it easy for agents to navigate, and will be landing with 200 agent partners this week, alongside a supporting pricing sheet to highlight the luxury offers.   Launching on the same day is The Portfolio’s micro-site, where agents can find individual landing pages for every property featured, plus destination insight and downloadable marketing assets including the book, offers and social media content - all created to inspire travel and help agents drive sales.   With the launch of their new campaign, Pure Luxury are giving agents the chance to win a phenomenal four-night New York holiday for two people, staying at Mondrian Park Avenue Hotel and flying business class with United Airlines. The winning agent will also receive $500 spending money and a SUMMIT One experience.   To enter the prize draw, agents must make a Pure Luxury package booking between 05 September and 31 October and register their bookings here, or send their booking reference to [email protected] by 01 November. For agents who book United Airlines flights as part of their customers’ booking, they will receive an extra entry.   Passionate about rewarding their luxury agents for their ongoing loyalty, the brand will also be  hosting a weekly Facebook giveaway, with all bookings between 05 September and 31 October being entered into the draw. Prizes, including Neom gifts, Pure Luxury branded merchandise and a branded hamper inclusive of Champagne, are all up for grabs.   And in addition, Pure Luxury are also reminding agents about their industry leading Farebank rewards scheme, which allows them to earn on all Pure Luxury package bookings.   Sarah Lancashire, dnata Travel Group UK B2B Marketing Director, commented, “The inclusions within the campaign, book and micro-site have been carefully hand-selected with all dream holidays considered across USA, Indian Ocean, Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, UAE, Caribbean, and Europe. We have 50 enticing offers prepared for our agents to promote, and our expert sales team is ready and waiting to help them to secure their customers’ luxury bookings.”  Lancashire continued, “Over the last 12 months we have made enhancements across our Pure Luxury brand including the team, operations, marketing, training and incentives. Our dedication to expanding and investing in Pure Luxury has enabled us to create The Portfolio to an exceptional standard, and we are immensely proud to deliver this to our agents.”   Pure Luxury’s sister brands Gold Medal, Cruise Plus and Incredible Journeys are also releasing inspirational campaigns this week to support market demand and provide both last minute escapes and 2024 departures.