TTG's 30 Under 30: Class of 2016

Senior associate, Travlaw

Farina works in the commercial department for Leeds-based specialist law firm Travlaw, offering advice on issues such as the Package Travel Regulations, Atol, data protection and Office of Fair Trading guidance. Farina also set up and runs Travlaw’s Intellectual Property department. She has been building up her profile by appearing on stage at the Aito conference in Istanbul last year, as well as writing opinion pieces in the trade press.

What her nominator said: I have witnessed Farina's confidence and ability to provide practical and pragmatic advice on a range of complex legal issues. Farina is building up an excellent reputation as one of the travel sector's leading commercial lawyers.

Senior marketing executive, Mark Warner

One of Emilia’s main achievements has been organising this year’s Advantage Travel Partnership Conference at Mark Warner’s resort in Bodrum, which was the first time that a tour operator has hosted a consortium conference. She has also created a “mummy blogger” platform using social media to promote the company’s resorts within this community.

What her nominator said: Emilia has helped Mark Warner to become one of the most recognised travel brands in the mummy blogger community and delivered significant positive PR in raising Mark Warner's profile as the leading family holiday tour operator.

Co-founder, Much Better Adventures

Sam is the co-founder of Much Better Adventures with Alex Narracott, a global marketplace for booking tailor-made holidays and experiences through local, independent specialists. Sam set up the business with Alex in 2012 and they are now leading the company’s global roll-out to new destinations across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

What he said: We have more than doubled customer numbers year-on-year and have secured external growth funding from multiple investors including industry executives and our supplier base. It's an exciting year ahead!

Strategy business partner, Virgin Holidays

Umberto has a key role at Virgin Holidays working closely with the operator’s managing director and head of strategy to shape the direction of the business. This includes leading the internal Plan to Win initiative which has helped to double Virgin’s profitability since being introduced last year. Umberto also works with Sir Richard Branson’s Centre of Entrepreneurship helping young people to develop their business skills in the Caribbean and South America.

What he said:

I mentor young entrepreneurs from a variety of industries and at different business development stages on issues ranging from business plan drafting for an online retailer to employee relations for an established coffee plantation.

Founding director, The Beyond Travel Company

Jessica co-founded The Beyond Travel Company earlier this year with the aim of offering a range of “bohemian” luxury travel holidays. She has used her background in the theatre industry and immersive events to create these experience-based trips.

What her nominator said: Jessica is a force to be reckoned with. She has shaped our innovative new range of experiences, which is pioneering the idea of experiential travel with the theme of bohemian luxury adventures.

Account manager, Click Travel

Baljinder has moved up the ranks of the Birmingham-based travel management company from being a junior account manager to account manager after initially joining the company in 2010. She has played a major part in helping Click to achieve a record-breaking year by retaining all her clients and recording a 100% satisfaction rate. She also writes a series of blogs for Click’s marketing department.

What her nominator said: She is an absolute star. As one of hugely successful account management team, she works with some of the best in the business. But even in such illustrious company, Bal stands out as a truly remarkable individual.

Trade marketing manager, Celebrity Cruises

Australian Pascale joined Celebrity’s marketing team in 2014 while on her honeymoon. Despite having no background in travel, she has been responsible for project managing the relaunch of Celebrity’s Eclipse, launching the line’s agent reward programme and creating its promotional trade strategy.

What her nominator said: She has since demonstrated an incredible passion for the travel industry making an impressive mark both internally with the business and externally with our trade partners. Her energy, passion for delivering brilliant work and commitment to the brand and business is just the start.

Managing director, Check-in-London.com

Gavin founded his booking website in 2009 to capture growing demand for serviced apartment accommodation in London. Under his guidance, the company has achieved bookings of more than £12 million over the last five years. He has also been appointed as deputy chair of the Hotel Booking Agents Association’s serviced apartment committee where he is aiming to increase awareness of the sector.

What his nominator said: Gavin promotes a strong work ethic within his team nurturing relationships with accommodation providers and delivering a high standard of customer service resulting in a large volume of repeat clients.

Head of engineering finance UK, Tui Travel Group

Ryan plays a key role in supporting the group’s fleet of aircraft from a financial perspective. He leads a team of 10 staff who account for the spending on engineering and maintenance for Tui’s 61 aircraft. Over the last three years, Ryan’s team has helped to save more than £50 million by driving efficiencies and securing better commercial contracts.

What he said: As well as delivering bottom line savings I have also streamlined a number of finance processes, saving a large amount of time and money, and have won awards internally for these efforts.

Head of marketing, Honeymoon Dreams/Pure Destinations

Since joining the company in June 2013, Tom has seen the marketing team grow from two to five people as the company has expanded. He now heads up the marketing department and has been the driving force in improving Honeymoon Dreams’ search engine optimisation (SEO), which has seen organic traffic rise by 825% since joining the company. Tom is also in charge of all PPC (pay per click) and email marketing.

What he said: I have organised client events with companies such as Armani and Harvey Nichols and our first holiday exhibition. With increasing web visits and enquiries, it has enabled us to increase staff, revenue and profit.

Creative, marketing & editorial manager, Jacada Travel

After joining Jacada Travel 18 months ago, Heather now manages a team of seven. One of her most recent achievements has been to organise an event at the Royal Geographical Society, which raised over £10,000 for rhino projects in Botswana. Heather has doubled the company’s social media followers through initiatives such as Instagram takeovers and introduced marketing videos. She has also launched Jacada first consumer magazine.

What she said: In response to my team’s work, our enquiries have notably increased over 2015 in comparison to previous years and we are gaining more and more repeat clients.

Senior resourcing manager, Thomas Cook

Emily has overhauled the way Cook recruits staff for its shops and call centres by introducing a new customer-focused selection process with includes exercises on sales and service. She has also added leadership and behaviour testing for Cook’s managers and leaders, with emotional intelligence testing due to be introduced as well.

What her nominator said: Emily has transformed the way we hire both front line travel consultants across our UK shops and contact centres, and also managers in all areas.

Senior PR executive, Tourism Australia

James manages the day-to-day press office for the tourist board, as well as working on bigger projects such as a recent shoot in Australia for ITV’s Good Morning Britain show. He also managed the Invite the World to Dinner campaign which saw 10 of the UK’s leading food and wine personalities travel down under for a gala dinner.

What his nominator said: James is a true PR professional. While managing multiple projects James always keeps a strategic hat on, and is committed to the organisation’s 2020 goal of increasing tourism spending to Australia from the UK.

Co-founder & chief executive, Cruiseo

James admits that he became hooked on the travel industry after taking his first cruise when he was 14. He originally combined selling cruises from home with undertaking a graduate training programme in corporate banking. But, aged 24, he turned his back on a career in finance to start Cruiseo last year. The idea of the online agency is to match customers with their ideal cruise and allow them to book the trip through the site.

What he said: I came up with an innovative cruise idea that resulted in me leaving a great job. With my knowledge of the cruise lines, ships, destinations, demographics and the questions customers ask, Cruiseo was born.

Sales and marketing account director, Hills Balfour

Rosina, who has been at Hills Balfour for seven years, has been at the forefront of helping to promote tourism to Kenya after the country was affected by terrorist attacks in 2014. She was part of the team that helped to persuade the British Foreign Office to lift its advice against travel to the resort city of Mombasa earlier this year.

What her nominator said: With or without budget, Rosina has worked tirelessly with the UK trade to grow arrivals into Kenya.