TTG crowns new top agency at first Manchester ceremony
Tom ParryMarlborough’s Travel By Hannah was crowned the UK & Ireland’s No.1 Travel Agency during a spectacular Top 50 Travel Agencies by TTG ceremony, which saw the event take place in Manchester for the very first time.
More than 600 of the industry’s best and brightest gathered at the Victoria Warehouse, just over the road from Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, on Thursday evening (25 April) where the Top 50 Travel Agencies 2024 by TTG were revealed.
Treble-winning Manchester United striker Andy Cole was in attendance to meet guests, courtesy of headline partner Visit Malta, and there was a show-stopping performance from internationally renowned saxophonist and Ibiza mainstay Ellie Sax.
Meanwhile, a raffle organised by members of TTG’s 30 Under 30 class of 2023 raised £10,000 for the event’s chosen charity, Reuben’s Retreat, ahead of the group’s 20-mile hike across the Peak District this weekend (27 April).
Alongside £4,000 already raised, the money will go towards refurbishment work at Reuben’s Retreat to support more families who have experienced the loss of a child or have children with complex medical needs.
Travel By Hannah was founded in the Wiltshire market town of Marlborough by Hannah Porter in December 2020, and the agency’s now four-person team received high praise from judges for their problem-solving ability, innovative approach to marketing and social media, passion for championing responsible travel, and focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
"Travel By Hannah might only be three years old, but it promises such spectacular service you’d think it had been around for 30 – there will be no stopping this young, ambitious team in the years to come,” said the judges.
Moments after receiving the top award, Porter told TTG: “I’m slightly lost for words. We’re absolutely overjoyed. We’ve worked really hard for this and there’s absolute pride among the team.
"I would put this success down to a lot of hard work and keeping our feet on the ground, training, keeping up to date with the industry in general, keeping our finger on the pulse and feeding back into the team.
"This is a massive accolade for what we do every day. This just give us that bit of extra confidence to keep on doing what we do.”
Elsewhere, Newport’s La Vida Travel was named Top Travel Agency in Wales for a second year in succession, and also took home the award for Top Weddings and Honeymoons Agency. There was a double triumph too for Travel Counsellors, scooping Top Business Travel Agency and Top Luxury Agency.
“We’re so thrilled,” said Travel Counsellors managing director of corporate Kieran Hartwell. “It’s completely our focus, growing our luxury and corporate business.”
Karen Simmonds, founder of London-based agency Travel Matters, was named the Intrepid Travel Sustainable Travel Champion of the Year, while another of the night’s special awards saw Thorne Travel managing director Shona Thorne receive this year’s Contribution to Travel award.
Thorne said she was “absolutely gobsmacked” to receive the accolade, awarded for her focus on inspiring travel’s next generation and her efforts making a difference in her local community.
“I have an amazing team; they do all the work. I don’t normally come to these things, so I’m so excited to get the award back to them,” said Thorne.
“It cements our commitment to everything we do, and sends a strong message about what a great industry this is to come into. Top 50 really makes you focus, it gives you something to aim for, to document all the great work we do. I’m proud of every single one of them.”
SEE THE FULL LIST OF TTG TOP 50 TRAVEL AGENCIES 2024
Other regional winners on the night included Hampshire’s Meon Valley Travel, which was named Top Agency South East. "We’re in such revered company," said managing director James Beagrie.
"We’re supported by some exceptionally talented people, and we have fun. When you employ the best people in the world and give them the best tools money can buy, you get out their way so they can really shine."
Beagrie continued: "Winning this award will have a quite profound impact, it reaffirms to everyone back in the office that this is a worthwhile endeavour – to actually do good, to be good, to be our best selves and do something that really sets us apart the rest of the high street. It’s a great industry to be in – we can add to, and enrich, the local high street.
"You’ve got to have a passion for this, we love what we do. Top 50 is hard work, it’s the only award in the industry that I know of where they actually make you work for it. We did the best work of our lives to be part of this, and if someone else had won, it would have been because they deserved it."
’Absolutely massive’
Blackpool-based The Travel Village, meanwhile, was named Top Agency North West. Managing director Paula Nuttall said she was proud of the team. "They’re working hard at the moment – they really care about the customers and the business," she said. "Tonight is not about us, it’s about them."
Group chief executive Phil Nuttall added: "The team have got each other’s backs. You can tell that. We run a very tight ship. We make sure that everyone in the business puts an arm around each other.
"We care about the town of Blackpool and the Fylde coast – it’s absolutely massive for us. I think what we’ve created is really special. In the past 12 months, locally and nationally, we’ve grown through word of mouth.
"Our team care so much for our customers, who then tell all their friends and family about the business so it’s starting to expand.
"And it’s not just about the people who are here tonight, it’s the finance team, the customer care team back at the office. They’ve all contributed to making Travel Village what it is today. No one is going to be left out."
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