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Dave

Top travel agents recognised at national awards ceremony

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The UK’s top travel agents were recognised at a presentation dinner and awards ceremony at Birmingham’s spectacular The Vox convention centre last night (24 March).

Organised by travel industry publication TTG and sponsored by some of the travel industry’s biggest names, the TTG Top 50 is the annual celebration of the very best travel agencies in the country.

The awards are split into twelve regional categories for high street travel agents, eight national awards for the best-of-the-best and four ‘special’ categories.

Of the 24 categories, one is devoted to business travel. And it’s for this award – the Best Business Travel Agency 2022 – that Global Travel Management was honoured by being shortlisted, along with just three other companies.

Speaking before the event, Scott Pawley, managing director of GTM said,

From customer comments we receive on a regular basis, we know we’re doing a great job.  In fact that’s why so many customers remain so loyal to GTM; and why we’re heading out of the pandemic with more customers than at any time in our history.  But to be nominated for shortlisting in this category is a huge testament to the work we have put in over the years to make sure GTM is seen as a rightful competitor to some of the biggest, heavily-backed, multi-million dollar businesses in the industry.  

It might be too much to expect that a company the size of GTM could take on and beat the biggest businesses in the UK.  But I am very grateful for the support of our customers and suppliers which has enabled this David to step into the same ring as several Goliaths. 

In the event, it wasn’t too much to expect, because the judges decided to award Global Travel Management with one of just two places in the categroy Best Business Travel Agencies 2022.

Speaking after the awards were announced, Scott Pawley said:

The recognition we received by being shortlisted is for the hard work and excellence of the team that makes GTM tick – I am very pleased that everyone in our team knows that their contribution to our success has been recognised.

The judges saw that exceptional work GTM put in during the course of the pandemic. From launching new products and services like our Carbon Offset Programme and PinPoint to the work we put in behind the scenes, campaigning for a better deal from the government during travel bans and making our voices heard in Grant Shapps’ Global Travel Taskforce.

We also closed acquisitions and, with new customers coming on board, we now have more customers than at any point in our history.

It’s a great way to mark 25 years as a travel management company.

The event started with an exclusive afternoon tea party for travel agents and, following a lavish dinner, with entertainment, the awards ceremony took place, with the party continuing until 2am.

Evergreen Pop Idol Will Young took to the stage at the end of the TTG Top 50 awards ceremony, involving the best travel agencies from across the UK.
Global Travel Management’s team celebrating the company’s place in the TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies 2022.
Kelly

JetBlue to launch services from London to Boston and New York

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JetBlue has announced it intends to launch multiple daily flights from New York and Boston to London in 2021.

The new routes, which will be served by Airbus A321LR single-aisle aircraft, will mark the first-ever transatlantic service offered by the award-winning airline.

Joanna Geraghty, president and chief operating officer of JetBlue, explained how the airline came to the decision to start services to London:

Twenty years ago, our founders had a simple formula for choosing a new market – it had to be overpriced, underserved, or both.

London is the largest metro area JetBlue doesn’t yet serve from both Boston and New York, and we could not be more thrilled to be changing that in the years ahead.

The fares being charged today by airlines on these routes, specifically on the premium end, are enough to make you blush.

Known in the U.S. for having the most legroom in economy, live television at every seat, free Wi-Fi internet, complimentary snacks and soft drinks, and great customer service, JetBlue’s entrance into the transatlantic market should introduce a new era of customer-focused, low-fare travel for both business and leisure travellers. The airline’s Mint premium experience, which disrupted transcontinental travel in the U.S. with accessible fares and a thoughtful reinvention of the business class cabin, promises to offer transatlantic customers a fresh choice.

Some of JetBlue’s 22,000 crewmembers

Growth into Europe seems to be the next natural step in JetBlue’s focus city expansion strategy. The new service will strengthen JetBlue’s relevance in its two largest focus cities while also answering calls from loyal business and leisure customers who have, until now, been forced to fly other carriers to and from London.

According to JetBlue, the airline is “developing a reimagined, transatlantic version of its premium Mint product” which will feature more lie-flat seats than currently offered on the airline’s existing A321 aircraft. Transatlantic Mint product features and design elements, combined with JetBlue’s specially trained Mint inflight crewmembers, will “create an intimate and exclusive travel experience”. And, like its transcontinental Mint business model, “JetBlue will offer the elevated flying experience for a fraction of what other airlines are charging today for premium seats”.

JetBlue’s domestic U.S, customers in JetBlue Mint are used to the longest lie-flat seat (6’ 8”) on domestic premium flights, featuring a massage function, adjustable cushions and the only private suite among U.S. airlines.

Joanna Geraghty commented further:

The success Mint has had on driving down the exorbitant airfares that our competitors were charging, stimulating new demand, and forcing the entrenched carriers to up their game, is a big reason we believe London is the next natural market for JetBlue to be successful and make a positive impact on consumers.

JetBlue will initially convert 13 aircraft in its existing Airbus A321 order book to the LR version with the ability to convert more. The A321LR will allow JetBlue to tap into new long-haul markets that were not previously accessible with its current single-aisle aircraft.


JetBlue is converting its orders of Airbus A321 to the longer-range A321LR.

Commenting on the new JetBlue relationship, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer, Christian Scherer said:

JetBlue has pioneered new travel possibilities for their customers for years,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer. “All of us at Airbus are honoured to provide the strategic aircraft platform to enable this next chapter in the story of our partners at JetBlue.

Today, JetBlue serves nearly two dozen countries. The airline has been flying internationally for nearly fifteen years with a significant portion of its operations in the Caribbean and Latin America with flights reaching as far south as Ecuador and Peru.

Paul Baker, Sales Director of Global Travel Management commented:

Jetblue’s entry to the transatantic market will be a boost for UK-based companies doing business in New York or Boston.  They will bring a fresh approach to the market and we look forward to making their offer available to our clients.

JetBlue will be a new name to many businesses in the UK, but, at GTM, we have years of experience with the airline: they’re one of the best-known airline brands in the United States. They make more than 1,000 flights a day, to more than 100 destinations, serving 42 million passengers annually. We book passengers on JetBlue flights very frequently and we have done for years. More competition on transatlantic routes will be of great benefit to our clients. 

GTM’s clients will benefit not just from the new service from London to Boston and New York, but also to JetBlue’s extensive onward network connections.

We will be able to pass on more information about these services – including prices and London airport details – when they become available.


Guildford College
Paul

Inspiring the next generation of business travel experts

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Guildford College invited Global Travel Management to present to a group of first and second year students this week.

Managing Director Scott Pawley gave a presentation to an attentive audience taking a break from their Travel and Tourism BTech and City and Guilds Level 3 studies.   The talk covered a number of topics concerning business travel, including

  • Reasons for business travel
  • What are the different “types” of business travel agent?
  • What products and services are offered
  • What specific requirements business travellers have

In addition, Scott covered his own personal journey through the business travel industry, including setting up GTM and seeing the business grow, year after year.

Scott explained why he gives these presentations.   “It’s important to inspire and inform the next generation of business travel industry experts”, he said.   “At GTM we are very aware of the vital role our great staff play in our company’s success.   So it’s important that anyone entering the industry has as much knowledge as possible about what to expect when they start work”.

GTM has offered places to two of the Guildford College students to gain work experience in the industry.   Scott explained that the candidates will be joining the business for two weeks later in the year and will be given hands-on experience on a number of aspects of how an award-winning, international business travel management company operates.

Paul

The Business Travel Show 2018

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The Business Travel Show is the biggest event in Europe for business travel professionals, taking place at Olympia London on 21-22 February 2018. Over 7,500 visitors and 260 suppliers are expected to attend, including all of the world’s major airlines and hotel brands, ground transfer companies, serviced apartment providers and, of course, us – Global Travel Management!

Read more

Paul

GTM Wins Yet More Awards!

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We are delighted to report that Global Travel Management has recently won two awards, namely, the Advantage Focus Partnership’s corporate travel agency of the year award for 2015. Furthermore, our Office Manager, Kelly Packington, has also been voted the Advantage Focus Partnership Champion of the year award for 2015.

Both awards are voted for by our airline, hotel and car rental suppliers, so this is a magnificent achievement, as it is our peers who have voted for us on two separate occasions.

The Advantage Focus Partnership is a travel trade consortium of c 70 UK members, all of whom are Travel Management Companies (TMC), and who, as a single entity, are the fourth largest TMC in the country.

Paul

We go live on Facebook & Twitter, TODAY!

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Today, Monday 2nd September 2013, Global Travel Management goes live with our Facebook and Twitter social media sites.

Packed full of information, our goal is to keep our clients updated with travel related news and features, along with a little light hearted content to keep you all interested; so look out for some staff profiling, our worldwide recipe corner and information on the local sports teams we sponsor.

We’d like as many of you as possible to join in and to give you that added incentive to stay in touch, we’ll be giving away a number of half cases of wine to secret “like” and “follow” numbers. All you have to do is go to our Facebook and Twitter pages and “like” or “follow” us and if you are that lucky person, a half case of wine will be on its way to you.

We look forward to seeing you there.