Start-up agency joins Advantage

Start-up specialist agency There.Travel has joined the Advantage Travel Partnership under its Advantage Managed Services (AMS) model. 

The paperless business founded by Col Ord (pictured) and Jake Todhunter started trading this month.

Ord recently picked up an award for top cruise sales across 15,000 agents in his previous consortium, and was recently nominated for a cruise stars award.

The agency’s co-founders started out in the travel sector following careers in the railway industry, with a background in customer experience and social media.

Their background has enabled Leeds-based There.Travel to partner with cruise lines such as Virgin Voyages, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International as well as tour operators Kuoni, Tui and Jet2holidays.

The co-founders said: “We will start trading in December and can’t wait to share our new experience with our customers, old and new.

“From the moment we spoke to the Advantage team we knew it was the best fit for us, with their members first approach and ease of getting set up with AMS. 

“We love that we’ll have more time to work with our customers and run the business day to day, whilst Advantage will take care of some of the less glamorous work.”

Advantage chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes said: “We’re thrilled to see two friends come together to form There.Travel and to choose Advantage as their consortia of choice.

“With the growth and success of our AMS model, we look forward to supporting Col and Jake in offering a wide range of holidays with a personal touch from the first stages of enquiry, right through to the customer’s departure and beyond. 

“We’re excited to see how they will take their customers ‘here, there, and everywhere’.”