More than 250 members, homeworkers and suppliers are due to attend the annual conference of Thomas Cook’s consortia of independently owned travel businesses and its homeworking group.
The Freedom Travel Group and Freedom Personal Travel Advisors event is being held at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham this weekend under the theme of ‘Freedom: The Next Chapter’.
The business sessions are set to open on Sunday with the official renaming of The Co-operative Personal Travel Advisors to The Freedom Personal Travel Advisors.
New branding and initiatives for both parts of the business under the Freedom name will be unveiled.
There will also be an overview of the financial performance for 2016/17 and new marketing opportunities will be introduced to support members and homeworkers grow their businesses in 2018.
Guest speakers include TV presenter and sports pundit Mark Durden-Smith, son of former Wish You Were Here presenter Judith Chalmers.
Jonathan Wall, managing director of Elman Wall Travel Accountants, will facilitate a session called “Are you doing these 10 things in your travel business?” which is aimed at building value for travel business owners.
Kelly Cookes, head of the Freedom Travel Group and The Co-operative Personal Travel Advisors since 2014 said: “Freedom is a strong name in the industry, and aligning our brands will provide even more opportunities to benefit both our homeworkers and consortia members.
“We are excited to be focussing on our next chapter as everyone comes together, and are looking forward to welcoming those joining us for the first time as well as those who have been with coming to conference for many years.”
The conference will close on Monday when the location for the 2018 conference will be revealed.
Awards recognising top sellers, rising stars and champions for both members and homeworkers will be presented.
The event’s headline sponsors are Princess Cruises, Attraction World and Thomas Cook.