Travel industry 'Oscar' for Travel2Give

Sunday, 10 May 2009 10:14

THE Travel Division has won the UK Travel Industry’s 'Innovation of the Year 2009' Award for its Travel2Give programme.
The award was presented to founders Janette and Ken Robb during a glittering ceremony at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel.
"Two years ago, we started to work with a local Charity who send sick children on respite holidays with their families," says chief executive Ken Robb.
"It was rewarding work and, through the creation of an online affiliate network for them, we came to realise just how powerful affiliate travel and holiday spend could be as a fundraising tool.
"When someone comes to book a holiday with us, they can typically create a donation of over £50 towards their favourite charity. Over time, the focus of the business transformed from how much can we make - to how much can we raise?"
The concept was developed during 2008 with potential charity partners and received a great deal of support from some leading names in the travel industry, like P&O, If Only, Cunard and US Airtours.
In total some 14 tour operators and cruiselines have now agreed to support the initiative with a donation of their own and others are keen to join.
By November 2008, over 15 charities had become Travel2Give partners and interest has continued to grow as charities see another way to maintain their income streams in difficult times.
The company plans to increase its charity partnerships to around 30 by the end of 2009.
"The majority of our charities are currently Scottish-based. However, we have now engaged with UK Charity as a whole and we expect some national agreements to emerge this year," says business development manager, Paul Hazelton.
"Large or small, we look for charity partners who are active, enterprising and prepared to work hard to communicate Travel2Give to their affiliates. We can produce amazing donation outcomes from everyday spend that was previously out of a charity’s reach and, as our holiday prices are really competitive, the customer gets a great deal too. Everyone wins."
Towards the end of 2008, The Travel Division applied for a change of status from a Limited to a Community Interest Company and this has now been granted.
"We are one of only a handful of companies in the travel industry who have been prepared to adopt non-profit making status," adds Robb.
"Many people have helped us on our journey to get to this stage and we would particularly mention Social Investment Scotland who have been incredibly supportive and provided us with the funding package necessary to get to this stage."
Looking ahead, the company sees many opportunities for growth despite the current financial climate.
"The pundits tell us that people will continue to travel through the recession and we certainly seem to be adding real value for the increasing number of people who are booking with us. We see no reason why we cannot reach our target of £1m to good causes by 2012."