Finchglow Travels at the weekend held its 4th trade partners' forum where it stressed the need to embrace change and technologies to serve members of the travelling public. 'The key subject matter in the travel industry right now is 'change', with travelers leading a big push to move away from the norm, embracing new technologies and new types of travel.

'The ability to adapt, deliver excellent services and remain open to new technologies is crucial to being the best,' said the Group Chief Operating Officer, Finchglow Group (GCOO), Mr. Ezekiel Ikotun. With 'Global Mindset' as theme, the forum was organized to help trade partners improve their processes, familiarize themselves with incoming technologies and new information in the travel industry ahead of 2020. Representatives from Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Amadeus and Finchglow Holidays were in attendance.

The GCOO noted that figures released by the World Maritime News (2019) revealed that one of the biggest growing niche markets is the cruise business, which had over 28.5 million passengers in 2018, with a year-on-year growth of 9%.

He added that, according to Deloitte's 2019 Travel and Hospitality Outlook, from 2009 to 2018, the number of open positions in the leisure, hospitality and travel sector grew tremendously, from 353,000 to 1,139,000, which harped on the need to diversify. He said: 'The essence of this forum is to birth newness and action in our businesses. We believe in collective growth and that is why we have remained committed to this forum.'

Having been in the industry for over 13 years, we have experienced the best and the worst, hence we have decided as an organisation to change the narrative by consciously working with others and adding value to the industry in order to drive sustainability.'

To celebrate the event, Finchglow Travels rewarded its top 10 trade partners with tickets to Turkey, courtesy of Turkish Airlines. While presenting the recognition awards to the company's top 10 trade partners, the Managing Director Finchglow Travels, who is also president of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mr. Bankole Bernard, urged them to continue to deliver quality and excellence in their businesses.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan