We have officially celebrated the first graduates of the Travel Village Group Touring & Adventure Academy, with certificates presented during this year’s ATAS Conference.
Launched earlier this year, our first Touring & Adventure Academy brought together nine Holiday Village Business Owners for an intensive programme designed to build their knowledge, confidence and first-hand experience of one of the fastest-growing areas of the travel industry.
Throughout the programme, our Academy members have worked closely with six specialist touring and adventure partners: Newmarket Holidays, Wendy Wu Tours, Riviera Travel, Titan, G Adventures and Intrepid Travel.
And at the ATAS Conference, it was finally time to celebrate everything they have achieved.
Academy leads Jess Clayton and Leah Ormerwood, who also hosted the group throughout the conference, presented certificates to our inaugural graduates:
- Sarah Robson
- Maria Hedley
- Emma Andrews
- Rebecca Kyte
- Samantha Mann
- Stacey Lawrence
- Laura Connolly
- Charlotte Webber
- Donna Barcessat
More than product training
From the beginning, we wanted the Touring & Adventure Academy to go much further than simply learning destinations and itineraries.
Each of our six operator partners hosted two dedicated training webinars, giving Academy members the opportunity to really understand their different products, customers and styles of travel.
But we also wanted them to experience touring and adventure for themselves.
Across the Academy, our Business Owners have been given opportunities to travel with our partners on a fantastic range of educational trips, with some already completed and others still to come.
Those experiences stretch right around the world, including Greek island sailing with Intrepid Travel, China with Wendy Wu Tours, India’s Golden Triangle with G Adventures, Classical Spain with Riviera Travel, the music cities of Memphis, New Orleans and Nashville with Newmarket Holidays, and a Newmarket Holidays tour of the USA’s West Coast.
It means our graduates aren’t simply learning how to sell touring and adventure from a brochure. They’re experiencing different touring styles, destinations and operators first-hand, then bringing that knowledge back into their own businesses and conversations with customers.
Celebrating at the heart of the touring and adventure industry
Holding our graduation during the ATAS Conference felt like the perfect way to bring the inaugural Academy together for its finale.
Rather than simply receiving a certificate back at the office, our graduates were surrounded by the suppliers, destinations and travel professionals that make up the touring and adventure sector.
Our Academy members used the opportunity to continue learning, make new industry connections and immerse themselves even further in the sector.
Jess Clayton said:
“When Richard [Cross], Amanda [Taylor], Leah and I started putting the Academy together, we wanted it to create genuine touring and adventure specialists. We didn’t want people to sit through some webinars, receive a certificate and call it done.
“The support from our six operator partners has been fantastic. They’ve given our Business Owners access to their knowledge, their teams and, importantly, their product, with some incredible first-hand experiences around the world.
“Presenting those certificates at the ATAS Conference was a really proud moment for both of us. We’ve watched everyone’s confidence and knowledge grow throughout the programme, and seeing them together at an event completely dedicated to this sector felt like the perfect way to celebrate what they’ve achieved.”
Taking that knowledge back to their customers
Graduation doesn’t mean the learning stops here.
Some of our Academy members still have their educational trips ahead of them, while others are already putting what they have learned and experienced into practice within their businesses.
That’s ultimately what the Academy has always been about.
Touring and adventure holidays can be incredibly varied, from escorted cultural journeys and small-group adventures to sailing trips and immersive expeditions. Having someone who understands those differences and can match the right style of holiday, operator and itinerary to the right customer makes a real difference.
Our first nine graduates now have an even stronger foundation from which to do exactly that.
And after seeing what our inaugural class has achieved, we’re incredibly excited about where the Travel Village Group Touring & Adventure Academy goes next.
Congratulations to the Class of 2026.
