Parents who care for their severely disabled adult children have been recognised as homeworkers and are entitled to receive the minimum wage, following a

Hays Travel will bring together its members of its retail, Independence Group and homeworking divisions for the first time at a single conference in 2026, which will be held in Antalya, Turkiye. The announcement was made on the last evening of the agency’s 2025 retail conference in Greece. The 2026 conference will take place at the Trendy Lara and Trendy Perge hotels from 9-13 November, with more than 1,100 people attending. Until now, Hays has held separate conferences for its branch managers and IG members and homeworkers. TUI will be the 2026 conference headline sponsor for the first time. Hays Chief Operating Officer Jonathon Woodall-Johnston said: “We were delighted to be able to announce the location of next year’s conference to all our retail managers, head office colleagues, and supplier partners at this year’s overseas conference. “For the first time in 2026 we will address all colleagues and members of our group together. As Hays Travel has grown, we now think it vital to communicate with our whole group as one audience.” TUI UK Director of Marketing and Sales Bart Quinton Smith said: “The time is right for us to extend our long-held partnership with Hays Travel to being a headline sponsor for the very first time. This is likely to be the largest overseas conference of 2026, giving us the opportunity to engage with a huge room of skilled and enthusiastic agents – as well as give them an in-depth flavour of our unique brand.”

Inspire has unveiled two new pieces of technology that it says will ‘empower homeworkers to become data-led travel entrepreneurs’. The tools were showcased at Inspire’s conference this week in Majorca, attended by 50 agents. The first piece of technology is an upgrade to Inspire’s Homeworking Portal, which has been expanded from a simple commission tracking tool into a ‘comprehensive business intelligence suite’. Agents can now use it to access live performance dashboards; run data reports to analyse booking trends and track key metrics in real-time, such as average booking value, holiday duration and top-performing destinations, then run marketing campaigns based on the data. They can also benchmark their performance on a live leaderboard. Inspire CEO Lisa Henning said: "This represents a fundamental shift in how we empower our team of Independent Travel Associates. "While traditional head office models restrict reporting to admin teams, we're putting analytical control directly in the hands of each agent. They can now identify what's selling, pull ready-made marketing assets, and launch targeted campaigns within minutes, not days." The second tool is a portal allowing agents to book out-of-range flights and receive automatic notifications when flights go on sale. "This technology showcases our commitment to developing practical solutions that directly enhance profitability and customer confidence,” said Lisa. "We're not just providing tools; we're removing obstacles that have historically limited our agents' ability to serve their clients.”

Wonky Sheep Travel is looking to recruit homeworkers in time for the January Peaks. The agency, which also has a tour operator division, wants to sign up to 10 homeworkers from around the UK. Director Dave Dulin said agents will be able to run their business how they want, including specialising in certain areas, and will be able to set their own targets. He said: “There are lots of really good agents out there who are ready to take the next step, create something for themselves, and we’re here to help them. “Some are excellent sellers of travel and others have found a really good niche which they can build upon. “As well as working with our suppliers and being able to dynamically package, we can also create trips for them while they'll also be able to sell our tours. “And if anyone wants to create their own tours, we can help bring them to life. “We want to keep the numbers of our homeworkers low in order for us to focus getting the best out of them and help them grow." Wonky Sheep, based in Cardiff, was launched in 2013, initially focussing on stag and hen trips, but has moved on since then with sports travel, city breaks and holidays, and last year launched its own escorted group tours.

Riviera Travel has appointed former Carnival Cruise Line Senior Sales Manager Gemma Ashworth as Key Account Manager for home-based agents. Gemma will report to newly promoted Head of Trade Amanda Docherty, and will be tasked with increasing sales through homeworkers, which Riviera Travel says is currently its fastest-growing division, up 30% year-on-year. She will also be supporting Riviera Travel’s Country Manager for Ireland, Carrie Day. Gemma has been in travel for 25 years, including 12 years at Carnival, where she was Senior Sales Manager until June 2025. Gemma said: “Joining Riviera Travel is an exciting new chapter for me. I’m particularly excited to work alongside our network of highly skilled home-based agents, whose knowledge and dedication are key to Riviera’s success, and I look forward to supporting them as they grow their businesses.” Director of Trade & Partnerships UK & Ireland Vicky Billing said: "This appointment reinforces the importance of our trade partners to Riviera Travel. As I have said before, one size doesn’t fit all, and our rapid-response approach continues to resonate with our partners. I am excited to see how Gemma shapes this role going forward."

Representatives of various homeworking groups have given a mixed response to InteleTravel UK Managing Director's plans for a forum to encourage greater collaboration among competitors. Tricia Handley-Hughes told the trade press she wants to foster greater collaboration among homeworkers from rival companies. Advantage Travel Partnership CEO Julia Lo-Bue Said welcomed ‘any discussion that encourages collaboration and innovation’ across the sector, pointing out that ‘collaboration is already thriving across the wider industry in many other areas, from regulatory standards to advocacy’. “These efforts demonstrate that while direct collaboration between competing homeworking models may be limited, we remain committed to supporting our members in ways that protect their commercial interests while encouraging broader industry cooperation where it adds value,” she said. However, Julia also pointed out there would be ‘a degree of caution when it comes to collaborating with other homeworking groups due to commercial sensitivities and the competitive nature of the market’. Other consortia heads, who did not wish to be named, told Travel Gossip that they already have good relationships with each other. One said they ‘wouldn’t hesitate to put a call in’ to a colleague in a rival consortia, such as to discuss potential concerns. Jake Cullum-Hollins, CEO of The Good Travel Agent, which has 92 homeworkers, said: "There is already a strong sense of community among genuine homeworking travel businesses and with supplier, support such as the upcoming Non-Retail Jet2 Summit, which many of us are excited for, will continue to strengthen those connections. “Dedicated events for homeworkers are exactly what the industry needs to share knowledge and grow together. “While InteleTravel continues to recruit through methods like PlanNet Marketing, we do not feel their approach aligns with our values so we would not look to join or support any forums they arrange,” he said. An individual homeworker, who didn’t wish to be named, said she felt it was ‘audacious’ for InteleTravel to call for closer collaboration ‘from the very people who’s industry they have set out to exploit’. She said Intele’s tactic of telling customers how much commission agents make – and how they can save money by acting as agents themselves – made her reluctant to co-operate with them. David McKerry of We Do Travel, a member of Explorer Travel, agreed that said collaboration ‘at the top’ might help standardise rules, agree ethics or codes of conduct, which he said should include ‘not shouting about inflated commission’. However, he pointed out enforcement could be ‘a bigger issue’. “Most of us already collaborate with industry friends outside our own agencies,” he added. “Our groups are based on those that inspire us, those that we can learn from and those that will support each other.” Other homeworkers said they were already members of WhatsApp groups with agents from competing consortia they’d met at events or on fam trips. “It’s nothing new,” said one, “we collaborate all the time!”

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Dyson has announced its most unusual product yet; a wearable air purifier with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones built in. An initial reveal of the Zone headphones - the first headphones Dyson has released - doesn't come with many specifics about cost or battery life, nor how much the headset weighs. Where did this come from? Dyson said it started having internal conversations in 2016 about developing some kind of "purification on the move" technology, based on its existing air purification technology.

Ontario workers are gearing up for a welcome pay boost as the province announces an increase in the minimum wage starting October 1, 2025.

(And How To Fix It)

Event for non-retail agents will take place at operator’s headquarters in Leeds this autumn