Co-operative Travel Trading Group

Co-operative Travel Trading Group

Former type	Business of a consumer co-operative
Industry	Wholesale
Founded	2003
Defunct	2012
Headquarters	Manchester, United Kingdom
Products	Travel agent
Parent	The Co-operative Group

The Co-operative Travel Trading Group (or CTTG) was the central buying group for co-operative travel agents in the United Kingdom. It was established along the same lines as the Co-operative Retail Trading Group when the Co-operative Group merged its own five travel operations in 2003.^[1]

The CTTG was disbanded following the merger of the Co-operative Travel (including Midlands Co-operative Travel) with the High Street branches of the Thomas Cook Group. Following its closure, Midcounties Co-operative Travel said it “had no alternative but to create a standalone commercial and marketing capacity [and] in the spirit of the sixth co-operative principle, has agreed to make this service available to the Channel Islands Co-operative and Chelmsford Star Co-operative, who have also been affected by the joint venture decision. The partnerships will help them optimise their continued development as prominent independent agents.”^[2] Channel Islands’s Travelmaker is the leading independent in Jersey and Guernsey.

Freedom Travel

Freedom Travel Limited, a subsidiary of Co-op Group Travel 2 Holdings Ltd., was established in 2001 and is an organisation of managed travel agents working together to secure a profitable future. It was originally formed to enable travel agents to become part of a larger buying group benefiting from better commissions, larger overrides, lower operating costs, lower bank charges and better technology.^[3] The Co-operative Travel at Anglia Co-operative Society is a trading name of the Freedom Travel Group, part of the Thomas Cook Group.^[4] Other regional societies continue to operate either under their own names or the Co-operative Travel brand.

See also

• Co-operative Retail Trading Group

References