The boss of Exsus Travel has “ambitious plans” to grow the specialist tour operator as agency sales continue to grow under new head of trade sales Mark Harris.

Agency sales now account for 88% of the brand’s total business, up from 85% last September.

Speaking at the Exsus Travel Agent Awards in London last Friday (July 17), managing director Habib Rehman also credited the trade with a 35% increase in revenue year-on-year. 

He said: “Agents are at the heart of everything we do. Without your support, none of this would be possible.”

Last year, Rehman said agents were responsible for the operator’s transformation from a “£4 million company to a £15 million company”, following a significant trade push under former head of trade sales Neil Sealy. Harris took over from Sealy in April.  

Rehman said the operator was keen to “build on momentum” and had plans to launch a series of new programmes to support the trade.

The brand recently unveiled a luxury small group touring programme featuring destinations including Jordan, Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Peru, the Galapagos and Kenya. 

Itineraries have been curated for a maximum group size of 18 and are featured in a standalone digital brochure.

Rehman also revealed plans to launch a dedicated cruise programme next year, followed by a specialist villa programme soon after.

“Despite the tough trading environment, we've just launched the group programme - and we have ambitious plans,” he said. 

“We're hoping to build on the momentum. We're doing a lot of cruise bookings, despite not having a cruise department, and that's because our sales guys are so experienced. We are looking to launch a cruise programme next year, followed by a villas programme, so watch this space.”

More than 70 agents joined Exsus Travel for lunch at Shangri-La The Shard for the annual awards ceremony, with 13 awards handed out to top-performing agencies. 

Top honours went to Designer Travel (pictured), which was awarded the operator’s Top Travel Agency – UK, and Mark Pollard of Where Would You Rather Be?, who won Top Individual Home-based Travel Agent.

Not Just Travel and Holidaysplease were also recognised for Fastest Growth in Volume and Fastest Growth in Revenue respectively. 

Other regional winners included Murray Travel, Oasis Travel, Beaver Travel, Off Broadway Travel, Travel Matters, RB Collection, Elite Travel Boutique, Destination Anywhere and Travel Stop.