| Co-operative Travel Trading Group | |
| Type: | Business of a consumer co-operative |
| Location City: | Manchester, United Kingdom |
| Products: | Travel agent |
| Predecessor: | Co-op Retail Trading Group |
| Successor: | The Co-operative Travel |
| Industry: | Wholesale |
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 in 2011. 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.
The East of England Co-operative travel business joined the Midcounties Co-operative Travel Consortium in 2013,[3] whereas Lincolnshire Co-operative travel agencies joined Worldchoice when their arrangements with The Co-operative Group came to an end in 2012.[4]
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.[5] The Co-operative Travel at Anglia Co-operative Society is a trading name of the Freedom Travel Group, part of the Thomas Cook Group.[6]