US-based travel company First in Service Travel (F1S) has joined The Advantage Travel Partnership ahead of opening of its first UK office in April.
The UK-based consortium, which has more than 400 members globally, said it had been “chosen” to support F1S as the TMC establishes its UK operations.
“Joining the consortium will enable F1S to utilise Advantage’s significant resources and expert knowledge of the UK travel sector,” Advantage said in a statement.
Founded in New York in 1991 and with operations also in Madrid, Los Angeles, Miami, Bogota and Toronto, F1S will open its first UK office in London’s Covent Garden with business travel stalwart Barry Whittaker at the helm as managing director UK and Europe.
“Although First in Service Travel has been established in the United States of America for over 30 years and Spain for three years, coming to the UK is just like starting again, from the beginning,” said Whittaker.
“This is why we chose to join The Advantage Travel Partnership. The team at Advantage are industry professionals who engage specialists from each area of our industry so that we can be sure that whatever questions or concerns we may have as a start-up business in the UK, our colleagues at Advantage are there to support us.”
In a previous statement, the TMC said it plans to recruit a team of independent travel specialists for its London operation who will work with SMEs, as well as in sectors such as entertainment, film and TV production, fashion, media, and meetings and events.