Murray Travel secures deal to sell through Hays Travel agents

Murray Travel has confirmed a major distribution deal to sell charter flights and packages through Hays Travel and Hays Travel Independence Group.

Until now, the Scottish travel agency has sold its Lapland flights and winter-sun holidays to the Canaries only direct to customers.

The company’s first travel agent distribution deal under its tour operating brands MT Holidays and The Lapland Experience follows the expansion of its Spain packages and the range of departure points for its same-day Lapland charters.

The agency, which has four branches and is a member of Hays Travel IG, has added Tenerife for 2027 out of Inverness Airport and extended its Lapland charters to six regional airports for December 2026.

Lapland charters will fly out of Aberdeen, Derry, Inverness, Newquay, Southend and Teesside, while winter-sun flight packages will operate from Inverness for one week to Gran Canaria and for five weeks to Tenerife from March next year.

Murray Travel chief executive Scott Murray said the deal to sell through agents as a “trusted” distribution channel for the first time was significant.

Hays Travel has about 530 branches, while IG has more than 120 members, which operate as independent businesses but benefit from the group’s commercial deals.

“Hays Travel has been really supportive and you cannot underestimate the value of distribution through them,” said Murray, adding: “People still want to book through agents. It’s all about trust.”

He said the group would focus on working with agents within 50 miles of its departure airports, which he cited as key to filling the charters following the company’s expansion.

“Last year, we developed the brands and they are completely unknown,” he said. “We’re trying to build them as brands that people trust. Had we not got Hays involved, we would struggle to fill the spaces [on the charters].”

Harriet Thompson, head of Hays Travel IG, which provided legal, contractual and operational support to Murray Travel, said: “It’s been a pleasure to work with Scott and his team to get his charter programme up and running, which is opening up new opportunities for customers to travel from their local airport.”