By Jeremy Skidmore
InteleTravel UK and Ireland managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes is recalling that moment last September when she was travelling in a taxi from Sorrento to Naples airport.
She and colleague Geraldine Nolan had completed final preparations for the InteleTravel conference and were heading home when a car pulled out in front of them on the motorway.
“The driver reacted well, he immediately hit the brakes, but it was too late.
“We were tired and had fallen asleep. It was perhaps the only time I hadn’t worn a seat belt. I was thrown across the taxi and suffered a fractured vertebrae and bleeding on the spine.
“I was in absolute agony for probably seven hours. They couldn’t x-ray me because I unable to move due to the pain and it wasn’t until they’d processed me through their system that they could administer the morphine.”
Fortunately, Geraldine had not suffered as badly, later being diagnosed with whiplash, and was able to help.
“I’m not sure what I would have done without Geraldine. She was so supportive and accompanied me to the hospital, stayed overnight until I was comfortable, and was my liaison with both the hospital and travel insurance company.”
A two-week stay in a Naples hospital followed, with two back operations and a further five weeks convalescing at home. Against the odds, she still made an appearance at the conference the following month.
“The spinal surgeon said, ‘It could go one of two ways. If it’s successful, we’ll fuse the vertebrae to the spine and if not, you’ll be paralysed on one side.’ Thankfully it was successful.
“For the first week in hospital, unable to barely move, I worried how I would cope as a single career woman if I was paralysed.
“As the recovery process started to kick in, I was determined to regain my movement, refusing to give in. The nerve had pinched at the top of my spine, affecting the movement of my left leg, so I effectively had to learn how to walk again.
“My neck movement will never be fully flexible again, but it’s as good as it’s going to get. I’m driving again and feeling fine.”
An obsession with tidiness
At InteleTravel’s Canary Wharf headquarters, there are no stray papers scattered around the desk of the woman leading the huge growth in the UK and Ireland of the homeworking giant, which posted record revenues of £155m last year and is on course to hit £200m in 2025.
“The tidiness thing all started as a child. If I didn’t put my toys away at night, my father would throw them away, so I learnt quickly.
“If there’s an untidy desk, I can’t think straight. I need structure, I need order and I need to revise my plans on a daily basis.”
The building, which Tricia set up as InteleTravel was establishing itself in the UK, is just a short distance from her East London flat overlooking the River Thames.
“For my entire life I’ve been commuting, often a minimum of two hours in either direction and I’d had enough of it. When I got the chance to set up a London office, it had to be convenient. Fortunately, it’s also convenient for others in the office.”
Early days of pier bashing
Tricia has spent over 40 years in travel, many of them in aviation and the early days working in ground services at British Caledonian, later to merge with British Airways, re-enforced her structured approach to work.
“We called it pier bashing where you had to meet and greet flights, holding down your tartan kilt in high winds and strutting on heels for an initial six months before progressing further,” she says.
“It was a very disciplined approach. You always worked in pairs and your appearance was constantly scrutinised. You both had to appear identical, for example, both with jackets on or off, both wearing white gloves or not.
“The managers would be checking your hair, your make-up, and your uniform standards. I am not sure I see this happening now.”
Tricia also spent a year as a travel agent, but she readily admits it wasn’t quite right for her. The thing that she remembers though, was that she was never alone.
“I always had someone beside me, guiding and mentoring me, which was an enormous help. These days homeworkers are remote and rely on events to meet other agents, which is why I’m passionate about our training and constantly connecting with our agents.”
The Mothercare impact
Tricia is a travel industry stalwart, but it was a six-year stint at Mothercare in the 1980s that had the biggest impact on her career.
“After joining, I spent six months away from home, understanding the basics of retail management. The training was incredible, covering everything from store layouts, product knowledge, customer engagement and leadership, and questions and answers. There was constant repetition until you reached a level of excellence, and it played a huge part in my management style today.
“I would walk around the stores, check for hygiene and cleanliness, ensuring we had the right products on display, reviewing store layouts and making sure the customer experience standards remained high.
“I was newly married and based in Eastbourne at the time, living away from home, so I just threw myself into the role. I’d always had the discipline but now I also was receiving the training to develop my management skills.”
InteleTravel call
Various roles in aviation followed and Tricia also ran her own PR company, Pinpoint Communications, winning two awards for marketing excellence, until the call came in 2018 that would see her career move in a different direction.
“A technology business with a homeworking division was a long-term client of mine at Pinpoint, so I was already familiar with the challenges faced in the homeworking environment.
“James Ferrara [now InteleTravel group chief executive] learned about my experience from a fellow colleague and requested a meeting. They were keen to move into the UK and invited me to come on board. At first, I was wary because even though they were big in the US, I knew nothing about them or their brand values.
“I agreed to consult for them in my Pinpoint capacity, to establish their brand, and my role gradually morphed into more and more.”
Brutal early years
The first few years were brutal, as many established agents were hostile towards the new disrupter, and highly critical of the model that attracted new talent to the industry and removed the barriers to running a travel business.
InteleTravel made a virtue of the fact that you can work as few or as many hours as you want, with no set targets, which was an alien concept to people who had devoted their lives to a traditional travel agent role.
“We would constantly get asked: ‘How can you bring new people into the industry that know nothing about travel?’ and much worse.
“It was my first experience of vicious attacks on social media and there was immense negativity as some feared the business model or could not see the opportunities.
“I took this personally and I had many nights of lost sleep. Throughout my career, courtesy and respect was instilled in me and I was always brought up to believe you treat others how you would expect to be treated.
"Nowadays, the ‘new to industry approach’ is standard and has been adopted by most other businesses looking to recruit homeworkers.”
InteleTravel may have been seen as outsiders, but it was always the plan to play by the rules and become an established player, quickly applying for ABTA membership and then gaining an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence, going on to work with leading professionals in the industry.
“Presenting a new business model to the ABTA Board, fuelled by constant negativity, was certainly a challenge I will never forget, but I applaud ABTA for not being influenced by others, thinking outside the box and focusing on the facts.”
Even InteleTravel’s biggest detractors would have to admit that the growth of the company has been little short of staggering since those early days. A telling fact is that their suppliers speak very highly of them.
Work as a coping mechanism
The success has not come easily. Tricia has put in a phenomenal effort, regularly working evenings and weekends, to drive the business forward. She’s always been a grafter, but it’s fair to say that work has been the most important thing in her life since late 2013.
It was then that her second husband and the love of her life, Gwyn Hughes, a huge figure in the travel industry and an icon of the cruising sector, sadly passed away after suffering with leukaemia.
“Work became my coping mechanism. This period was mentally difficult for me, but as a true Scorpion, you just get on with it. I’m a firm believer in fate, knowing there are people worse off than you.
“I’ll admit work consumes my life and that’s my choice but if Gwyn was alive, the balance would be very different.”
Tricia is a youthful looking 68 and despite the stress that long hours can bring, feels that work can keep you young.
“It keeps you in touch and the industry is great fun. If you’re enjoying life, it will reflect in your persona. I’m not ready to pop on the slippers and put my feet up!
“I’m now enjoying the rewards of the investment I’ve made in terms of time and effort. If I’m mentally and physically fit for purpose, it’s business as normal.
“I’m comfortable with my independent life and used to my own company.”
Tricia’s team of 11 is largely female and despite being a workaholic, she understands the need for everyone to have a work/life balance.
“We work hard – I don’t think anyone in the travel industry sees it as a 9-5 existence. But we also play hard too and have a lot of fun outside the office environment.
“There were times in other roles when I was less sympathetic to those around me, but you mature, you view life differently and your management style adapts.”
She was a previous Chairman of the Association of Women Travel Executives (AWTE), recognizing the actions needed to help women succeed in the workplace.
“At the time we tried to identify obstacles to reaching the top and staying there. One of the challenges was that so many women didn’t understand finance at board level and consequently lost confidence in their career development.
“We introduced sessions on finance and leadership to provide an understanding of how finance and strategy should work in harmony.
“I think there is still a need for AWTE, and although the space is changing, the camaraderie and sharing of information remains key. Even today in 2025, women are still regarded as the homemakers, even if they have a career.
“It’s very challenging to balance it all and I take my hat off to those at helm who have made sacrifices and achieved, yet still manage a family home and, of course, in this industry often having to build in travel time too.”
InteleTravel may never win everyone over, but the goal now is for Tricia to gain industry-wide recognition and acceptance for their achievements.
Criticism of the business model is now rare, although it still exists in some quarters.
At last year’s Travel Weekly Agent Achievement Awards, comments by a traditional travel agency about how they ‘work for a career, not a side hustle’, was seen by some as a dig at InteleTravel.
“That comment hurt because it felt so public. Suppliers felt this was unnecessary and we received many messages of support.
"There’s nothing to fear from our success.”
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