The Virgin Hotels portfolio will now be under the remit of the airline’s sales team led by Virgin Atlantic’s vice-president, global sales, Lee Haslett. A dedicated Virgin Hotels sales director will also be recruited to lead trade sales, reporting to Haslett.

Haslett said: “We are pleased to announce this new partnership with Virgin Hotels, leveraging the power of our brand and offering unique benefits to our trade partners and our mutual customers.”

Virgin said the partnership meant agents could package flights and hotels together. A trade incentive scheme will also be introduced, rewarding agents for hotel bookings and aligned to the Virgin Atlantic programme.

Virgin Hotels has properties in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Nashville and New Orleans. It is hoped the new structure will grow Virgin Hotels’ presence in the UK, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific region. 
 
Maya Latinovic, Virgin Hotels’ vice-president of global sales, added: “Our trade partners and consumers at the heart of this partnership already view the Virgin Atlantic and the Virgin Hotels brand as one.

"Offering a one-stop experience in the UK is essential to the growth of Virgin Hotels and Virgin Atlantic abroad and will provide tremendous benefits.”

Virgin Hotels hasn’t, until now, had a UK staff base so the restructure does not see any redundancies.