The Coach Travel Group wins Innovation in Coach at the routeone Awards 2026

The Coach Travel Group has won the Innovation in Coach award at the routeone Awards 2026, recognising a programme of technology investment and collaboration across its operators.

The award celebrates an approach spanning driver safety, fleet management, operational planning and holiday marketing, demonstrating how sharing expertise and resources can deliver benefits for customers, colleagues and individual businesses.

The Group was also represented through nominations for Matt Hobbs in the Manager of the Year, Large Operator category, and Johnsons Coaches in Tourism Programme of the Year.

Four initiatives formed the Innovation in Coach submission, reflecting the different ways The Coach Travel Group is bringing its operators together to improve services and support continued development.

The rollout of Samsara smart safety technology supports a more proactive approach to driver and passenger safety. Intelligent cameras and real-time data help teams identify risks, review safety events and provide coaching to drivers, supporting greater consistency across the Group.

Investment in fleet management was another key element. The introduction of Freeway Fleet Systems, beginning at Johnsons Coaches, brings maintenance scheduling, defect reporting, compliance tracking and asset management into a single platform. A phased implementation allows experience from the initial rollout to inform its introduction across the wider network.

Collaboration also underpinned the Ski Synergy programme, which brought together 10 operators to coordinate European ski transport during the 2026 winter season. Shared planning and resources supported the successful delivery of the programme, improving operational resilience and creating more opportunities for operators to support one another.

The submission also highlighted the coordinated launch of the 2026 holiday programmes from Johnsons Coaches, Barnes Coaches and Jones Holidays. By aligning their launch activity in August 2025, marketing and commercial teams combined their efforts while retaining each operator’s individual identity and customer relationships. The programmes generated 3,250 bookings for 5,718 passengers and £2.93 million in revenue during the launch month.

Together, these initiatives demonstrate how the experience and local knowledge of individual operators help shape The Coach Travel Group. Bringing those strengths together creates opportunities to share successful approaches, invest in systems and develop more coordinated services.

The Innovation in Coach award recognises the contribution of teams across the business who have introduced new technology, developed shared programmes and worked across operators to turn ideas into practical improvements.