In Analysis

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

Travel health is a sector that independent pharmacists, with the right training and resources, are ideally suited to. Steve Titmarsh explains…

Offering services and information to help customers stay healthy on holiday can be rewarding professionally and financially.

According to the Office for National Statistics trips abroad surpassed pre-pandemic levels in 2024 with UK residents making 94.6 million trips abroad, with 59% of people taking an overseas holiday.¹ These figures present an opportunity for community pharmacists as a trusted source of travel-related information and services.

ECG Training says: ‘The shift in primary care provision, rising public trust in pharmacists, and growing demand for accessible travel health services make community pharmacies the ideal providers of private travel clinics. This service aligns perfectly with the evolving role of the pharmacy as a community health hub.² 

‘By offering private travel health services, pharmacies can meet an unmet need, strengthen public health, and create a sustainable new revenue stream – all while continuing to serve their communities with professionalism and care.’²

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) provides a Travel Health Hub on its website and agrees that ‘as experts in medicine and building on a growing experience of routine administration of vaccines, community pharmacy is perfectly placed to provide a travel health and vaccination service.’ The organisation adds that some members are seeing profits of over £2,500 a month from offering travel health services, including vaccinations.³ 

Information and resources

The NPA’s Travel Health Hub provides information about training, including patient group directions (PGD) and resources to help community pharmacists keep their knowledge about the latest advice on travel health and immunisations up to date.

There is also advice on setting up a travel health service from a simple offer of advice over the counter through to a travel health check service. Important aspects such as equipment and facilities, documentation and practical aspects such as appointment management are also covered.

Working with local GPs is particularly important, says the NPA, and there is a letter template that can be used to let local GPs know what services the local pharmacy offers so GPs can signpost patients to them.³ Finally NPA Connects provides marketing support so community pharmacists can make the most of opportunities providing travel health services can offer.⁴ 

Specialist Pharmacy Service provides information about resources for primary health care professionals to answer questions about travel health such as Travel Health Pro from NaTHNaC (National Travel Health Network and Centre) which is intended to be used by travellers and health care professionals in the UK.⁵ NHS inform⁶ and the NHS website⁷ also provide a wealth of information.

Larry Goodyer, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy Practice at De Montfort University, who may be considered one of the pioneers of travel medicine (he helped set up Nomad Travel medical services in 1989) mentioned in a paper published in 2024 that rather than the vaccine-centric approach to travel health, some pharmacies take ‘more emphasis could be placed on service provision that facilitates a more holistic approach to the travel consultation’.

They added that: ‘Further opportunities for the education and training of pharmacists’ in the travel consultation process and improving knowledge of areas outside of immunization should be investigated and developed, to ensure travel health services are both comprehensive and personalized to each traveller’s circumstances.’

The study involved interviews with a representative sample of nine community pharmacists from differing sizes of pharmacy across the London region who had more than two years experience in running travel health services, and a focus group of a further seven community pharmacists.⁸

Training and support

Numark’s Patient Services Project Developer, Shirley Nickson, says the organisation supports its member pharmacies with a comprehensive approach to delivering travel health services, combining clinical governance, training and digital enablement.

Members benefit from access to approved PGD providers, structured online learning via Counter Excellence and Pharmacy Excellence, practical vaccination training through partners such as ECG Training, and robust operational guidance.

The Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education offers a travel health e-learning module for GPhC members.⁹ 

Formal qualifications in travel medicine are offered by the Faculty of Travel Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPSG), for example.¹⁰ 

The Royal College of Nursing has established competency frameworks for travel health practice for nurses¹¹ and a competency assessment tool for all health care professionals is included in the RCPSG’s 'Good Practice Guidance for Providing a Travel Health Service'.¹² 

Market intelligence

Ethan Gallagher, OTC Development Manager at Numark, says seasonal and travel categories had a really strong season in 2025, helped by the extended periods of warm, dry weather in the UK, and more people travelling abroad.

‘The biggest year on year increases were seen in allergy nasal spray, insect bite relief, insect repellent, suncare, travel sickness tablets, athlete’s foot treatments, fungal nail treatments, indigestion and rehydration.

‘Consumer travel destinations are changing, evidenced through the increased popularity of anti-malaria tablets and consumer concerns regarding COVID-19 have continued to soften further in 2025 with fewer people purchasing COVID-19 tests,’ Mr Gallagher comments. 

In-store merchandising

In terms of category management and in-store merchandising for seasonal travel health products Numark advises members to make use of guidance, insights, POS and market leading deals that Numark members receive in the monthly ‘Your OTC’ magazine pack. 

Pharmacies are encouraged to flex space in branches for winter and summer so members can capitalise on demand changes throughout the year. They can utilise impulse purchase locations like the till counter top to position travel health essentials and smaller travel sized products, comments Mr Gallagher.

When they are able to, ‘pharmacies should ensure the range proposition has a clear structure that allows for trade up opportunities as well as entry options. Make use of Numark’s own brand range, which covers the majority of travel health needs at competitive pricing and high margin potential.

‘The highest potential areas for independents are the categories with a strong pharmacy medicine presence such as allergy tablets, solutions and nasals sprays, travel sickness tablets, athlete’s foot treatments, and anti-diarrhoea medicines.

‘Other areas that offer high potential for independents include indigestion and heartburn, upset stomach, antiseptic creams, insect bite relief and repellents, plasters, fungal nail treatments, verruca and wart treatments, and high SPF suncare products.’

Future prospects

Looking ahead, Numark’s Shirley Nickson sees pharmacy travel health services evolving through digital consultation tools and closer collaboration with GP practices, helping to improve patient access while supporting NHS capacity. 

‘By enabling pharmacies to meet changing consumer expectations around convenience and travel readiness, Numark is positioning independent pharmacies as trusted, local hubs for travel health that complement and support the wider NHS,’ she says.

References

1. Office for National Statistics. Travel trends: 2024 (www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/articles/traveltrends/2024#cite-this-article; accessed February 2026).

2. ECG Training. Why It Makes Sense for UK Community Pharmacies to Offer Private Travel Health Services (https://ecgtraining.co.uk/why-it-makes-sense-for-uk-community-pharmacies-to-offer-private-travel-health-services; accessed February 2026).

3. National Pharmacy Association. Travel health hub (www.npa.co.uk/learning-and-development/npa-resource-hubs/travel-health-hub; accessed February 2026).

4. National Pharmacy Association. NPA Connects (https://npaconnects.co.uk; accessed February 2026).

5. TravelHealthPro. Welcome to TravelHealthPro (https://travelhealthpro.org.uk; accessed January 2026).

6. NHS inform. Travel health and vaccinations (www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/travel-health/travel-health-and-vaccinations; accessed February 2026).

7. NHS. Travel vaccination advice (www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/travel-vaccinations/travel-vaccination-advice; accessed February 2026).

8. Goodyer L, Evans D, Wilson A, et al. Experiences of community pharmacists in the United Kingdom on the provision of travel health services and associated educational requirements. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 2024;32(4):287–93.

9. CPPE. Travel health – understanding and supporting travellers’ wellbeing (www.cppe.ac.uk/programmes/l/travel-e-02; accessed February 2026).

10. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Qualifications in travel medicine (https://rcpsg.ac.uk/professions/travel-medicine; accessed February 2026).

11. Royal College of Nursing. RCN Travel Health Nursing: career and competence development (www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/publications/rcn-travel-health-nursing-uk-pub-010-573; accessed February 2026).

12. Faculty of Travel Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Good Practice Guidance for Providing a Travel Health Service (https://rcpsg.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-06/TM_GuidanceDoc%201020%20FINAL%20%28HiRes%20SinglePages%29.pdf; accessed February 2026).