NEWS — TRAVEL NETWORK CONFERENCE
Retail expert Clare Rayner presents 10 steps to retail success
Martin Andrew, commercial
director, TTNG
Gary Lewis (left), TTNG, and Simon Ferguson, Travelport
Andrew: The biggest trend is the return of the travel agent
The future for agents is positive and the package holiday is “far from dead” – that was the message from an industry debate at The Travel Network Group conference. Martin Andrew, TTNG
group commercial director, said: “The biggest trend is the return of the travel agent. People understand the value of a travel agency.”
He highlighted
growth in the package market,
9%, the economy is recovering, families are booking early again, and all-inclusives are popular. The panel of experts agreed
“The package holiday is
not dead; it is growing and
and said nine million people took a package holiday in 2014. “The package holiday is not dead; it is growing and dominates the market despite the emphasis on dynamic packaging,” he said. Overall, the market for this season is forecast to be down by 2%, because the economic recovery is slow, the UK summer was warm, and there were major sporting events.
Clouds on the horizon include 2015’s general election, airport capacity and political unrest. But there are positives, said
Andrew, noting that bookings for next summer are already up
prospects for agents appeared bright. Steve Barrass, managing director of Gold Medal Travel Group, told attendees: “People will come back to travel agents as you give great service.
“It is no
dominates the market”
surprise that people are
returning to agents – it is because of the ‘choice explosion’.” Jo Rzymowska, UK and
Ireland managing director at Celebrity Cruises, said cruises represented a “massive opportunity” for agents. With 1.7 million Britons currently taking a cruise each year, she said there was the potential to win over millions of new customers – and a quarter wanted to talk to agents when they book. Simon Ferguson, Travelport managing director for the UK and Ireland, cited three successful travel brands – DialAFlight, Trailfinders and Flight Centre – which were top agencies despite not having bookable websites.
14 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 9 October 2014
Capacity: ‘Is an opportunity for agents’
A predicted glut of capacity in aviation, hotels and cruising is an opportunity, not a threat, agents heard at The Travel Network Group conference. Steve Barrass, managing
director of Gold Medal Travel Group, said: “Middle Eastern airlines are putting big orders in. “Those planes need to be filled and there is an opportunity for us to fill them. “Top hotels are opening
around the world every day. They all need filling. It is a huge opportunity for us to fill them.” Simon Ferguson, managing
director of Travelport UK & Ireland, said the expansion by Gulf carriers was largely in response to growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Other developments, such
as aircraft orders by Ryanair, easyJet’s move to woo corporate travellers and Norwegian’s discount transatlantic services, meant airlines needed agents to fill seats, he said. Commenting on Ryanair’s
return to GDSs, Ferguson said: “If they’re going to fill planes, they need to work with agents and attract new business.”
App: Travelport unveils Travel Amigo
Travelport, in partnership with The Travel Network Group, has launched an app that allows agents to create individually branded apps for use by clients. The app, called Travel Amigo, links to the Galileo and Worldspan GDSs and enables agents to stay involved in every step of a customer’s trip – planning, in-trip and post-trip. Jasmeen Kaur, Travelport business development director, said agencies that buy Travel Amigo can design their own customised app for clients, who
can then download it for free for Apple and Android devices. Travel Amigo was available to TTNG members at the conference for an initial fee of £2,995 a year. A version for business agents costs £4,995. Consumers can use the app to view their itinerary and book add- ons via Holiday Extras, Attraction World and A2B Transfers, with commission paid to the agent. The first agency to use it will
be Kenwood Travel in London. Agents who signed up at the conference will receive an iPad.
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