NEWS THE INTERVIEW


Her point is clear – recruitment


of inexperienced agents is no longer unusual in the sector, and while enthusiasm is key, training is vital. She also highlights a shift in sales


performance and the numbers now choosing to work full-time. “It’s interesting to see the evolution in the numbers [of agents], but also the sales volumes per advisor. What we are seeing is our advisors are doing more [sales] and moving into full-time.”


Training InteleTravel’s focus, she says, is fixed on the sellers themselves and providing training to meet all needs. “When you look at the ethos of the founders, it’s about giving people the opportunity to become entrepreneurs and build their own business at low cost,” she says. “The marketing and events


training programme is huge – we run up to 10 webinars a week, from product knowledge to how you niche your business, and we’re doing more detailed training on niches such as selling to groups or luxury cruising. Everything is about helping them


travelweekly.co.uk


upskill, but we also run sessions for entry-level advisors.” The training programmes are


driven by understanding the needs of advisors from different backgrounds and encouraging them to tap into the potential customers around them, Cookes says. “We have ex-bankers and lawyers,


so they tap into different clients. We are working on looking at who is around you and how you can use that to build a successful business. They’re fishing in different ponds to the rest of the industry because of their backgrounds.” She cites cruise, luxury and


group travel as large growth areas for InteleTravel, but says there are no set targets for how many agents specialise in those niches. “It’s about giving the agents platforms and tools but there are sectors we are strong in, like group travel, where we can do more,” she says. “Growth in cruise is phenomenal.


We still have a lot to do on luxury – we have a big showcase in October and will invite our top-10 luxury sellers from the south and north.


“Getting people to face-to-face


events is key, and we’ll be doing more next year – we’ve already run more ship visits this year than ever before.”


Suppliers In the past year, 20 partners have joined InteleTravel’s preferred supplier list, which now numbers 105 in the UK. Cookes says: “We have widened


the partners we work with, which means we can give our members more training. “It’s about making sure we have


the best in the field. For many of our suppliers we’re already a top-three agent, or close to it, which lets us negotiate a stronger proposition for our advisors.” With the group now working more


closely with suppliers, Cookes stresses the need for firm commitments from its partners. “We’re very clear on what members will need. We have big numbers of agents, which means support processes and booking programmes have to be really solid, and we need to know suppliers can cope with that,” she says.


Trading InteleTravel sales for the calendar year to date have reached “just over” £200 million. The group finished 2025 with sales of around £248 million and is on track to grow that by 25% this year. “Sales are really strong; we are


significantly up on last year. Cruise has been the big success story in recent weeks,” says Cookes. “We’re not seeing too much


hesitation around travelling to the UAE and transiting through it. It’s definitely coming back. “We are still seeing a lates push,


but for winter and next year we are seeing people commit to the UAE.” Cookes is also open about her


own future at InteleTravel, which she views as “long term” as the company continues to grow “at pace”. “The business is growing – there


are so many parts to get involved in,” she adds. “I’m on the executive team and I’ve been learning lots from Tricia [Handley-Hughes, UK and Ireland managing director]. It’s exciting to be part of something that is growing. It’s a dynamic business.”


3 SEPTEMBER 2026 11


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