Listening to staff is key to peaks success A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Planning for peaks seems to start earlier and earlier each year. Despite increasing marketing focus on alternative selling periods including Black Friday and a flattening booking curve in recent years, the first quarter remains crucial to many businesses’ annual performances. And that is evident in the sheer volume of preparation that goes in during the latter months of the year to allow the trade to hit the ground running in January. That preparation appears to be bearing fruit for many agencies, with a host of retailers issuing positive trading reports as January drew to a close (page 4). The optimism of those statements was also shared by the agents and consortia bosses I chatted to on our latest Travel Weekly Webcast, who
offered an upbeat assessment of the start of the year (page 4). In addition to references to the importance of laying groundwork to give staff and business
owners the best chance to succeed, I was also struck by the number of agency bosses and suppliers going ‘back to the floor’ with frontline staff. These initiatives are designed to boost morale and there’s never any harm in a bit of positive PR when you want your brand to the fore. But they also offer a crucial opportunity to hear from those engaging with potential customers on a daily basis. Good preparation is one part of the plan. Listening and responding to your staff to fine-tune those plans and maximise opportunities can be the key to turning a good peaks into an outstanding one.
Lucy Huxley, editor-in-chief, Travel Weekly Group CONTENTS
NEWS Agencies report strong January end
4
Bosses eye more stores and homeworkers 4
Cruise.co.uk range will roll out in Q3 5 New employment rules; EasyJet focus 6 Agency eyes expansion; Hilsdon tributes 8 Special Report
COVER STAR
Seaside Travel regional sales manager Rebecca Rutter enjoys her
photoshoot during the Cover Stars trip to Madeira
page 28 Photo: Thomas Reader
EasyJet holidays hosts homeworkers 10 comment
Gemma Antrobus: Traditional values 14
NEWS YOU CAN USE Product EasyJet, Tui, Wizz Air, Red Sea
close-up
Ashdown Travel, Hays, Miles Morgan 30 competitions Thailand, Germany and London
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DESTINATIONS active & adventure Kazakhstan: Discover Nomad culture, Silk Road heritage and spectacular landscapes in this lesser-known country
Sovereign Luxury Travel, Newmarket 18 Scenic, Quark, Celestyal, Marella
17 20
MSC, Seabourn, P&O Cruises, NCL 22
FRONTLINE agent diary
Matt and Ashley Phillips: Peaks chaos 26 cover stars Rebecca Rutter, Seaside Travel
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FRONT COVER AND THIS PAGE: Steve Dunlop; Shutterstock/Sergey Dzyuba, aapsky
travelweekly.co.uk FOLLOW US: @travelweekly
WHAT LUCY DID THIS WEEK
OSpent a fantastic few days in Austria on
Cruise.co.uk’s annual ski conference with representatives from pretty much all the cruise lines trading in the UK.
ORecorded the first in a series of new webcasts with agent readers talking about January and predictions for the rest of the year.
OTook my sister out for a birthday lunch – something my mum would have done, so stepping into her shoes!
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caribbean What’s new: Fresh ways to sell the islands of Antigua, Barbados and Anguilla 40 45
Villas: The hottest new properties
Curaçao: This tiny island offers a Caribbean escape with a cultural twist 51
BUSINESS NEWS
Succession planning vital before sale 54 Businesses to face age gap challenge 55 Tax relief change could affect EOT 55 Trading updates paint positive picture 56
travelweeklyuk @travelweeklyuk 5 FEBRUARY 2026 3
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