NEWS group hosts 140 agents and suppliers at annual event. Juliet Dennis reports from Sicily


Deposits should be higher to avert cancellations – Earle


T


Alison Holmes


e key in peaks period’


competitive and we expect to see more operators looking at prize freezes or guarantees and ways to get people to book early and lock prices in now,” she said. Operators were already bringing out


holidays with “a lot of added value”, she said, adding: “When customers feel they get added value for money, holidays sell really well. This is something people will continue to look for.” Chief travel and leisure officer


Sara Dunham agreed value offers were likely to be one of the “levers” used to attract sales in peaks. “It’s about giving confidence when


there is not an awful lot of certainty. Price combined with good value will be one of the levers,” she said.


ravel agency boss Andrew Earle has urged operators to increase holiday deposits to prevent cancellations and compensate agents for their work.


Speaking during a panel debate, the owner of Andrew


Earles Holidays suggested deposits should be around £200 to ensure clients are committed to a booking and to allow operators to pay agents commission on the deposit. The plea comes as major operators such as Jet2holidays


and easyJet holidays offer low deposits of £60 to encourage bookings as consumers face increasing household costs and amid fears of further interest rate rises. Earle said: “£60 is [low] enough for people to walk


away from. The time invested in the booking process is huge and cancelling the holiday is not that easy and means you [the agent] earn nothing. I still wish suppliers would give us something. “Longer-term, there needs to be a different strategy


where people commit to £200 and it gives operators more ability to pay agents at the time, even if it doesn’t turn into a booking.” Only some suppliers pay agents commission on the


holiday deposit. Bookings cancelled for holidays from other suppliers mean the agent earns nothing.


Sara Dunham, Rich Simpson (centre) and Andrew Earle


Rich Simpson, The Co-operative Travel Consortium’s


governance and compliance manager, said cancellations in fact cost agents money, such as credit card fees. “Agents are incurring costs every time bookings are cancelled,” he said. Fellow panellist Sara Dunham, The Midcounties


Co-operative’s chief officer for travel and leisure, said clients were currently opting to cancel holidays rather than switch to cheaper alternatives. “Customers are more stretched and are cancelling


rather than downgrading to cheaper holidays,” she said, adding there was an increasing divide between clients “who can afford a holiday and those who cannot”.


‘Use email for marketing and improve your websites’


Agents have been told to invest in their websites and to use email as a marketing channel to build their businesses post-pandemic. Travel Marketing Services’ Steve


Rushton said: “Communication will be key to how you build your business post-pandemic.” Consortium members were


urged to improve the content of their sites to say exactly “what they sell”, with examples of holidays and testimonials from past customers. He said: “You do not do a good


enough job of telling people why and how you do something. There is no excuse now for not having any testimonials on your website.”


travelweekly.co.uk Steve Rushton He added: “There is no point


doing social posts if your website looks rubbish and if it doesn’t say what it sells. Think about how you present yourself online. By ignoring content you are missing a trick.” Rushton said email was the


most successful way to market to customers, adding only 5% of followers see organic Facebook posts. “Only 5% of followers will see


your Facebook post but when you send an email it goes to 100% of inboxes and the open rate is between 30% and 50%,” he said. “You are getting a much higher


engagement rate than social media and it doesn’t really cost anything.”


13 OCTOBER 2022 9


PICTURES: Steve Dunlop


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