NEWS bers and suppliers gathered at the Forest of Arden Resort last week. Robin Searle reports


Marson: Hold your nerve and minimise discounting


I ms to support members


from advanced commission payments were now cleared. She also outlined additional support


for member businesses, including one- to-one coaching, the appointment of dedicated business development manager Kelly Green and commission uplifts. Further options are being offered


to boost cruise sales, Marson said, including cruise business planning sessions, weekly training videos and newsletter campaigns, and dedicated training and ship visits. “The IG bounce-back story is


phenomenal,” she added. “Credit to everyone for saving the sale and retaining customer loyalty.”


ndependence Group head Natasha Marson called on members to reduce discounting to further improve a strong rebound which has seen the group outperform the wider business. Marson said members should “not sell themselves


short”, adding: “Trust is high so I would be holding my nerve as there is an opportunity to reduce discounting and improve margins.” Average booking value for IG members in the past five


months peaked at £2,829 in July and was £2,782 in August, with an average margin of 9%. Marson said the Independence Group continued


to grow and was now 9% larger than pre-pandemic, with more than 40% of members having been with the consortium for more than 10 years. Recruitment efforts were also reflected in the fact that 34% of members had joined within the past five years, she added. New members to have joined since the group’s overseas


conference in March include Club Voyages, Picniq Holidays and Refined Travel. Jonathon Woodall-Johnston, Hays Travel chief


operating officer, said the Independence Group had outperformed its budgets for the past five months, including September despite the challenges of “events outside our control”. He also said IG members had outperformed Hays’ retail business on commission versus budget during the


same period, although both had exceeded their targets throughout. Woodall-Johnston confirmed Hays had returned a


contingency Covid loan to Barclays Bank earlier this year, meaning the agency had remained debt-free for 42 years. And he confirmed it continued to ring-fence customer


cash, meaning no consumer money is used to fund holidays. Both divisions were attracting new customers, with


45% of retail customers new to the brand, rising to 49% for IG members, Woodall-Johnston said. Recruitment efforts continue to fill around 15% of staff


roles, with Hays’ apprenticeship programme ongoing and other focuses including recruiting and training those with retail and management experience in other sectors.


Hays Travel launches holiday money initiatives


Hays Travel is working with Mastercard to develop a travel money card which will be available to Independence Group members to sell to customers. The company also introduced an


in-house foreign exchange system this year as it targets further growth in currency sales, replacing the previous third-party point-of-sale system. Beccy Rayner, foreign exchange


head of sales, said the new transaction processing system had been “hugely well-received” in Hays branches as she urged IG members


travelweekly.co.uk


to capitalise on forex demand. She said that adding 270 forex


sales for departures in May- September could have added £55,000 turnover for a small or


medium-sized agency, while a large branch could have made £128,000 incremental revenue in the same period based on 630 bookings. Rayner said the Post Office and


large supermarket chains currently dominated the forex market due to “convenience” but said agents were best-placed to offer the service, including buy-back guarantees. She added: “What could be


better than to buy your foreign currency from the person you used to book your holiday and entrusted with your dreams?”


13 OCTOBER 2022 11


Jonathon Woodall- Johnston


PICTURES: Incircles Photography; Shutterstock/Natali55522


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