NEWS forum held during The Travel Convention in Marrakech
Hays rejects Bouldin’s view that travel ‘no longer sexy’
T Derek Jones
ravel is still a “sexy” industry to work in despite the ongoing challenges, according to the owner of Hays Travel. Dame Irene Hays said the sector provides
a “brilliant, sexy career” and it is up to those currently working within it to restore the fun. Her comments on the main stage came after Royal
Caribbean’s Ben Bouldin declared travel is “not the sexy industry that it once was”. “Fatigue in our industry is a real thing – it’s been
exhausting,” he said. “To work in travel, you’ve got to be thick-skinned. Expectations are only getting higher so it’s not easy, and isn’t going to be for a while.” He went on to say that there was real pressure on salaries. “Just this week, we tried to hire someone for our social
media team and from the start of the process until the end, her salary expectations went up by £20,000 because she had four other offers from outside travel,” he said. “This makes holding onto our existing team even more
important.” Zina Bencheikh of Intrepid Travel said the operator was
placing a huge focus on retention. “We are looking at everything we can do to ensure we
are able to keep our team that have been with us for the last two-and-a-half years.” Derek Jones, formerly of Der Touristik, added: “Our cost base is artificially low as an industry at the moment
because there’s a lot of understaffing everywhere. “The way to compensate lower revenues is to hold your
costs down and so there are firms working at 60%, 70%, 80% of their full staffing levels. “But that just means everyone who is left is working
so much harder. People start to leave and then you’ve got recruitment issues again.” Jones urged everyone in the room to “go out and tell
the story of how brilliant our industry is”. He said: “We have to create the mindset in people that
travel is fun.” Dobson calls on government to help sector on business rates
Spiralling energy bills will deter would-be entrepreneurs from opening new travel agencies on the high street, according to Barrhead Travel’s Jacqueline Dobson. She revealed she had recently
signed a four-year deal with Barrhead’s energy supplier so that energy costs across her branch network are fixed, meaning her supplier will have to absorb any incremental charges. However, she expressed concern
that others may find rising costs a real obstacle, and said: “I think the
travelweekly.co.uk
Jacqueline Dobson
government needs to come out with a package of help and support on business rates.” But former Der Touristik chief
Derek Jones said he did not hold out much hope for intervention amid the political unrest. He said: “The idealogues are
the ones left in charge and the City doesn’t like that. We don’t want the Bank of England having to intervene to correct political decision-making. “If things do spiral, then this administration won’t last.”
20 OCTOBER 2022 17 Ben Bouldin
PICTURES: Arif Gardner/AG Studios
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