NEWS
HELLO TRAVEL, THIS IS DAVINA... Davina McCall trumpeted the merits of booking through a travel agent while taking part in a publicity shoot for Hays Travel. The TV presenter, who became brand ambassador for the agency in May, said consumers need help to “understand everything is easier with a travel agent” when booking a holiday. McCall said having the opportunity to meet frontline agents since taking up the role had been “absolutely brilliant” and predicted a bright future for the trade and high street, saying: “The more that time goes by and the less connected we are, that personal touch of seeing someone will become incredibly important.” McCall said she was “blown away” when she met Dame Irene Hays, adding: “I love her and I love the company.” iWatch T
ravel Weekly’s interview with Davina McCall on the TW Facebook page
Tui and easyJet holidays celebrate strength of sales via indie agents
Juliet Dennis
Tui’s UK boss has revealed almost one in 10 sales now comes through third-party agents, with independent partners continuing to be the “strongest growth channel” for the operator. Speaking at Travel Weekly’s
Future of Travel Conference recently, Neil Swanson, Tui UK & Ireland managing director, said he was “really pleased” with the performance of third parties, with growth through Tui’s own shops being flat year on year. He credited independent agents as
agents in September 2023 and since then sales have continued to rise. Swanson said: “Third-party
sales are pushing on the 10% level; still relatively small [but] it’s good growth, I am really pleased with it.” He ruled out significant expansion
STORY TOP
of Tui’s branch network and stressed the group was now managing its estate “very carefully”. He said: “The high
street is steady at moment, it came back strongly after Covid, so it’s a case of looking at how that is
an increasingly important distribution channel and catalyst for growth, a view echoed by easyJet holidays chief executive Garry Wilson who said third-party sales make up between 20% and 25% of his tour operation’s distribution, depending on season. Tui resumed “widespread”
distribution through third-party
travelweekly.co.uk
going to develop over the next 12 months. It’s flat year on year; we were seeing growth, but not now. “We have not got any plans
to open any more [shops]. If opportunities come along then we will be taking those, but there’s not going to be dramatic growth.” Speaking on the same panel,
Wilson described agents as a “hugely important” distribution channel as the operator marks five
Third-party sales
are pushing on the 10% level – it’s good growth, I am really pleased with it
years of working with the trade. He said agents tended to
book different product to online customers, such as more-established hotels, but said the spend was similar. “We see [agents] as being an
incremental channel and we will try to do what we can to support where we can,” Wilson said. In a direct plea to agents, he
said: “Give us your ideas; if we can afford to do it then we will. As an airline with 350 aircraft, when we are looking to plan our network we will speak to agents about where there is a base you think we are missing.” Crediting the decision to open a base at Newcastle airport in March
2026 to a conversation with Hays Travel owner Irene Hays, he said: “I’d like agents to look at easyJet holidays and think they can control where and when we fly. Southend, Birmingham, Newcastle – a lot of that would not have been possible to open without the support of agents.” The comments on the importance
of agents came ahead of this week’s Tui Group trading statement on this summer and winter 2025-26. It said the UK showed “positive
momentum”, with bookings 1% up this summer and “broadly in line” year on year for this coming winter. While overall group bookings
remained 2% down year on year, the average selling price had continued to hold up with a rise of 3% “helping us to partly mitigate the elevated cost environment”. The group noted the appeal
of its cruise brands in the UK and Germany remained strong despite
a “significant capacity increase”. i Future of Travel report, page 12
25 SEPTEMBER 2025 5
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