AGENCY BOSSES


Amanda Matthews


Travel Weekly webcasts: Operator staffing levels, job prospects, reputational risk JOBS OUTLOOK


Travel Weekly’s Lucy Huxley


Joanna Kolatsis


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Miles Morgan


Julia Lo Bue-Said


Operators urged to recall staff to handle bookings


T


ravel agency bosses have appealed to tour operators to bring furloughed staff back to


work to save the industry from losing valuable future bookings. Amanda Matthews, managing


director of Designer Travel, and Miles Morgan, chairman of Miles Morgan Travel, claimed suppliers had furloughed too many staff too quickly, resulting in an inability to answer agents’ calls. They stressed there was now an opportunity for the trade to lock in longer-term bookings if suppliers acted quickly. Under the government’s Job


Retention Scheme, companies are allowed to bring staff back after they have been furloughed for three weeks, a move the two agents believe could prove a lifeline for the trade. Matthews said: “It is in


everybody’s interest to save a sale. We should all be on the same team.” She said it was vital operators


dealt with bookings for July and August, for example, rather than just focusing on April or May, to stop more clients cancelling.


10 30 APRIL 2020 “We should be sorting out clients


that want to book,” she added. “It’s so easy for suppliers to say ‘computer says no’. Quite often [agents] are giving them ideas on how to save a sale.” Morgan said it would be


“common sense” for operators to bring staff back. “Once they lose these customers for summer, you cannot get them back,” he said. “Now is the chance for them to put people on the phones and offer agents the chance to reprotect [bookings], which is crucial, rather than furloughing people for longer and losing the client for ever. It’s a no-brainer decision to bulk up their staffing, albeit for the next three weeks, to get ahead of the game.” Matthews said Designer Travel


had saved around 50% of bookings for March and April, around 25% for May and June but only around 5% to 10% for July and August. With balances for summer


bookings due imminently, she fears clients will refuse to pay and that these could be permanently lost if operators don’t act. Matthews commended Jet2holidays but criticised Tui.


‘There are bound to be job losses once furlough ends’


I


t would be “naive” to assume the travel industry will escape redundancies once the government’s Job Retention


Scheme finishes, according to industry lawyer Jo Kolatsis. Kolatsis, director of Themis


Advisory, and Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said that while the industry was “working harder than ever”, the furlough scheme – designed to help businesses survive – “in reality doesn’t work for our industry”. Kolatsis said travel firms would


have to look at how they run their operations once the furlough scheme, recently extended by the government to June 30, comes to an end. She said: “It would probably be


a bit naive to suggest we will not see some redundancies after this. I don’t think we will be able to pick up the day after lockdown finishes and carry on as if nothing has happened.” Lo Bue-Said said the Advantage


consortium had already had some “distressing conversations” with members experiencing pain in their


I don’t think [firms] will be able to pick up and carry on as if nothing has happened


personal and business lives as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, but insisted its agencies remained resilient. She said: “They are smart


business people, making smart business decisions. We have just got to keep optimistic that they will come through this.” Lo Bue-Said said the agency


consortium had been focused on helping members’ mental health in this difficult period, with initiatives such as its ‘Wellness Wednesdays’ videos on YouTube. She added: “I have gone to bed


shedding a tear; I am not ashamed to say that. But members are very resilient and very good business people. They are holding true to their values and, so long as we stay united as an industry, we will be in a good position to come out of this.”


travelweekly.co.uk


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