The Personal Travel Agents (PTAs), the


Midcounties Co-operative’s homeworking division, says supporting its 160 existing agents to gain new clients is a “greater priority and facilitator of growth” than recruitment. Head Sheena Whittle says: “For those agents


who want to grow their databases and earnings, the opportunities are huge right now.” Vertical Travel Group’s agent numbers dropped around 18% in the past 12 months to 170 across


travelweekly.co.uk


its four homeworking brands. However, business development director Damian Mc Donough says: “We’ll continue to bring on 40 to 60 homeworkers annually; we’re not hung up on how many.” The group will have “close to 300” in two years


but its core focus is on growing sales by maximising homeworkers’ marketing across all channels. Personal Holiday Advisors, Constant Travel’s


homeworking arm, aims to increase its network of 20 by 40% in the next year. General manager


Liz Williams says the group “lost a few” during Covid but recruitment is picking up after a dip this summer. ITE’s Gillespie predicts competition to attract


homeworkers will see firms adjusting their joining offers. “The offering will change to meet the needs of the market and match competitors,” he says. To counter the recruitment crisis, ITE plans to


drop its requirement for two years’ travel experience in a ‘new to travel’ promotion of extended training and lower fees to entice newcomers.


27 OCTOBER 2022 5


PICTURE: Shutterstock/Andrey_Popov

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34