Where InteleTravel plans to expand next – plus four other key points

Chris Photi, head of travel and leisure at accountancy firm White Hart Associates, provided a geopolitical and economic overview, stressing how macroeconomic and political uncertainty has impacted consumer confidence, which has fallen by seven percentage points – hitting the lowest point since March 2024. 

Nevertheless, figures show that people continue to prioritise their holidays over any other discretionary expense, as spending with travel agents surged by 7.2% in August – reaching the highest level since February.

“UK consumers very robustly support your industry with their discretionary spend,” Photi commented. 

Looking ahead to 2025, people will still want value-for-money getaways and it will be up to agents and tour operators to show what true value-for-money looks like and avoid price-matching with online operators, he said.

For Donna Nelson, area sales manager at The Travel Corporation, value-for-money means offering customers the most comprehensive experience possible.

“When customers go to a destination they see everything that destination has to offer and they don’t need to visit it again, because they are going to see every little detail of what that destination has to offer,” she explained.

Meanwhile InteleTravel agent Caroline Dillon said it reinforcd the notion that agents are a one-stop shop and that booking with an agent is not just about price, it's also about advice.

“I’m also selling the point that I can do everything for [clients], I can check them in, I can do their boarding passes, all that stuff is really key,” she explained.

InteleTravel members were told to ‘own’ their social media game and drive sales through the likes of Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 

According to social media trainer Clare Groombridge there are several steps to owning social media, including understanding how people use different platforms for different purposes, planning content to stay on top of the algorithm, creating posts that reach audiences and building a community with followers.

Researching social media use is fundamental as people use different platforms in different ways, while understanding how the platforms work can help agents personalise information in a way customers can react to or share last-minute deals.

Meanwhile planning content can help agents create firm objectives while taking the uncertainty of what to post away, Groombridge said.

“Write down your objectives and how you’re going to achieve them or maybe have a think about your audiences and create a plan,” she added.

Groombridge also warned agents that, in order for their social media posts to be successful, they need to do one – or more – of the following actions: educate, entertain, inspire or promote.

“People are looking at your content to escape and get away so don’t be ashamed to be fun,” she continued. “Be entertaining, show your personality and inspire great holidays.”

Consistency is also fundamental, Groombridge cautioned, as the algorithm used by Instagram and Facebook rewards accounts that stay active by engaging via comments or direct messages (DMs).

“Think about growing that niche as you create your content and you’ll start to be known for that content to your tribe,” she concluded. “This is going to help you build a rapport with your audience and people are going to learn more about you and what you’re about. And of course rapport is so important for building sales.”