Future Travel has switched the venue for its annual conference from Tenerife to the UK in the wake of the XL Leisure Group’s crash last week.
A spokesman for The Co-operative Travel-owned homeworking division said the decision had been made as many of the 200 agent delegates and 50 managers and suppliers had originally been booked on XL Airlines flights which have now been lost following the company’s demise.
As the market becomes increasingly uncertain, many homeworkers are also keen to stay in the UK where they can deal with any further emergencies on behalf of the customers should they arise, he added.
The spokesman said: “Homeworkers really earn their crust when something like the XL crash happens, they can be making calls [on behalf of their customers] at six in the morning.”
Although a new venue has yet to be finalised, the spokesman said it was likely to be in England while the conference is expected to last for half of the four days originally planned at the end of September.
A decision is expected later on today.
Head of Future Travel Sheena Darby added: “We felt that it would be inappropriate for a large number of our homeworkers to be out of the country at what is proving a difficult and stressful time for some holidaymakers.
“It is more important that our home-based consultants are ‘on the ground’ and dealing with our customers.”