The owner of Macclesfield agency Henbury Travel says he is “embarrassed” by the problems facing holidaymakers who booked online – and says trends are turning back towards agency bookings.
Richard Slater, who is also chair of Abta in the northwest region, made his comments after widespread coverage in the national and regional press about long delays and cancellations at many UK airports.
Tui is cutting flights from Manchester airport over the next month in the face of staff shortages which have led to delays and cancellations.
Police have even been called to deal with Tui holidaymakers, reported the Manchester Evening News.
It said officers read an announcement to travellers about their Tui break to Kos being cancelled – and, in another incident at Manchester airport, police had to escort passengers off their plane after a long delay.
Slater said: “The Tui thing has been a wake-up call to many operators.
“Where was the management? How embarrassing having a police officer making announcements on your behalf.
“If you’re running a business and things are going wrong, you get yourself out there and communicate, you are the face of the company.”
He said consumers who had booked holidays direct with suppliers would be “disgusted” by the quality of customer service compared to booking with an Abta agent.
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“It’s embarrassing to have people coming in my shop, desperate to get hold of operators after waiting in endless queues, with no end in sight to resolve their query,” he said.
“They don’t realise the added value an agent can offer.”
He said bosses of operators who are targeting online sales are “clearly not doing their homework as the trend is returning to agents”.
“Surely by encouraging agents – like Jet2 does for instance – you will drive revenue, upsells, add-ons and repeat business,” he added.
“Working with agents will drive revenue, make for excellent customer service and give the industry a great reputation.”
Slater has been interviewed on Radio Merseyside talking about the problems at Manchester airport, and is due to be featured on Channel 5 news on Wednesday evening.
Manchester airport said Tui and its ground-handler, Swissport have experienced “significant challenges” with their check-in and baggage reclaim operations in recent days because of temporary staff shortages.
A Tui spokesperson apologised to customers who experienced flight disruption and said the planned cancellations in June were because of “ongoing challenges in our operation”.
Picture of Manchester airport by Doubleclix/Shutterstock.com
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