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Designer Travel celebrates sales success at Abu Dhabi conference
Designer Travel hailed a strong start to the year at its annual conference, held in Abu Dhabi last week.
The luxury homeworking agency marked the end of its financial year in March with a 20% year-on-year increase in revenue after hitting a record-breaking £11.7 million in sales in January.
Speaking to Travel Weekly, co-founder Amanda Matthews said the agency is “off to a flying start” in the first two months of its new financial year, with trading up by 21% in April and May.
These insights were shared with more than 80 agents and 18 suppliers who attended the conference in Abu Dhabi for four days of business insight sessions, excursions to the emirate’s top attractions – including the F1 circuit, interactive art museum TeamLab Phenomena and Warner Bros World theme park – and hotel visits.
Matthews said the destination was chosen after identifying untapped sales potential.
She said: “We identified the destination as one we believed we could sell a lot more but hadn’t got much personal experience of.
“I think a lot of [agents] would have seen it as a stopover destination before travelling there, but now that we’ve experienced it, we’ve realised that it is a stunning destination with something for everyone.”
A total of 23 agents stayed for a two-day extension in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi’s second-largest city, where they visited the Oasis and Al Ain Zoo.
Matthews maintained a positive outlook about Designer Travel’s continued success for the year despite acknowledging “challenging times ahead” due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
She said: “We’re chasing big numbers. We would like to be 15% up by the end of next March, but we do absolutely believe that with the instability of what’s going on in the Middle East, there will be challenges on the way without a doubt.”
She added: “We’re in fast-paced, changing environment so we will have to face whatever may or may not come out of this region depending on what escalates. You’ve got to be flexible, reassure clients and point them towards Foreign Office advice.”
During the conference, Designer Travel unveiled its new Savvy Traveller policy, an 18-page document with insider tips and guidance for clients about how to travel safely.
Matthews said the guide is in response to the rising complications of travel such as passport, insurance and entry requirements as well as the increase of “scammers” in the industry.
She added: “We will share [the document] as far and wide as we can and hope that ultimately, people will understand that dealing with a professional travel agent has the benefits of not having to worry, because we do it all for them.”
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