Exoticca seeks additional BDMs as trade sales treble

Exoticca is recruiting an additional two business development managers in the UK as it seeks continued growth in trade sales on the back of a 300% increase in the year to date.

Neil Sealy, managing director for the UK and Ireland, said one of the new recruits would cover Scotland and the other would be responsible for the Midlands and the southwest.

The tour operator, which launched to the UK in 2017 and started selling through agents in 2023, has trebled its trade sales year on year for the period from January to early July, with B2B sales now representing 25% of business.

“It’s definitely the fastest-growing area of the business in the UK,” said Sealy, who works alongside two colleagues in the UK and Ireland.

Michelle Thake currently covers the Midlands and the south, while Richard Hey is responsible for the north.

Sealy said the company would again bid to at least double its trade sales next year, noting the growing number of agents becoming familiar with the Barcelona-headquartered brand.

He cited Tipto roadshows and Atas events as among the “really useful” ways of meeting new agents.

“We’ve actually very often seen new agents make bookings with us within a week or two of roadshows,” he added.

Over the past few weeks, the heatwave and the Fifa World Cup have represented additional challenges for the business, Sealy said, but trading has remained strong.

“We’re still selling well,” he said, adding the top-selling destinations are Peru, Japan, China and South Africa.

He said he hoped the additional BDMs would be in place by September, ready for the business’ peak selling month.

“Our busiest month for sales is November, not January,” he said. “The reason for that is we do very good Black Friday offers but October and November are very good booking months for touring anyway.”