Agents are continuing to grow their customer bases despite the relaxation of some travel restrictions.
During the pandemic agents reported they were ‘inundated’ by holidaymakers who were not their customers seeking advice because of problems contacting their holiday providers or complex Covid-related rules.
Recent decisions to reduce the number of red list of countries, drop the requirement for in resort pre-departure tests and allow lateral flow tests on day two for arrivals have made travel easier.
But agents said they were still attracting more new clients as they struggled to navigate the changing restrictions imposed by different destinations as well as the UK government’s rules.
Miles Morgan Travel chairman Miles Morgan said: “We are still seeing huge numbers of new customers. Our demographic is older and more conservative. They like to check before they make a decision.”
The increase in customer numbers would leave agents in a much better position when all the agency’s regular clients return in their full numbers to book, he added.
Fred Olsen Travel head of commercial Paul Hardwick said the number of travel requirements still in place meant there was still many checks to be made ahead of going away, making agents more valued.
“There is so much to go through when booking and when issuing tickets that customers are seeing the value we add. The challenge is information is changing so often,” he said, adding: “The time taken when making the bookings and in after care for bookings now is way above what we would have taken pre-Covid times.”
Designer Travel managing director Amanda Matthews said clients were happy to “pay a little more for the protection of a package rather than doing it all themselves online”.
Independent Travel Experts’ managing director Gary Gillespie said clients remained confused by the rules and wanted to ensure their trips were financially protected.
He said: “Although entry requirements will start to standardise moving forward, for now they are still somewhat of a minefield and it’s very confusing for customers.
“They are choosing to seek the advice of a travel expert to remove that worry. Being fully financially protected is also a big attraction.
“From our homeworkers’ perspective, many more customers seem happy to pay a little extra for the service and financial security, even if they’ve seen it cheaper online. I’m not sure if that trend will continue but it’s very much appreciated right now.”