The UK’s largest tour operator Jet2holidays has signed an agency agreement with InteleTravel to distribute its holidays from Monday, July 29.
The agency group advertised a ‘Partner Webinar’ to its members, a screengrab of which was circulated widely on social media.
The webinar is due to take place on Monday at 8pm. The notice says: “We are excited to announce the launch of Jet2holidays.
“It is imperative that you listen to this webinar prior to making any bookings with Jet2holidays so you understand the booking process.”
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Jet2holidays had previously told Travel Weekly it would not work with InteleTravel as its call centre could not cope with the likely volume of calls from its members.
InteleTravel now boasts just over 20,000 advisors across the UK and Ireland.
Commenting on the new commercial agreement, Jet2holidays said: “We have an award-winning track record of working closely with the trade, and we monitor the market very closely when it comes to potential partners.
“We have a rigorous set of standards that we apply to all partners and when we are satisfied that potential partners meet these standards, we will of course consider working with them.
“We have continued to monitor InteleTravel closely, and we have been impressed by the significant progress that they have made in a number of areas since gaining Abta membership, including developments around training and back office support.
“Our standard commercial and pricing agreements will apply to InteleTravel. We believe that working with InteleTravel will also enable better transparency over where bookings are coming from.”
InteleTravel UK director Tricia Handley-Hughes added: “We are delighted to be launching with Jet2holidays on July 29 and look forward to building a strong and productive relationship with them.”
At the Travel Weekly Agent Achievement Awards earlier this month, Designer Travel founder and managing director Amanda Matthews accepted the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry, praising the 150 professional agents working in her business “who are doing it for a career, not just a side hustle”.
Her swipe at part-time travel advisors, who critics say join organisations like InteleTravel to save money on their own holidays with no intention of running a travel agency business or properly supporting supplier partners, was met with a huge cheer from the audience.