Travel agents credit Tipto roadshows for new bookings

Travel agents have credited Tipto roadshows with giving them information or guidance that led directly to new bookings.

Agents who wrote testimonials after attending events run by the trade networking and marketing body said they had reaped the benefits of meeting suppliers in person.

Tipto has already held ten roadshows and two SuperShows since last September around the country for agents and has a further 18 roadshow events and two SuperShows between now and July. The next roadshow is on April 14 in Bournemouth and the last one is on July 14 in Stockport. 

As well as supplier presentations and networking, the events include a two-course dinner and the chance to win prizes.

Daniel Bartholomew-Oates, director of The Awesome Adventure Company, made a £22,000 booking for a private Peru tour for a family of four, travelling in 2027, after attending Tipto’s second SuperShow of the year in Southampton.

In his testimonial, he credited the SuperShow with helping him secure the booking after a chat with Craig Liddle, agency sales manager, Cox & Kings, about the operator’s tailormade touring programme at the event.

“This is why I’m a firm believer in events; you get to meet suppliers and connect with them on a very different level to webinars and it seals a fantastic working business relationship. So, thank you to the suppliers and the wider Tipto team – it was a great night!” he said.

As well as leading to new sales, agents said the events had also helped improve their product knowledge.

Not Just Travel agent Sharon Grove made a Newmarket Holidays booking after attending Tipto’s Exeter roadshow and hearing a talk by Claire Hodgkin, the operator’s account manager for the South West and South Wales.

She said: “Following on from her product presentation, I successfully booked an Elvis tour with Newmarket a couple of days later. 

“I now feel like I know the product, so it’s given me the confidence to continue to promote them to other clients too.”

Leanne Buckingham, travel consultant, Hays Travel in Ferndown, learnt more about Leger’s business class coaches after speaking to head of retail sales Ashley Dellow, which also led to a booking.

“I then had a client who wanted to visit Italy but didn’t want to fly and I was able to make the business class booking via coach. I’ve used Leger before but not their Luxuria tours – learning more about them on the night is what really led to this sale,” she added.

Other agents similarly praised the organisation’s roadshows for giving them the chance to meet suppliers who gave them product information and deals which they used to confirm bookings with operators including Ambassador Cruise Line and Gold Medal.

Ewan Thomson, a travel consultant at Barrhead Travel’s Gyle Shopping Centre in Edinburgh, said: “I’m still relatively new to travel but thanks to the information I learned from Gold Medal, I’ve already managed to book clients on an Orlando holiday in October 2027. I’m over the moon!”

In addition to Tipto’s face2face roadshows, the organisation provides 23 supplier training modules online for agents registered on the site. Agents who complete all the modules are automatically entered into a training incentive to win a four-course lunch for two on board a Bustronome double decker bus.