Travel agents report continued concerns about fuel and EES

Travel agents have reported continuing consumer concerns about aviation fuel issues and the EU’s Entry/Exit Scheme – but highlighted how demand remains for “familiar and straightforward” destinations.

 

Emma Collis, managing director at Protected Trust Services, said late bookings have “taken a hit” because of the Middle East conflict, with some members down by as much as 68% year on year in lates.

 

“There are early signs of a pick-up over the past week for May half-term and early June, so that is extremely positive. August sales are on a par, year-on-year, as a group,” she said.

 

Rebooking rates are high, she continued, with customers choosing to travel elsewhere: “Some are happy to pay more for reassurance, others just want to make sure they still get away.”

 

Greece, the Canaries and Portugal are the most popular destinations, she said, adding: “Members feel that’s being driven by demand for somewhere familiar and straightforward.”

She said Greece’s move to exempt Britons from the EES entry requirements is “a real positive”, noting: “Anything that makes travel feel simpler right now helps, and members are already seeing customers asking how this change will make their journeys smoother.

 

“Overall, people still want to travel, they just want to feel as confident as they can.”

A spokesperson for the Advantage Travel Partnership said: “There continues to be an appetite to travel, with consumers looking to the Western Med and destinations not impacted by the conflict.

 

“Prices remain keen for now, so again our advice to consumers is to lock into their holiday now to guarantee good value.”

 

The consortium sent advice to members to share with consumers, saying: “While reports around jet fuel supply are understandably causing concern for some travellers, there is no reason to panic – and every reason to be prepared.

 

“We strongly recommend that customers book an Atol-protected package holiday. Atol protection exists precisely for situations like this, ensuring that if a holiday is cancelled for any reason, customers’ money is fully safeguarded, and they will not be left out of pocket.”

 

More: Hays Travel reinstates ‘peace of mind guarantee’

 

Trade moves to reassure holidaymakers about aviation fuel issues

 

Tricia Handley-Hughes, InteleTravel UK and Ireland managing director, commented: “I’m hoping, with the recent news that Greece will not be implementing the EES procedure combined with additional capacity from Celestyal at Piraeus, that travel advisors will have more choice for customers wanting a seamless arrival experience in their destination.”

 

Jake Cullum-Hollins, The Good Travel Agent chief executive, said bookings, enquiries and “customer confidence in their holiday going ahead” are all down.

 

Clients are also waiting later to book because of concerns about fuel, so his agency is boosting confidence with posts about destinations on TikTok and Instagram.

 

Cullum-Hollins also noted confusion with the forthcoming European Travel Information Authorisation System (Etias).

 

“Customers are getting confused between EES launching now and Etias coming in October. It is going to add extra workload for agents when talking to customers,” he said.

 

“A lot of people stated they are going to be booking Greece because of the news and a lot have been asking advice on where to go to avoid EES.”

 

Thorne Travel director Shona Thorne said the Ayrshire agency is handling concerns from clients about jet fuel “every other hour”.

 

“We’ve issued a statement setting out the actual facts,” she said, adding that some reporting in the consumer press had caused considerable alarm.

 

Trading has recently been “a lot slower”, she said. “The Middle East has had a massive impact on us because we do a lot of long-haul and there’s a lot of uncertainty around that.

 

“We’re doing a lot more cruises from Southampton. We’ve changed our marketing strategy and that seems to have helped us.”

 

Clients are also concerned about long airport queues because of the EES, she said.

 

“It’s been a really big talking point,” she said. “We’ve had lots of clients looking for reassurance.”

 

She described Greece’s decision on the EES as “very good news”, noting the agency has since been encouraging customers to consider the destination if they are worried about border control delays.

 

Jamie Wake, managing director of Jamie Wake Travel, commented: “There has been a real mixture of bookings with our homeworking specialists in the last week. Cruise is doing strongly and, as we do a lot of tailor-made, we have also seen bookings for the Caribbean and Bali come through.”

 

Regarding EES delays, he said it took him two hours to check his bag and reach the security gate at Brussels Airport recently.

 

“On our social media [we] give people tips and tricks, like make sure you have water for the queue and be ready for queues of more than two hours,” he added.

 

Lastminute.com reported a “big” reduction in long-haul destinations with Middle East stopovers because of the conflict – as well as surges in searches and bookings for destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Italy, plus more domestic travel.

 

Alessandro Petazzi, chief executive of lastminute.com, said the two markets in which people are concerned about aviation fuel issues are Italy and the UK.

 

“The main difference is the way that the media have been talking about these issues,” he said, noting German and Eastern European markets have not seen such concerns.

 

He said the online travel agency is highlighting the protection offered by packages and promoting more refundable rates for hotels.

 

“People want more flexibility, people want peace of mind and are willing to pay for that,” he said.

 

“People want a destination that feels safe. People want the possibility to get a refund.”

 

Elsewhere, Hays Travel reinstated its ‘peace of mind guarantee’ as a message of reassurance, and Amanda Matthews, Designer Travel co-owner, was among the agents who posted on social media last week to clarify issues about aviation fuel.