Tui and easyJet holidays celebrate strength of sales via indie agents

Tui’s UK boss has revealed almost one in 10 sales now comes through third-party agents, with independent partners continuing to be the “strongest growth channel” for the operator.

Speaking at Travel Weekly’s Future of Travel Conference recently, Neil Swanson, Tui UK & Ireland managing director, said he was “really pleased” with the performance of third parties, with growth through Tui’s own shops being flat year on year.

He credited independent agents as an increasingly important distribution channel and catalyst for growth, a view echoed by easyJet holidays chief executive Garry Wilson who said third-party sales make up between 20% and 25% of his tour operation’s distribution, depending on season.

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Tui resumed “widespread” distribution through third-party agents in September 2023 and since then sales have continued to rise.

Swanson said: “Third-party sales are pushing on the 10% level; still relatively small [but] it’s good growth, I am really pleased with it.”

He ruled out significant expansion of Tui’s branch network and stressed the group was now managing its estate “very carefully”. He said: “The high street is steady at moment, it came back strongly after Covid, so it’s a case of looking at how that is going to develop over the next 12 months. It’s flat year on year; we were seeing growth, but not now.

“We have not got any plans to open any more [shops]. If opportunities come along then we will be taking those, but there’s not going to be dramatic growth.”

Speaking on the same panel, Wilson described agents as a “hugely important” distribution channel as the operator marks five years of working with the trade.

He said agents tended to book different product to online customers, such as more-established hotels, but said the spend was similar.

“We see [agents] as being an incremental channel and we will try to do what we can to support where we can,” Wilson said.

In a direct plea to agents, he said: “Give us your ideas; if we can afford to do it then we will. As an airline with 350 aircraft, when we are looking to plan our network we will speak to agents about where there is a base you think we are missing.”

Crediting the decision to open a base at Newcastle airport in March 2026 to a conversation with Hays Travel owner Irene Hays, he said: “I’d like agents to look at easyJet holidays and think they can control where and when we fly. Southend, Birmingham, Newcastle – a lot of that would not have been possible to open without the support of agents.”

The comments on the importance of agents came ahead of this week’s Tui Group trading statement on this summer and winter 2025-26.

It said the UK showed “positive momentum”, with bookings 1% up this summer and “broadly in line” year on year for this coming winter.

While overall group bookings remained 2% down year on year, the average selling price had continued to hold up with a rise of 3% “helping us to partly mitigate the elevated cost environment”.

The group noted the appeal of its cruise brands in the UK and Germany remained strong despite a “significant capacity increase”.