InteleTravel’s credibility is “going up and up” and the company should continue with its existing model even though some don’t understand it, according to one of its tour operator partners.
Speaking on a panel at the homeworking agency’s annual UK Partnership Appreciation Dinner, Wendy Wu Tours head of trade sales Gary King was asked if he thought the UK industry treats the homeworking agency fairly.
He replied: “Just keep doing what you are doing. We understand your model. Not everyone does. If you’ve got 44,000 advisors signed up, there’s going to be some that let you down. It’s going to happen. That’s life.
“But your credibility is going up and up, so just keep going and keep winning awards.”
More: InteleTravel reports sales recovery after Iran War dip
Responding to the same question, Riviera sales and partnerships director Vicky Billing said: “InteleTravel has massively evolved. We wouldn’t have regular bookers if it was just people booking their family and friends. It isn’t.
“We have advisors who are consistently booking touring so it feels as though InteleTravel is moving in the right direction. Good luck to anyone who is passionate about coming into this industry to sell holidays.”
Aaron Langford, Royal Caribbean senior sales director, added: “When anything new comes into focus, people are a bit scared. It’s natural human nature. They immediately think, ‘Is that a threat?’.
“There has been some strong feeling around the [InteleTravel] model, but we’ve had nothing but a fantastic experience with you. But any challenger that comes in will attract opinion and criticism.
“Ultimately, you’ve got to ask, if it’s a model that isn’t working, then why is everyone going into it?”
King added: “If they are selling us, it doesn’t matter if they are full-time, part-time or one day-a-week. As an industry, we should be welcoming people who want to come and join our industry and hope they like it so much, they then want to sell travel full-time.”
He added that InteleTravel agents were some of the most keen to learn, and Billing said she was impressed with the numbers joining online training webinars or signing up for fam trips.
“People wouldn’t give up their free time to do these things if they weren’t serious,” she said.
InteleTravel co-founder and chief operating officer James Ferrara replied: “At the start in the UK, there were some sorely-needed friends. Companies who saw the potential in InteleTravel and helped us establish ourselves. We couldn’t have done it without those friends.
“But over the last few years, we’ve had 50%, 60%, 70% year-on-year growth. I made a promise in those early years that our approach to partnership would be sincere and bilateral. I said we would support you with education and marketing like you’ve never seen before.
“It was a big promise to make at the time but we really delivered for you, and you have really delivered for us.”
