Dame Irene Hays, speaking at the 2026 Hays Travel Independence Group's UK conference on Monday (20 April), acknowledged the industry was enduring "yet another challenging time", admitting the situation in the Middle East was casting a shadow over the outlook for the remainder of the year.
Her comments came after new data from Barclays revealed spending on travel declined in March after five consecutive years of growth, with 70% of respondents to an accompanying Barclays survey citing the cost-of-living crisis and more than one-on-10 saying they planned to cancel intended travel plans.
"The challenges and pain the travel industry is going through pales into insignificance compared with the challenges and pain people who live in the affected countries will be going through," said Dame Irene. "So it is with humility that I point out the challenges the industry is facing regarding the Middle East."
'Progress could be undermined overnight'
Dame Irene said the pace of change in the market was accelerating, driven by global events and real-time consumer sentiment. "[It's] getting faster and faster," she said. "With 24-hour news, what happens globally has an immediate impact on how our customers are feeling."
She warned any fragile recovery could easily be derailed, adding "a missive from the White House could undermine [progress] overnight". Research by Deloitte this week revealed consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level for four years.
Booking patterns have shifted rapidly in recent weeks, she said, with a strong January and "softer" February undermined by a spike in cancellations the following month.
However, Dame Irene pointed to encouraging signs of recovery for Hays Travel, with Saturday 18 April the first time Hays Travel achieved sales targets since the beginning of March.
"These are the early shoots of a return to business, and it was the most encouraging set of figures we've seen so far in April – or in fact, in March," said Dame Irene.
Iran War punctures record year
Dame Irene outlined a series of measures implemented by the company, including pausing non-essential spending within days of market disruption and rapidly pivoting its sales and marketing strategy.
This included pulling back from affected destinations, pivoting to "safer" alternatives and doubling down on targeted campaigns such as "destinations of the month" and cruise launches.
The business has also reintroduced reassurance messaging first used during the pandemic, including its "peace of mind guarantee", which has "already helped" stabilise bookings.
However, Dame Irene admitted that the situation had badly punctured an otherwise record start to the year. "We cannot take seven weeks of trading the way we have, with the number of people that we employ, without that damaging our financial position," she said.
Dame Irene concluded by urging agents to remain agile and opportunity-focused in an increasingly unpredictable market. "Good businesses facing challenges look at their business model to de-risk the present and prepare for the future," she said. "They climb up to the top of the lighthouse, and scan the horizon to see where those opportunities arise."
