Sales bosses from Wendy Wu Tours, Riviera Travel and Royal Caribbean told guests during a panel discussion the negative sentiment from some in the sector towards InteleTravel’s rapidly growing network of agents was largely unfair.

Riviera’s director of trade and partnerships, Vicky Billing, said she had been impressed by the passion of InteleTravel agents, and their commitment to learning.

“A lot of the training we do for InteleTravel agents is out of hours," said Billing. "So you've got some agents that are working [another job] all day, or amid the school runs, and then coming home and logging back on, and there are literally hundreds on those trainings."

She remarked: "People wouldn't give up their time to do that if they weren't serious."

Wendy Wu’s head of trade sales, Gary King, agreed, saying: “What we see from InteleTravel is people so keen to learn, people so hungry for the product.

"There have been 400, 500 agents on each of our recent webinars. Every single Dream Maker, Boot Camp or business partner meeting we go to is full to capacity of people that engage and actually really want to learn.”

The fact many InteleTravel agents work part-time and around other careers was irrelevant for him, he added. “Throughout my career, I've worked with some fantastic people, and whether they're full-time, part-time, one day a week, a couple of hours a week, it's never really made any difference.

"It goes back to that word, passion. And I think as an industry, we should absolutely welcome people wanting to come and join our industry."

Royal Caribbean’s senior sales director for the UK and Ireland, Aaron Langford, shared similar sentiments. “For me, I don't really see it as part-time," he said. "I see it as a passion for something and people that want better themselves.”

'Credibility going up all the time'

The panellists reported seeing not only engagement with training, but also clear return on investment in terms of sales. “We have regular InteleTravel travel agents that are booking us consistently,” reported Billing. “We've run two conferences onboard our ships so far, and the return on investment has been phenomenal from that.”

She also challenged the preconception that all InteleTravel agents lack experience. “I've got a lot of friends that work for InteleTravel that worked at Thomas Cook, for example. So there’s this experience, as well as new agents."

King acknowledged some of InteleTravel’s agents - now numbering 44,000 in the UK and 2,000 in Ireland - might not join with the intention of building a proper travel business, but argued they are in the minority.

“It's a huge number, and you know, within that, there's always going to be some people that let you down a bit. That's going to happen, that's life. Let's all get over that. [InteleTravel’s] credibility is going up and up all the time.”

Royal’s Langford said he had been impressed by the entrepreneurial drive of many InteleTravel agents he’d come across. “Some agents get carried forward with a bit of the power [of their umbrella brand], but the amazing thing about InteleTravel members is that they are their brand... and they have a deeper level of commitment, and understanding of their own business and the opportunity,” he suggested.

He added other agents in the market shouldn’t see the InteleTravel model as a threat. “I think when anything new comes into focus, it's human nature to see it as a threat. The reality is, I think there is enough to go after in terms of business.”

Sales defy Iran downturn

InteleTravel’s president James Ferrera reported the group had been 50% up on last year in revenue terms before the conflict in the Middle East began, but revealed growth had now dropped to 20% year-on-year.

The brand’s UK and Ireland managing director, Tricia Handley-Hughes, shared that sales in the UK specifically had taken a dip, but had now bounced back to 33% ahead of last year, and 151% ahead in Ireland.

Significant investment in technology has included a new social media platform which means creating and editing social posts now takes InteleTravel agents “about three seconds”, Handley-Hughes reported, alongside a new chatbot which now resolves 84% of agents’ queries without them needing to call the contact centre.

“AI is about efficiency," she said. "We’re not replacing humans, we’re just saving time."