Intrepid will lead industry-wide efforts to celebrate agents on NTAD, which will be held this year on 22 July. It will be the third time the industry has paused to reflect on the key role played by agents – something Intrepid managing director EMEA Zina Bencheikh said she was surprised hadn’t previously taken off in the UK.

"We saw other countries, such as Canada and Australia, were celebrating agents," she said. "Knowing the size of the UK travel agent industry, and the important role agents play, it was very surprising to not have the same thing here. For us at Intrepid, it was an obvious thing to do, we rely so much on agents to distribute and sell our product – and they provide us with new customers."

Bencheikh said the extra pressure, complexities and challenges arising from the Covid crisis had made the celebrations, born of the pandemic in 2020, more important than ever. She insisted the industry was recovering despite its struggles with staffing and recruitment, which have caused significant disruption for travellers in recent weeks and months.

"The role of travel agents is such an important one because it’s going to help bring that confidence back into the industry and get customers to trust in travel again," she continued. “Agents bring so much value with their customer care and assistance in spite of many not having the time."

Bencheikh said it was important not to underestimate the value of relatively simple but heartfelt gestures, such as one member of the Intrepid’s team decision to gift one of their agent partners’ team with a box of chocolates.

She said that such was the reaction, the adventure specialist would this year set aside a NTAD budget for its trade team to buy gifts of flowers and chocolates for trade partners.

"Travel is back, but there are still some difficulties agents are going through," said Bencheikh. "What we really want for NTAD is for the industry to support the agent.”

She said further details of Intrepid’s plans for NTAD would follow in due course. The operator is planning a week of agent and customer discounts, giveaways, competitions, surprise treats and events, and wants other suppliers to get involved.