Freeth said the trade would continue to be a critical sales channel for JG, and stressed its investment in agents would continue. "They are an important part of our growth plans and we will support them in as many ways as possible," said Freeth.
Although JG has always taken trade bookings, it actively started working proactively with agents in August 2020. Freeth added the group’s appointments of Claire Dutton as trade sales manager and then Chris Agbaosi to a newly-created partnerships manager role in November last year underlined this commitment.
His confidence comes after a positive start to the year for the group’s three brands – Just Go! Holidays, Omega Breaks and National Holidays, which JG acquired in July 2020 following the collapse of Specialist Leisure Group.
All three brands have recorded new sales records this year, with sales for summer 2022 through Just Go! and Omega currently up 18% compared with pre-pandemic levels, the group claims.
Of National, JG said the brand was "surpassing all expectations and set for a bumper year, with record booking days being smashed multiple times".
“We’ve had such a fantastic start to 2022 and with travel now firmly back on customers agenda we’re very excited about this year," said Freeth. "We are seeing that customers are keen to make 2022 their big year of holidays, with many booking three, four or even more trips during the year with us.
“We are on course for the biggest year in our history and bookings have exploded via our trade partners recently. Many products have already sold out and more are being added all the time. Our short breaks, event and experiences are proving particularly popular, with products such as Harry Potter Studio Tours and André Rieu driving demand.”
Freeth said JG had worked "really hard" over the past 18 months to drive awareness of its brands and products within the trade. "I’m delighted with what we have achieved, and we’ve seen bookings rise across the entire group as a result," he said.
"We remain committed to investing in agents and will continue to do this going forward. They are an important part of our growth plans and we will support them in as many ways as possible."
