Matt Sole has been appointed business development executive to develop and strengthen Kuoni’s trade partnerships, with Robin Griffiths also joining the team. 

Speaking to TTG, Sole explained: “We’re looking at understanding where we sit in the market and what travel agents want from us.”

He said Kuoni had seen “a lot of new travel agents coming to us”, and added he was hoping at some point to “get back out on the road and get that face-to-face connection with agents again”.

Sole said he had also noticed a “huge shift in what travel agents are coming to us for”.

“They’re looking for something a bit more special,” he said.  

Elsewhere, Sole said Kuoni was “looking at our trade communications” and was exploring the possibility of launching a new trade newsletter.

“Agents absolutely remain really important to us and continue to be very much a part of our distribution,” added Rachel O’Reilly, director of communications.

She said Kuoni’s virtual call centre, which was launched during the pandemic, had now become a permanent fixture, adding: “Having a dedicated phone number for the trade to bypass the consumer switchboard has been really helpful”.

Sole added that Kuoni’s call wait time currently averages 1.5 minutes.