There are few more vivid memories than those of our formative holidays. For Natasha Marson, it was sun-drenched trips to Ibiza and Corfu with her parents. "The flora and fauna, the smell of the flowers, the fireflies at night – it was incredible," she recalls. "I draw on those memories whenever someone’s going to Corfu."

For Marson, who would flick through holiday brochures in her youth, a career in travel beckoned, which started with Lunn Poly in 1993 and continued "through all the mergers" with Thomson and then Tui.

She joined Thomas Cook in 2015 only to experience Britain’s oldest travel brand collapse around her. It was then the late John Hays gave her a call; she duly joined Hays Travel as a divisional manager and led on the agency’s virtual contact centre as the pandemic unfolded.

Marson, who was at Tui during the Icelandic ash cloud, jokes: "I’ve sold through every catastrophe."

Her move to easyJet holidays as head of trade distribution in December 2023 brought Marson, in her own words, "full circle", working with Tui alumni Garry Wilson, now easyJet holidays chief executive, and Paul Bixby, now the operator’s chief commercial officer.

’Sassy activity’

Throughout her career, there has been one constant. "People are my number one focus," Marson stresses. She speaks passionately about "empowering" her team to be creative when it comes to helping agents sell the very memories that inspired her. "When we’re gone, it’s memories we leave behind," she muses.

Marson inherited a mix of experienced industry professionals and newer entrants with fresh energy, including four – but now increased to six – trade distribution managers, who are supported by several executives and a small inside support team. "We bring them [the inside team] on the road with us so agents can put faces to names," Marson reveals.

She describes Team Orange as an extension of the easyJet holidays brand. "We’re quirky," she says. "We’ve got a bit of an edge about us. There’s a little bit of sass in there – that resonates well with the trade."

She’s big on "sassy" activity – the team are fresh from hosting 70 agents at an event supporting easyJet’s plans for its new Newcastle base, opening next spring. The airline and operator has put 11 new routes on sale from Newcastle.

Its TOOT – Team Orange on Tour – roadshows have been a hit with agents, and there will be a third BOP – Big Orange Party – next year. And then there’s the small matter of celebrating the operator’s fifth anniversary this year.

EasyJet holidays last year put £300,000 behind its Big Orange Makeover campaign and invited agencies to pitch for a slice. "That’s coming to fruition this year," Marson says. "We’ve got 30 branches across the UK and Ireland that will get that touch of orange."

Homeworkers are another focus. "The homeworking piece has really grown – we’ve embraced them more in the past 12 month than ever before," says Marson. The operator has held four dedicated events for homeworkers so far, with a fifth – the biggest yet – coming up on Thursday (24 July).

"They’re frontline sellers – we want to hear from them, their frustrations, and how we can help them sell more," Marson continues. "During peaks, we’re really conscious they’re not going to get a visit. So that’s why we want to bring them in."

Marson lauds agents for their expertise selling more complex destinations like Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. She recently joined an agent trip to Egypt, which flew into Hurghada, and also took in Cairo and Sharm el Sheikh. "What I was trying to showcase is how easy it is with easyJet holidays to go from beach to city and back to beach."

’Summer of success’

The big opportunity for agents, she says, is converting flight-only custom into package sales and leveraging easyJet’s vast network. "That’s the great thing about the model. There’s a wealth of product we could throw in there – ski, villas, etc. But right now, our focus is very much on beach and cities."

Among a number of new additions, Marson highlights Vienna, which easyJet holidays has just opened up with Christmas market packages. "I recently brought a fake Christmas tree into the office, put on my orange Santa hat and sunnies, and recorded a Christmas video – in June," she beams.

There’s a busy "summer of success" to come first though. "BDMs and suppliers normally take a bit of a break," Marson says. "Well we won’t. We covered more agents and branches in peaks than ever before. And that’s our strategy for summer. Lots of sassy activity, fam trips and TOOT events leading up to our iconic unpacked fam – I want agents talking about it until they’re blue in the face. I never want them to forget it."

So how is the market shaping up? "It’s very late," Marson admits. "Customers are looking and travelling in such a short space of time. That will get even closer in this last leg of summer. But what we’re seeing is they’re not compromising on their holidays. They’re still going."

There are more exciting developments in the pipeline. Marson reveals agent self-service is coming, "hopefully in September time", to complement live chat, which is now available to most agents. "We’ve got two large consortia to go," says Marson. "We’re in a good position."

With agents critical to this summer of success, Marson is on a mission. "We need to become even easier to do business with," she adds. "So the next part is self-serve. Then they’ll be cooking with gas. The portal is great too, and agents are brilliant at telling us what they want from it."