Speaking at TTG’s Agenda 2024 Autumn Breakfast, in association with PwC, Not Just Travel co-founder Steve Witt told delegates average booking values had risen significantly, with “a huge increase in bookings for the top three tour operators coming to us”.

Witt revealed that last week was Not Just Travel’s busiest week since January, adding he expected this momentum to continue through to Christmas and into the new year. “Peaks will be our busiest peaks ever,” he insisted.

Fellow panellist Lisa Henning, managing director of Inspire Europe, said it has been a "really positive summer" for agents despite challenges such as pricing and several highly publicised overtourism-related protests in popular destinations such in Spain’s Canary and Balearic Islands.

"The challenge we’ve had this year is pricing," said Henning. "[When you] compare the pricing of a European break in the summer to one in Thailand later in the year, the price is quite similar.

"Overtourism protests created a challenge for us – it went back to pandemic levels of people wanting to change destinations, and cancellations and schedule changes have also been quite high again this year."

Regardless, Henning said her expectation was that the outlook for agents would remain "really positive" heading into autumn. "There will be challenges, but as an industry, we will deal with them."

Aito executive director Martyn Sumners was another to talk up 2025. "It is going to be a good year," he said, although he added his expectations were tempered by concerns around discounting and excess capacity, and ongoing uncertainty about when certain reforms are going to progress.

Sumners said he agreed with Henning’s assessment that interactions with agents were fuelling consumer booking confidence. "When customers look for something a little more simple, they are starting to go back to doing it themselves," he said.

"But when we are talking experiential travel, a bit more adventure, those are things people feel less comfortable doing themselves, so they will go to an expert to be looked after properly. They want an expert to advise them on how they can get the best value. They are prepared to pay more for expertise.”

Consumers’ pursuit of "value" was a recurring theme of the discussion. Henning said: "Across all areas, consumers want value and experience. Fly and flop is still there, but it’s more marginal now. We add excursions now – it’s rare we put a package together without a value-add, and if it’s not there, people will ask for it.”

Witt agreed value was important, but wasn’t the number one factor for clients booking with its agents. "I think it’s consumers knowing what they’re getting [and] having someone to talk to," he said.

’Positive signs’

Rick Jones, UK hospitality, travel & leisure leader, PwC UK, highlighted how consumers were prioritising travel, adding a confident outlook for the industry would be a driver for new investment in the sector.

"Confidence is what drives investment activity and M&A, it’s the oxygen of deals," he said. "From an investment perspective, it’s a positive sign for the industry. Travel is prioritised, I think we are seeing that demand and desire to travel, and the industry has successfully adapted and faced into it."

Earlier, PwC Eleanor Scott presented the group’s latest Agenda research, which revealed the main targets for investors were travel’s experiential, luxury and "silver" travel markets, as well as premium products. “Older travellers are definitely a growth area of the market,” Scott confirmed.