Leisure business is trading above pre-pandemic levels, with volumes and average booking values both up, while corporate travel has rebounded to around 80%. “We’ve seen a really strong demand for long-haul beach – Indian Ocean, Caribbean, Dubai,” Byrne says. “In Europe, many companies are in a good position because of the number of rebookings, our forward departures for summer are up 120-130%.”
It seems there’s “really good demand” for all product types. “I think that’s a function of the reputation we had going into the pandemic and how we looked after customers during it,” Byrne reflects. “I think people want to book with someone they can trust.”
Trust is one positive to have come from the pandemic, he feels, calling it “a strategic thing”. “A lot of companies that operate homeworking models operate like a call centre – they are dealing with inbound requests. That’s not our model. Ours is about building that relationship with the customer and doing the right thing by them.
“That’s not a pandemic or a post-pandemic thing, it’s something [Travel Counsellors has] nurtured over a number of years. The pandemic, unfortunately, put businesses under a lot of pressure to move away from that, but we stayed true to our values. When you go through a trauma like we have, you don’t want it to define how you operate.”
How the business behaved to its own staff and homeworkers during Covid was also key, Byrne believes. “Going into the pandemic, my personal approach was to lead from the back, building and supporting the team,” says Byrne. That soon changed: “I felt it important I very much led from the front and made it clear we had a strategy, reinforced the values, put together a package of support, and made sure they [Travel Counsellors] felt they had a safe place to talk about their feelings.”
Byrne did “at least” twice-weekly Travel Counsellors communications, including video interviews with outside speakers, while the business created a “knowledge hub” with financial and wellbeing advice. “Running a business in the pandemic reminds you to get the basics right,” explains Byrne. “It’s about looking after customers and people and building a culture where people feel comfortable talking about how they’re feeling, because that can help you if people are having a tough time and keep you on it in terms of ‘this is where you need to be better’.”
Despite the plight facing travel, Byrne isn’t surprised Travel Counsellors attracted 240 new business owners globally during the pandemic. “They thought it was a good time to get their business set up with a view that demand would return,” he reflects.
“We don’t frame it so much as a move towards homeworking, it’s much more about flexibility. Most companies now offer a degree of working from home. It’s much more about ‘do I want to be in control of my own destiny?’. Being in control of your own destiny in a heightened period of demand, we should have a massive smile on our face at the moment.”
Byrne joined TTG CEO Daniel Pearce for a TTG Get Travel Leaders Talking session last year
Homeworkers now total “just shy of 1,400 in the UK”, with the “vast majority” active and trading. “That’s marginally more than before the pandemic,” Byrne confirms. “Our attrition rate was about 9%, the same as before – the people that we’ve lost have been replaced by people that have joined. The fact we’re coming out of it [the pandemic] with more Travel Counsellors than at the start I think is incredible testimony to them and to the relationships they’ve got with their customers.”
The business continued to invest in its digital platform despite Covid. “Our plans have not changed, they’ve just been put back 12-18 months,” he says. Those plans are Byrne’s focus now the worst is, hopefully, over. And his reflections on Covid are shaping his thoughts on how to proceed. “I’m stating the obvious, but the pandemic has shown us life’s really short and things can make it difficult, so just make the most of every day,” he says.
“Covid’s reminded us of the importance of relationships and people; it’s what makes the world go round. Let’s build those relationships with customers, because we do wonderful things for them. They are going to have wonderful experiences as the world opens up.
“Let’s get back onto that now, back to doing what we love. Yes, things may be a little more complicated, but that makes it even more important that you’ve got someone holding your hand. Let’s enable customers to enjoy all the wonders of the world and get our just desserts in doing it by doing the right thing by them. That’s as true now as it was when we went into the pandemic.”
