Speaking on Tuesday (11 February) as Tui detailed its first-quarter results, group chief executive Sebastian Ebel said the strategy of aligning more closely with third-party agents was “very important” to him and the UK management team.

"We have put a lot of effort into it – it’s not just altruistic, it’s commercial," he said, adding customers who dealt with a travel agent tended to “buy a higher end product”.

Ebel insisted third-party agents are part of Tui’s diversification strategy. "We have been investing significantly in dynamic packaging, the app and retail," he continued.

"We put a shift slightly back into third-party retail, and we are investing significantly in marketing, sales, technology, also service. We will see the benefits in the second half.”

Despite aligning itself with independent agents, Tui is also driving sales via its app. In December, it said it wanted half of all sales to come through this channel and pushed pre-Christmas peaks discounts out via the app three days ahead of retail.

Ebel revealed app sales had accounted for 17.6% of first-quarter UK sales, up 45% year-on-year. “The strategy to have strong retail distribution, strong app, is just starting to pay off,” he said.

The Tui app is likely to prove a powerful tool in sales of dynamic packaging with partners like Ryanair. “Dynamic packaging is up 25% in the last four weeks in the UK in a market where our Tui capacity is flat,” Ebel said.