The reasons behind InteleTravel’s success
President James Ferrara told TTG what sets InteleTravel apart from other UK homeworking agencies is their agents’ “energy and thirst to learn”, which he said was widely supported by the company’s strong focus on training.
UK and Irish homeworkers have achieved record sales in the past year, reporting a 62% year-on-year increase in the eight months to the end of August and outperforming their US counterparts.
InteleTravel’s UK market in fact achieved £95 million in sales to the end of August and is poised to reach £143 million by the year’s end, representing a 70% increase compared with 2023.
“There is an energy and a thirst to learn in our community of agents,” he said. “That is what sets us apart, that spirit that helps people feel more confident and sell more.”
According to Ferrara, what also drives turnover is InteleTravel’s focus on training and technology developments as well as its relationships with partners.
“Everything we do is designed to increase the results for our advisors, literally everything we do.”
Holidays remain a priority - but so does value for money
Chris Photi, head of travel and leisure at accountancy firm White Hart Associates, provided a geopolitical and economic overview, stressing how macroeconomic and political uncertainty has impacted consumer confidence, which has fallen by seven percentage points – hitting the lowest point since March 2024.
Nevertheless, figures show that people continue to prioritise their holidays over any other discretionary expense, as spending with travel agents surged by 7.2% in August – reaching the highest level since February.
“UK consumers very robustly support your industry with their discretionary spend,” Photi commented.
Looking ahead to 2025, people will still want value-for-money getaways and it will be up to agents and tour operators to show what true value-for-money looks like and avoid price-matching with online operators, he said.
For Donna Nelson, area sales manager at TTC Tour Brands, value-for-money means offering customers the most comprehensive experience possible.
“When customers go to a destination they see everything that destination has to offer and they don’t need to visit it again, because they are going to see every little detail of what that destination has to offer,” she explained.
Meanwhile InteleTravel agent Caroline Dillon said it reinforcd the notion that agents are a one-stop shop and that booking with an agent is not just about price, it's also about advice.
“I’m also selling the point that I can do everything for [clients], I can check them in, I can do their boarding passes, all that stuff is really key,” she explained.
Artificial intelligence is your friend, not foe
Elsewhere agents were urged to regard artificial intelligence (AI) as a resource rather than an enemy. Next month InteleTravel will launch a new AI tool – Content Concierge – which executive director Mike Putnam stressed would “save you time, save you effort and help you compete better”.
“That is the purpose of AI, not some big philosophical idea or some scary futuristic thing, but to save you time, to save you effort and to make things better for you,” Ferrara added.
Due to be rolled-out in early November, Content Concierge will help agents increase their operations’ capabilities by creating high-quality, yet personalised, content for social media, matching the tone to each platform.
“Some people don’t necessarily know how to use social media from a promotional standpoint and they are not necessarily greater marketers,” Putnam told TTG. “So we have given them a way to utilise the technology to build [their promotional skills].
“AI is just a tool that you can use to provide better quality service to the end customers, it’s not a threat.”
How agents can 'own their own social media game
InteleTravel members were told to ‘own’ their social media game and drive sales through the likes of Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
According to social media trainer Clare Groombridge there are several steps to owning social media, including understanding how people use different platforms for different purposes, planning content to stay on top of the algorithm, creating posts that reach audiences and building a community with followers.
Researching social media use is fundamental as people use different platforms in different ways, while understanding how the platforms work can help agents personalise information in a way customers can react to or share last-minute deals.
Meanwhile planning content can help agents create firm objectives while taking the uncertainty of what to post away, Groombridge said.
“Write down your objectives and how you’re going to achieve them or maybe have a think about your audiences and create a plan,” she added.
Groombridge also warned agents that, in order for their social media posts to be successful, they need to do one – or more – of the following actions: educate, entertain, inspire or promote.
“People are looking at your content to escape and get away so don’t be ashamed to be fun,” she continued. “Be entertaining, show your personality and inspire great holidays.”
Consistency is also fundamental, Groombridge cautioned, as the algorithm used by Instagram and Facebook rewards accounts that stay active by engaging via comments or direct messages (DMs).
“Think about growing that niche as you create your content and you’ll start to be known for that content to your tribe,” she concluded. “This is going to help you build a rapport with your audience and people are going to learn more about you and what you’re about. And of course rapport is so important for building sales.”
What the future holds
Even though there are still more than two months until the end of the year, senior management has already started planning the company’s "bigger, better and bolder" future.
President James Ferrara revealed to TTG InteleTravel had chosen Germany as the perfect beachhead for its expansion into Europe.
“The travel habits of German nationals are excellent and their economy – and especially their credit card economy – is excellent,” he said. “It’s the right place for us to start operations in the EU next year.”
Meanwhile, managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes announced that 1,000 agents will gather in Porto for next year’s conference, making it InteleTravel’s biggest ever event.
To round up what seems like an already exciting year, Ferrara has set his sights on achieving £200 million in sales next year.
“It looks like £200 million will be our projection even though in 2024 we achieved a 70% year-on-year growth,” he concluded.
“We may very well outperform that but it’s the target we’re going to work towards next year because we don’t have the hubris to say [that we will achieve again] a growth of 70%.”
