Panellists – including Advantage Travel Partnership’s John Sullivan; P&O Cruises’ Ruth Venn; Kelly Walker, of TTC Tour Brands; and Martin Alcock, director of Travel Trade Consultancy – all spoke of the importance of using a travel agent in the coming months.
After years of delays, the EU’s Entry-Exit System (EES) launched on 12 October, with the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) set to come into force in late 2026.
Under the EES scheme, passengers arriving in the EU now have their fingerprints and facial details registered. Data is held for three years after the trip, after which the process will be repeated. Children under 12 are not required to provide fingerprints.
In the build-up to the EES launching travel consortia have hosted agent webinars to try and “disseminate” the correct information.
Sullivan said Advantage’s webinar on EES and Etias was the “one of the best attended” that it has ever put on.
“It’s a massive task [educating people about the changes],” he explained. “I actually think the agent community are really well versed in what it’s all about. I think consumers probably aren’t. I’m not sure consumers know what is going on.
“Agents are proving their worth because they want to know about the changes and make sure that they’ve got all the information so they can disseminate to their customers and their customers what it is all about.”
Venn noted the “most confusing” part had been not knowing when the EES would go live, but added: “I completely agree that agents are best placed to hand hold customers and support them through that. No matter how clear the communication is, it is a change.”
Sales director Walker, though, said generally Contiki customers, who are exclusively aged between 18 and 35, almost entirely source destination information from TikTok.
However, on the EES roll-out, she said: “This is one where that human communication is really important. Would you trust someone on TikTok who tells you to travel with this passport? Or do you want to talk to that agent?”
Travel Trade Consultancy director Martin Alcock said: “Customers are more informed than they have ever been but that can slow down the decision-making. The trusted source becomes ever more important.”
