While it's not strictly part of her remit, it's clear InteleTravel's new commercial director Kelly Cookes is ready to roll up her sleeves and get stuck into the public relations tussle she surely knew she was getting into.
Cookes, who joined InteleTravel at the start of the month after nearly six years at the Advantage Travel Partnership, is arguably far more accustomed to thrashing out deals with suppliers leveraging her previous employer's buying power to seek more favourable terms for its agent members.
But midway through our chat, I ask her if she feels InteleTravel, which has had to fight for its legitimacy since launching in the UK in 2018, should address its public image at all – and if she has any desire to get involved in such a mission.
Without hesitation, Cookes says: "I'll definitely be getting involved in the PR piece."
Cookes's appointment in the spring sent shockwaves through the industry. Tricia Handley-Hughes, InteleTravel UK's managing director, said the move would support the agency's growth strategy as it reviews its distribution channels.
Now, more than three months after Handley-Hughes made those remarks, and following Cookes' 33-day, "once-in-a-lifetime" trip to Asia with her family, she is finally in position.
‘There are a lot of myths out there’
So why did she decide to make the switch? After all, Cookes admits she still has many "close" relationships with her former colleagues at Advantage, one of the biggest consortiums in the country.
"I would say InteleTravel has one of the most, if not the most exciting, new models that we've seen in our industry," she says.
"We've doubled our revenue in the past 12 months – I'm not seeing that anywhere else in the industry at the moment. I think the opportunity was just too big to ignore. That's what I liked about it. It was being able to be part of that and help shape InteleTravel as it moves forward."
However, she admits the model doesn't excite everyone. "I'm not sure we'll ever get away from that [criticism] completely because InteleTravel's model is different from others," she says.
She pauses, perhaps sensing a follow-up is coming. How will she, Handley-Hughes and the wider InteleTravel team counter any lingering criticism of the business and its model? "I think with InteleTravel, it's actually about educating people on the model and how it works," she continues.
"There's probably a lot of myths and misunderstandings out there about what InteleTravel is and isn’t. I can have some conversations around this and seek to educate on what it is and what we're trying to achieve."
The homeworking agency currently uses a US-based recruitment firm, PlanNet Marketing, to recruit agents, most of whom are new to travel. It's this area of the business which has raised questions from rival agencies, given how unique this practice is within the UK travel sector.
InteleTravel's critics often say vast swathes of its membership hardly sell any holidays. In August, The Sun newspaper published a report claiming almost 90% of InteleTravel agents don't earn a penny in commission from the agency, a claim Handley-Hughes told TTG had created "a damage limitation exercise".
Yet, on the other hand, InteleTravel agents regularly feature among supplier partners' top sellers. TTG kicked off 2025 with a story about Dublin-based InteleTravel agent Lucille Furlong, who secured a €150,000 Disneyland booking for 234 people stemming from her son's dance academy. There are others making these kinds of bookings among its ranks.
Suppliers impressed by ‘the numbers’
I ask Cookes about the various claims she's heard about InteleTravel following its UK market entry. "One myth is the piece around people joining just to book their own holidays," she says. "The numbers tell a different story. We see people doing big volumes.
"Yes, there are some still learning or booking their own travel, but we encourage that. You want people to experience the product themselves. What we're seeing more now is more individuals that start off like that and slowly build their confidence."
Cookes goes further moments later when she reveals her arrival at InteleTravel has prompted suppliers to get in touch. Is this Cookes and her commercial powers in full flight?
"I've been approached by a lot of suppliers since joining," she explains. "These are either partners we already work with to say they're looking forward to doing more, but also partners that haven't previously worked with InteleTravel or have wanted to and haven't had a chance to go live yet."
She adds: "I think the appetite out there from partners to work with InteleTravel is huge."
Put simply, Cookes believes suppliers are encouraged to contact InteleTravel when they see "the numbers". Here Cookes alludes to two sets of “numbers”. The first is booking volumes, which can be staggering when InteleTravel agents are involved, especially those booking for distinct or niche groups like Lucille Furlong.
Then there is the number of InteleTravel agents who join training sessions and webinars. Cookes describes the buy-in from InteleTravel agents for these events "incredible". "When a supplier does a webinar with InteleTravel, they get really good numbers," she says.
"I think it's the engagement people want, and it's new people coming into the industry. From an operator's point of view, it's an opportunity to upskill and educate a completely new batch of people."
Intriguingly, Cookes intimates she feels there are suppliers who will trust her to deliver that return on investment and support them as a partner.
‘I'm in learning mode at the moment’
A few days before Cookes' switch was announced in May, InteleTravel also revealed it had appointed Alex Brown to a newly created training manager role. I ask Cookes if her and Brown's arrival will signal the start of a recruitment drive – and will she spearhead such a project?
Cookes says her first priority will be to settle into her new role, and then look at "what's needed and where the gaps are" in the UK and Ireland. "I think as InteleTravel grows, the personnel will invariably have to grow to be able to support it," she explains.
"For me, the first few months will be about getting to know the business. The commercial role is my priority, and before I can do that well, I need to understand the business, how it works, the processes. I'm in learning mode at the moment."
Cookes' time at Advantage was characterised by crisis. She joined the consortium in October 2019 from Thomas Cook-owned Freedom Travel Group. Less than six months later, the Covid pandemic was well under way.
She tells me she is immensely proud of how the Advantage team rallied for their members during that period. Now, Cookes is preparing to draw on some of the resolve and resilience that got her – and others – through those tough times as she embarks on a brand new, perhaps even stiffer, challenge.
