Habib Rehman, Exsus Travel managing director, said 95% of sales now came via the trade following a switch to agents in 2019.
He told an Aito general meeting in London: “We were achieving £800,000 per sales guy before 2019, now it’s £1.5 million on average; they have a lot more volume with agents because they are going to convert quicker. They make you a lean, mean marketing machine.”
Rehman said the “cost of acquisition” using agents was much less than with search engines and other online tools. “A good agent will do seven, eight, nine bookings, they come back to you.”
Turnover had risen from £4 million under direct sales to £20 million following the switch to trade sales. “Last year we grew 25%, this year 20%,” he added. “Commission is more than offset by volume, turnover is significantly higher.”
Exsus switched to trade sales just before Covid. It has worked with 165 agencies in the past year and is signing 10 a week.
“A third of our business comes from Aito agents; it was 80% Aito agents in the beginning. Aito agents are more receptive; our business with Aito is growing but we are attracting a wider pool of agents as well,” Rehman said.
Fam trips and events with agents had also contributed to the operator’s success. “We pay very good commission, we also have a voucher scheme (for agents) and we do almost two agent events a month,” he added.
African Pride’s head of sales David Holland agreed it could cost more to obtain clients direct than to pay commission. “We can’t afford not to pay commission, it’s the bread and butter of our business,” he told Aito members.
“I have been dealing with travel agents since 1987 and there are some I’m still dealing with. The good thing with a good travel agent is they have the potential to give you a number of bookings over a period of time if you deliver consistency.”
Gemma Antrobus, chair of Aito Agents, advised operators at the meeting: “Building a relationship with agents does not have to cost lots of money, it does though take time.”
She added: “If you are a small specialist, maybe identify two or three travel agents in the area. You must ensure your teams know how to talk to travel agents; we are not order takers, we’re not stupid. If you just think of sending out a brochure and that’s it, then don’t bother.”
