The Jet2holidays conference had a decidedly different feel this year.

Typically a winter bash (the last edition in late-2024 wrapped up with a Christmas party beside the beach in Paphos!), moving the event to early-spring meant many agent delegates pitched up with a solid – if slightly unspectacular – peaks already under their belts.

Typically raucous in time-honoured Jet2 fashion, the focus was on Easter, peak summer and lates, albeit tempered by events in the Middle East, which prevented a few dozen agent delegates from attending – as well as Jet2 chief Steve Heapy.

With no formal updates from Jet2 to speak of, the spotlight was instead placed on agents across a handful of panels exploring customer service, luxury, marketing and how to get the most out of working with Jet2holidays.

These were just some of the key talking points.

Crisis in the Middle East...

Heapy, usually a central figure at the conference, was unable to attend owing to meetings with the government and the CAA about the industry's response to the war in Iran, but he did appear via a quick video message, emphasising the industry's famed resilience.

"We'll do what we can to work with you and fight to get through this the best we can," he promised agent delegates, while predicting "a sharp bounce back" driven by offers and competitive pricing, particularly for the eastern Mediterranean.

Agents views on the impact of the crisis differ. One agent told TTG they had seen a relatively minimal impact of about a 10-15% drop off in business. For others, it has been tougher.

The timing hasn’t helped either. Some who specialise in higher-end travel to the eastern Med, for instance, are at risk of losing out with clients – particularly families – prepared to forego relatively small deposits before their summer balances are due.

...another opportunity for travel to shine?

Idle Travel owner Tony Mann was the first panelist to bring up the Middle East, speaking during the conference's opening Service2Success panel. "With everything that's going on at the moment, we're starting to shine again," he said. "We shone during Covid, we'll shine through this, and it will bring us more business."

Travel Network Group chief operating officer Stephanie Slark said with the first summer balances due, it was vital agents got on top of clients' anxieties now. "I would say that's as important as dealing with the people who are travelling now," she warned.

"Making sure you have people around who can proactively engage customers travelling at a later date is important – we are already seeing customers who are nervous about some mainstream destinations."

(Credit: TTG Media)

Jet2's head of overseas operations, Lee Davies, said the operator was putting more resource into challenges arising from the conflict. "We've had to adapt our service, especially across Turkey and Cyprus at the moment. We have our red team, we've increased our presence, we're visiting hotels, reassuring customers.

"We've expanded our visiting times and ring-fenced our 24/7 team in the UK. We're contingency planning in terms of disruption management, you always have to have a very solid plan behind the scenes ready to activate."

Mann added it was important seasoned travel professionals, who are used to this kind of disruption, aren't blind to clients' worries – stressing good service now will ultimately pay off in the long-run.

"You've got to understand why in their minds, wherever that destination is, that they possibly don't want to travel," he said, adding that by doing right by customers now, even if they don't end up travelling, "they will come back".

Be the go-to for all of your clients' holidays

Consistency was a word that came up time and time again at the conference as delegates discussed business critical functions like customer service, marketing and relationship-building with clients.

Opening the What is Luxury? panel, Tim Barton-Knott of Barton-Knott Travel remarked how selling Jet2holidays was a perfect springboard for conversations about other holidays. "We know a large number of those customers book another holiday apart from that Jet2 one," he said. "Maybe they cruise, they might ski – they're booking more than one holiday."

Barton-Knott said this presented a big opportunity to convert people booking those other holidays direct. "You need to introduce the fact to the customer that you're all-encompassing," he continued. "That you can do everything a customer wants."

He added regular, good quality communication with clients was vital. "Note the key dates they have in their diary when they might like to travel again," he stressed. "Let them know on a regular basis you're there for them."

Clients love to share – use that to your advantage

Later in the same panel session, Abbie Heaton, group manager of The Personal Travel Consultants in partnership with Blue Bay Travel, shared some of the ways Blue Bay's homeworkers are finding new ways to engage with their clients and create extra touch points.

"There a lot of personalisation these days in asking customers to send pictures and videos while they're away or when they get back," she said. "They love that, we all love talking about our holidays. They get a real buzz from that. And then they share it on social too."

(Credit: TTG Media)

Heaton continued: "Once you've already seen their photos and you've had a chat with them while they're away, it then very naturally leads to, 'oh, when we get back, remind me...'. It's just so natural when you can ask them."

Good Travel Company director Vanessa Home hammered home the importance of follow-ups. "Maybe a few days, once they've settled and they're already unhappy to be back to their 9-5," she said. "Touch base, WhatsApp them, phone them, just check in. It's the most important thing you can do."

Let brands help elevate your clients' holidays

Luxury was a feature of the conference's marketing panel too. Chris Hagan from Buzz Off Travel in Ballymoney reflected on how his agency has used different brands' USPs to provide a demonstrably better holiday experience.

"We've done quite a bit of Indulgent Escapes [Jet2holidays' five-star brand]," he said. "Not necessarily natural for families, but a lot of them do have the money. And for the one holiday a year, they are prepared to pay for it."

Hagan advised agents to focus on a brand's USPs when pitching a holiday to a client rather than focusing on a particular destination or hotel. "The private transfers, the extra luggage allowance, the free drinks on the plane, all those little things that make people feel special on their holiday.

"It doesn't always have to be an offer. Sometimes, it's a better than just talking about the concept."

Don't assume all your clients are in the same place

The internet has created digital spaces frequented more than physical space. So should all agents be on TikTok? More clients are there than you think, Hagan insisted. "We have a perception of who's on TikTok, that it's only kids. Actually, people of all age ranges are on there now. So I think people who aren't using TikTok are really missing a trick.

"A lot of agents are still very reliant on Facebook. Insta's much bigger than Facebook for us now in terms of engagement, and TikTok is more and more becoming the biggest channel."

Ajay Kumar, Jet2's senior social media manager, said one the most common questions agents ask Jet2 is whether they should be on TikTok, and whether they need to be on every possible social channel.

He stressed that ultimately, it was about time, resource and effort. "The more channels you've got, the more content you've got to create," he advised. "You've got to understand what the strategy is for each one.

"If you've got TikTok, it might be that you're not making a direct sale out of it. So is it education? Entertainment? Or being top of mind with your potential customers?

"Is that right for your business? Do you need to put time and effort into making funny videos on TikTok when you can probably do better videos on another revenue driver? Because that might be Instagram or Facebook."

Use data to make better decisions about what you sell

Speaking during the conference's final panel entitled Why Jet2?, Greig Avinou, franchise director of Barrhead Travel Falkirk, said the data the operator provides agents had been "absolutely vital" to the growth of his business. "On a weekly basis, I get the data for what's selling best at the moment, right down to the top ten hotels, the destinations – everything," he explained.

"For a long period of time, when we were growing the business, we were constantly booking four- and five-star hotels. However, Jet2 gave me key information saying, 'look – you're missing out on the three-star market'. So we adjusted the way we marketed to allow us to pick up the three-star stuff. But without that vital information, we wouldn't have grown the way we've grown today.

"The data is really important. At the moment, it's those four-star, seven-night durations that everybody's booking. The information we get from the trade team is absolutely vital. That's allowed our business to grow. Most years, we're jumping by 1,000 passengers a year. So there has been continued growth. We couldn't have done that without the key partnership we have today."

Don't let your pre-conceptions cloud your judgement

Last year, Jet2holidays announced a partnership with Eurocamp. Speaking during the same Why Jet2? panel, Now Lets Travel owner Paul Johnstone explained how the launch reinforced an important lesson. "I was thinking to myself, what the flip? Two days later, we ended up doing 17 passengers [with Jet2 to a Eurocamp] across three mobile homes. The booking was worth £14,500.

"The one thing I always used to say when I worked in sales or when I get back on the floor was, 'I wouldn't book you on a holiday I wouldn't go on myself'. That provides reassurance. But what you're also doing is putting your perceptions [on that holiday].

"If that's what the customer can afford, and that's what they want, why should we put out perceptions on that holiday? That's what I learned with Jet2 and Eurocamp. We got a very nice booking out of it. It shows how Jet2 is innovating, and the breadth of its range – there's something for everyone."

Discounting – industry fixation or useful new business tool?

Discounting is always a hot topic, and it inevitably reared its head at the conference. "Price is always going to be a factor," said Johnstone. "But we, as an industry, need to massively address the discounting issue.

"We're here to make a profit. It's not a race to the bottom. There will always be that end of the market, the bottom line. That's fine. What we need to do is prove our worth, that we're putting the customer first, understanding their needs and matching it to them.

"So do they all need a discount? Absolutely not."

(Credit: TTG Media)

Avinou, though, took a different stance. "Jet2 is a massive direct seller too," he reminded delegates. I'm lucky to work in a town where we've managed to deplete the competition. So a lot of what I try to do is get people booking direct with Jet2 to book through ourselves.

"I know some people disagree with discounting, but there is a big plus side for taking these bookings. I think it was Tim [Barton Knott] who said earlier people take more than one holiday.

"So if we get them in the door for a Jet2, and we are the best price for Jet2, then it allows us to pick up their cruises off the back of that. We will match the [Jet2] website. Last time I looked, I think we get about 40% at full commission and 60% discounted.

"However, as I say, we also benefit from the people booking their second, third or fourth holiday because we are the best price for Jet2. I'm looking at that customer and getting the whole opportunity out of them."

Avinou added discounting was often more economical versus the cost of marketing to get new customers through the door in the first place.

Were you at the Jet2holidays conference? What did you learn? What did you take away that inspired you? Let us know in the comments section below.