Industry leaders take stock as Iran war continues

Industry leaders have spoken about the shift from dealing with the immediate operational impact of the Middle East conflict to retaining and encouraging future bookings. 

Agency bosses, speaking in a round-table discussion hosted by Travel Weekly and Hotelplan UK in Chamonix, said frontline advisors had been able to reassure clients and reported shifts in demand.

Paul Waters, manging director of Premier Travel, said 15%-17% of the agency’s business had been directly impacted, adding: “It’s important to reassure the team that there is still 80% out there and more to sell.”

He said: “Our initial focus was to look after [impacted] customers, but also those in the UK due to travel, even if it’s to Spain in December.

“We’ve really focused on reassurance messaging. Some [clients] want to put their plans on hold, so we launched a marketing strategy – ‘You’re in safe hands’ – focusing on all the things we do as a retailer.” 

 

We need to make sure, as an industry, that people know that most of the world is still open

Waters added: “We are reminding agents that this is not like Covid, when no one was going anywhere and we were having to refund all our money.”

Jake Cullum Hollins, chief executive of The Good Travel Agent, agreed: “The key word is uncertainty. But we’ve been in these situations before and it’s how we react to them which makes us stand out.

“We’re seeing uncertainty from customers with rebooking, but I’m sure that uncertainty will lead to a busy lates period.”

Advantage Travel Partnership commercial director John Sullivan said “resilient areas”, including Spain, Portugal and the Canaries, were performing strongly, with the Caribbean also growing in popularity.

He added the trade’s response to the conflict had “again underpinned the vital role agents play at times like these.”

Nicki Tempest-Mitchell, managing director of Barrhead Travel, said the war had highlighted areas for operational improvement, but she was confident the agency’s decision to set up a 24/7 support team and exceed the Package Travel Regulations by paying for stranded customers’ extended stays would bear fruit.

She said: “If you do the right thing by your customers, your business will recover really quickly. 

“We should all stay very hopeful that customers will still want to go on holiday. When giving refunds, many customers are rebooking.”

Nicki Goldsmith, head of global agency sales for Virgin Atlantic, said liaison with trade partners continued to play an important role in the airline’s response.

Noting direct flights to the Maldives, Johannesburg and Cape Town had been used for repatriation efforts, she said: “We’ve collaborated closely with agency partners to better understand the extent of disruption and identify where additional capacity is needed. Their feedback has been invaluable in shaping our network plans for the coming quarters. 

“While short-term trading remains healthy, the wider aviation sector continues to face concerns over rising operating costs and the potential impact on future demand.”

Touring collaboration

The bosses of touring specialist operators praised collaboration within the sector, led by the Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers, and said the conflict had highlighted improvements for how to support both customers and agent partners.

Shane Lewis-Riley, trade distribution director of Titan Travel, agreed with Waters on comparisons with the Covid pandemic, saying: “Covid was 100% [travel shutdown] and this is not 100%. We need to make sure, as an industry, that people know the majority of the world is still open.

“What was really special was how Atas members came together to help each other through it all. Co-ordinated through Ian Dines of Newmarket Holidays, who chairs the association’s operational steering committee, we put aside any competition and any egos to keep each other informed and supported.”

 

Retailers should give themselves a pat on the back for how they’ve handled everything

Lewis-Riley said the conflict had highlighted many operators’ reliance on the Middle East as a hub. He also warned that higher costs of direct flights tallied with rising energy prices and said the cost of living would pose challenges, adding: “The issue isn’t whether [customers] can afford a holiday, it’s whether people are prepared to take the risk of taking money out [of accounts].” 

However, he also reported agents were pivoting, with the operator enhancing commercial opportunities for European tours and reporting a “surge in bookings” for the US.

Newmarket Holidays chief commercial officer David Sharman said the conflict had fallen in a relatively quiet travel period for the operator, with marketing efforts for future sales switching to European destinations such as Portugal, Spain and Italy in addition to long-haul destinations including South Africa.

Sharman said short-term trading was a “challenge” after a strong start to the year but added: “Forward bookings are doing well.”

He said: “Retailers should give themselves a pat on the back for how they’ve handled everything.”

Cruise outlook

Cruise specialists said booking momentum remained strong, with some compelling deals from lines reliant on non-UK source markets where consumers were more reticent to travel.

However, they also highlighted challenges with air availability and pricing, including connectivity with departures in Asia and the Middle East.
Nick Watts, commercial and trading manager at Cruise.co.uk, said: “We’ve changed our marketing to include a ‘book with confidence’ message.

 

People still want to book. In terms of destinations that have become hot, we’ve seen a lot of people moving from Asia and Australia to North America and the Caribbean.

“Incidents like this also bring opportunity and we are seeing a couple of cruise lines, with stock to clear because other markets aren’t travelling, offering cheap late deals. But getting flights to connect with these sailings is tricky.”

Norwegian Cruise Line regional vice-president Gary Anslow said: “We don’t have a Middle East programme but we do have ships at the end of their seasons in Singapore and Australia. The challenge has been getting guests to these ships as they would traditionally route through the Middle East.

“The focus has been on rerouting guests and on [maintaining] guest experience. The trade has shown an enormous amount of adaptability – and at pace.”

Robbie White, head of commercial and cruise at Touchdown Travel Services, said: “Our client base is agents and they are some of the most resilient customers you could have. We haven’t really seen a dip in sales in the last few weeks and we can help partners fill some of their softer sailings or weeks in resorts.”

Silversea UK, Ireland and EMEA sales director Connie Georgiou said the conflict was the latest challenge the industry had had to contend with, but said: “We can’t let this stop what we do. People love going on holiday.”

SJ Walker, UK sales director at Virgin Voyages, said the line’s deployment in the Caribbean, Latin America, Alaska and the Mediterranean meant it had seen limited impact from the conflict and strong sales in March.

However, she said its sales team had recognised the need to support agent partners, adding: “We’ve tried to act sensitively as we know how hard agents are working through all this, and we’ve had a high-touch strategy in place to support them through this tough time.”

Ski demand

 

Operators and agents specialising in winter sports holidays reported a mixed sales picture.

Simon McIntyre, managing director of Iglu Ski, said: “We’ve actually been up for the last two weeks. Demographically, we are finding that many people who might have been booked to go to the UAE are also skiers.”

However, Richard Sinclair, chief executive of Sno Group, said the lates market was “mediocre” despite good snow conditions and an early Easter.

Inghams managing director John Mansell said sales were ahead of targets but added: “We’ve definitely seen customers stop and stand still because of the uncertainty.”

Mansell said the operator had seen limited operational impact as its focus is on Europe and Canada and forward bookings were “going great guns” despite the short-term slowdown.

Sinclair also reported customers booking ahead for 2026-27, and iSki managing director Adrian Russell added: “I would agree that forward bookings for next season are strong. Operators have come out sooner this year, so the opportunity to book earlier is there.”