Hello agents! Here’s your trade-side pulse check to help you stay sharp this week. We’ve entered a period where consumer caution is creeping into booking behaviour, regulatory changes are starting to bite, and capacity expansion is generating both opportunity and risk. The mood in the trade feels cautiously optimistic: while cost pressures and late-booking trends are nudging margins, fresh infrastructure announcements and evolving travel rules offer openings for savvy consultants.
As you support clients navigating uncertainty, your value as a trusted adviser becomes even more critical. In this week’s edition, I’ll highlight the shifts you should watch, offer a destination to promote, point out a niche opportunity, sharpen a sales skill, and round up your latest blog posts to feed your marketing and business planning. Let’s stay proactive and help clients travel with confidence.
Industry Snapshot: What’s New (past 7 days)
Here’s what’s moved in the trade lately — and what it means for you:
- Profit warning from On The Beach: The UK package tour operator revised its expected pre-tax profits downward, citing consumers delaying booking decisions. This reinforces the late-booking trend—consultants should emphasise value, reassurance and payment flexibility.
- Travel/leisure stocks outperform: Travel sectors helped lift UK equity indices, suggesting investor confidence in the sector’s resilience despite macro headwinds. For you, this is a sign that capital is still flowing into travel — keep pushing for supplier innovation and new products.
- Gatwick second runway approved: The government has greenlit a £2.2 billion expansion at Gatwick, with expectations of greater capacity, more routes, and lower holiday costs in the medium to long term. This is a structural boost for outbound travel — consider re-evaluating your UK departure-point strategies.
- EU Entry/Exit System (EES) arriving October 2025: The EU will begin fingerprinting and facial scans for third-country travellers entering/exiting Schengen. Although passports are still valid, this change means slight extra border friction for UK travellers. Prepare clients by advising them to allow extra time and stay updated.
- UK-Europe border rules evolving: While ETIAS isn’t due until later, EES is the immediate change, so any Europe-bound clients must be forewarned. Agents should include this in pre-departure briefings and marketing footers.
- UK flight capacity to Madeira up 5% for winter 2025/26: Airlines are boosting services to Madeira, signalling confidence in year-round demand. That gives you a seasonal product to pitch beyond typical summer sun breaks.
- Supplier webinars and agent support ramping: Multiple tour operators and hotel groups are hosting webinars and special trade events to engage and update agents. Attend these — they’re goldmines for information, networking and exclusive deals.
- Trade media trending niche and agent-first stories: TTG and Travel Weekly are increasingly covering stories about agent commission models, homeworking support, and specialist product growth. This reflects a continuing pivot in the trade toward differentiation over mass volume.
- FCDO travel advice remains stable, with near-term alerts: No sweeping new global restrictions this week, but regional advisories and safety updates continue. Keep your travel-advice monitoring systems active (Travel Aware, gov.uk) and alert clients when relevant.
- Strikes looming at Bournemouth Airport: Disruption is forecast for 30 Sep, 1 Oct, 16–17 Oct. While some airlines may try to mitigate, clients flying via Bournemouth should be flagged in advance.
- Demand softness among budget travellers: Across the trade, a pattern is emerging of price-sensitive clients postponing purchases or shifting to lower-cost or off-peak options. You may need to adjust payment terms, offer staggered payments, or upsell value-adds, not just discounts.
Destination of the Week: Madeira, Portugal
Madeira is increasingly punching above its weight. With airlines boosting UK capacity for winter 2025/26, it’s becoming a desirable off-season sun option that avoids full Mediterranean saturation. Its year-round mild weather, dramatic scenery, and walking options make it ideal for clients seeking active, scenic breaks outside the typical June–August window.
Why clients will love it:
- It mixes relaxation and exploration — cliff walks, gardens, levada trails, coastal villages.
- Less crowded in shoulder seasons than Mediterranean hotspots.
- Good for multi-centre packages (Madeira + mainland Portugal or Canary Islands).
How consultants can position it:
- Promote it as a “mild winter escape” (e.g. November – March slots).
- Bundle walking or nature-led itineraries (guided walks, birdwatching, marine life).
- Use “off-the-beaten-path Portugal” branding rather than just “Portugal sunshine.”
- Emphasise fewer crowds and more authenticity, especially for clients tired of mass tourism.
Consultant Opportunity: Off-Peak Value & Payment Flexibility
With many clients delaying booking to see prices, there is a growing opportunity in pre-season / off-peak product marketing combined with flexible payment terms. Suppliers are more willing now to negotiate module pricing or flexible deposit/instalment schemes to lock in future bookings.
You can lean in by:
- Pitching early-booking “soft launch” offers for 2026 with refundable deposits, retention terms or staggered payments.
- Marketing niche offseason windows (e.g. late winter escapes, spring blossoms, shoulder-spring calendar gaps).
- Bundling value — add extras (meals, transfers, excursions) to create perceived value instead of competing on lower price alone.
- Testing segmented marketing: target budget-minded clients with low-deposit options, while premium clients get low-risk, high-value offerings.
This dual strategy gives you room to chase both cautious booking behaviour and margin protection.
Skill of the Week: Confidence in Handling Objections
One of your most powerful tools is your ability to handle objections smoothly and guide the conversation back to value. Let me break this down in two steps:
1. Reframe “It’s too expensive” objections
- Acknowledge: “I understand — value for money is more important than ever these days.”
- Probe: “When you say ‘expensive’, do you mean the total cost, the deposit, or the optional extras?”
- Reposition: “What I’ve found is that many clients offset the extra cost by including more inclusions (transfers, meals, experiences), so you get fewer surprises later. Would you prefer to see a comparison with fewer inclusions so you can see trade-offs clearly?”
2. Turn “I’ll wait / I’m not ready” into a micro-yes
- Empathise: “That makes sense — holiday decisions feel big.”
- Offer a low-commitment step: “Would it help if I held the space (refundable) for you while you think it over?”
- Use urgency gently: “I’ll fully respect your decision, but suppliers are already starting to close special rates this week — if you wanted me to hold anything, I can lock it in for 48 hours.”
By structuring objection conversations like this, you keep control, maintain trust, and increase the chance of converting hesitant enquirers.
Motivation Boost
“Travel isn’t just about places — it’s about people trusting you to guide them.”
This week, one consultant shared how they turned a “too expensive” objection into a booking simply by re-structuring the inclusion picture (swapping out a standard tour for a more “all-in” version). The client felt more confident because there were fewer hidden surprises.
This is your reminder: your insight, your way of presenting options, your reassurance — that’s what clients buy. When markets fluctuate, your skill in advisory sales becomes your edge. Keep leaning in.
Blog Roundup (this week’s posts)
Here’s your content toolkit — use these for your newsletters, social posts or client emails:
- How to Stay on Top of Industry News and Trends
A step-by-step guide for travel homeworkers to build habits, filter sources and synthesise news for clients.
https://www.independenttravelconsultants.co.uk/how-to-stay-on-top-of-industry-news-and-trends - Why Your Travel Clients Need More Than Just a Price Comparison
Explains why clients increasingly value trust, added insight, protection and service — not just the lowest price.
https://www.independenttravelconsultants.co.uk/why-your-travel-clients-need-more-than-just-a-price-comparison - Google My Business for Travel Homeworkers: Step-by-Step Setup
A technical walkthrough to get your GMB profile live, optimised, and attracting local clients.
https://www.independenttravelconsultants.co.uk/google-my-business-for-travel-homeworkers-step-by-step-setup - How to Leverage Local Marketing to Attract New Clients
Ideas and tactics to help you tap into your immediate locale: referrals, community partnerships, events.
https://www.independenttravelconsultants.co.uk/how-to-leverage-local-marketing-to-attract-new-clients - How to Make the Most of Supplier Offers Without Relying on Them
Strategies to use supplier deals strategically yet maintain your own brand strength and margins.
https://www.independenttravelconsultants.co.uk/how-to-make-the-most-of-supplier-offers-without-relying-on-them - Creating Travel Content That Connects with Your Ideal Client
Tips on storytelling, structuring posts, and speaking to specific client personas to boost engagement and bookings.
https://www.independenttravelconsultants.co.uk/creating-travel-content-that-connects-with-your-ideal-client - Should You Start a Travel Blog? Benefits and Strategy Tips
A guide on why blogging works, how to structure content, and ways it can bring bookings and SEO strength.
https://www.independenttravelconsultants.co.uk/should-you-start-a-travel-blog-benefits-and-strategy-tips
Closing
Staying ahead is your greatest competitive tool — whether it’s the latest border changes, emerging destinations or new supplier terms. Each week, you gain an edge by converting insight into client value. Keep your head in the trade news, your messaging sharp, and your belief strong.
With you, every step of the journey —
Ava Wake
