EasyJet holidays' Homeworker Orange PowWow (HOP) was held at the Hilton at St George’s Park – where the England football team trains – and comprised business updates from easyJet holidays’ trade team and insights from homeworkers and homeworking bosses.

Here are the highlights of how agents were urged to make the most of the next four months.

The market is springing back: you must be ready

Despite market softness between March and June, speakers at the event agreed there had been a significant lift in business in the last month.

Speaking during a leaders panel, hosted by TTG, Designer Travel boss Amanda Matthews revealed that sales across her network of homeworkers had been in double-digit growth over the last five weeks, with late bookings for the summer holidays flying in. “So, very happy homeworkers, very happy owners at the minute,” she concluded.

Head of The Personal Travel Agents at Your Co-op, Sheena Whittle, revealed cruise revenue was 14% up year-on-year across the group, while last week specifically, sales were up a remarkable 25% versus the same week in 2025. “It’s our best week since January for sales, and it’s looking really positive now,” she said.

Whittle added a recent survey of PTA customers showed only a tiny 1% of respondents expected their travel plans to be affected because of cost-of-living concerns. “Customers are sitting there waiting to be inspired,” she argued.

But agents also warned their colleagues they must be ready to jump on enquiries for last-minute travel immediately. On a separate panel, Travel Counsellor George Triggs told delegates “prioritising a customer who wants to go in two weeks over someone who wants to go next August is key, because the excitement is there for them now".

Brilliant Travel agent Sue Lindsay agreed: “You've got to be prepared to jump right on those late bookings and service them straight away," she said. "Otherwise, they’re desperate and excited, and they will just book directly.”

There is still plenty of capacity – but it’s going quickly

EasyJet holidays’ Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Bixby, revealed the operator still has a significant amount of capacity in key destinations for the summer.

“We’ve got 1.2 million return seats left to sell to Spain, 400,000 to Greece and 200,000 to Turkey,” he announced, noting 2.7 million return flights still remain for key city break destinations such as Paris and Amsterdam.

“There are also plenty of free kids' places available," he continued. "The hotels that used to go off-sale very early in the booking cycle will mostly still be on sale. Everything your customers want, they should be able to get."

TTG

However, according to Travel Counsellor George Triggs, availability is changing quickly, and clients should still be encouraged to book swiftly.

“Some people are still wanting to wait, but they might be disappointed," he warned. "I had clients last week wanting to book late, but every time they chose a flight, it was gone. It's the busiest second wave now."

Maximise operators' discount – but hold your own margin

EasyJet holidays highlighted some very significant discounts being offered by hotel partners at the moment, including 40% off at Hyatt Ziva Madeira (formerly Dreams Madeira) this summer; up to 40% off Steigenberger Golf Resort El Gouna; 10-20% off at Mitsis Selection Blue Domes in Kos; and up to 10% off the newly revamped 5-star all-inclusive Imperial Island by Louis Hotels in Paphos, Cyprus.

Designer Travel's Matthews offered a note of caution that attractive discounts across the market might not last much longer. “A lot of the hotels put on really high level discounts to try and fill some of summer but I think now prices will stabilise or even increase a little bit, because the demand is there," she said, advising: :People will still pay it but the sooner they book, the sooner they're going to be able to lock their price in."

Bosses shared how their agents were currently managing to maintain their own margins, even if suppliers were dipping into theirs. “Our margin right now is the strongest it's been for a long time, meaning our travel consultants are not discounting anywhere near as much,” said Not Just Travel’s Steve Witt. “They're making use of the operator offers, and that’s giving our guys confidence that they don't need to discount.”

Inspire Group Chief Executive Lisa Henning agreed, adding: “From a price point of view, it’s one of the strongest for lates that I've seen for a long time. More than 70% of what we’re selling with easyJet holidays is lates, for very little discount because our team are doing a great job of giving it at the right price, and we're holding our margin.”

'Every homeworker can sell luxury'

The leaders panel encouraged agents to be bolder about their ability to sell higher value travel. Not Just Travel's Steve Witt shared how the agency's newly announced luxury programme had been created precisely to take the scare factor out of selling high-end travel.

“A lot of agents think, ‘I can't sell luxury, I don't know luxury customers’," he said. "But our average booking value has increased by 26% in the last few years, so our agents have gravitated towards it without realising. Just focus on getting the experience right for every customer, and then the rest will follow.”

Merlin Travel Group boss Garry Butcher echoed the sentiment on a later panel, saying: “The most important factor is securing that definition of what luxury is to the specific customer. You don't want to just assume it's about five stars. You have to 100% hone in on what they actually want out of the experience.”

Sheena Whittle urged agents to have the confidence to quote more premium products. “I grew up in Thomas Cook's travel agencies with a manager whose standard was, if a customer came in for a scheduled flight in economy, you had to quote business class as well.

"And very early on, we realised there were a lot of people out there that, just because you were suggesting it, would do it, and they just hadn't even realised it was within their price range,” she reported.

Whittle added having one very affluent client who recommends their agent to friends is often the fastest route to growing a luxury clientele. “We call them ‘The Mr Big'," she said. "If you've got a Mr Big, then you'll probably find referrals brings the highest return in terms of finding new luxury customers.”

Promote that easyJet holidays product consumers are booking direct

EasyJet holidays Senior Product Manager Chris Banham shared how operator’s Luxury Collection, launched last October with 100 hotels in the portfolio, had been well received by agents. While only 18% of sales came through the trade in the first few months, agent bookings now make up closer to a third of sales, he reported.

However, he said some key luxury properties in the eastern Med are being undersold by agents relative to direct bookings. Strong performers through the trade include Ikos Kissamos (30% trade), Ikos Aria (24% trade) and Ikos Andalusia (26% trade). Agent bookings make up only 13% of Ikos Oceania sales, and 12% of Ikos Olivia sales meanwhile, and only 15% of Elysium Hotel in Paphos.

easyJet holidays

“That surprises me because the Elysium is a very well known hotel in Paphos,” said Banham. “There are great opportunities here to be selling these, because obviously direct customers are buying this product. So there's no reason that you guys can't be selling these as well. So definitely worth jumping on the back of."

He also shared agent bookings are much stronger from certain airports than others. Trade accounts for just 17% of departures from each of Gatwick, Bristol and Luton airports, but a much more significant 27% from Manchester and 34% from Liverpool John Lennon.  “Again, great opportunities here to be selling more of our product,” Banham concluded.

If customers book elsewhere, find out why

In tackling the issue of customers booking direct with operators instead of with their agent, Inspire's Lisa Henning argued the most successful agents wouldn’t let that happen.

“This is a bit controversial, but when an agent comes to us and says, 'I can't believe it, Mrs Smith has been a customer of mine for five years and she's booked it direct and got it £100 cheaper’, my question back is – 'how did you not know that Mrs Smith wanted to book that holiday, and why did she go to the operator direct?’,” said Henning.

“There might be a way we can match it, though, in our more discrete, concierge way. Tell your customers to always, before they press confirm for any direct booking, to come and talk to you.”

Agents also heard they should start talking to clients about their next holiday as soon as a booking is made.