Kuoni has outlined ambitious plans to grow third-party agent sales in 2025 as it further expands its trade team.
Alix O’Brien (pictured) has been appointed trade partnerships support assistant, boosting Kuoni’s team supporting independent agents to six, up from two a year ago.
O’Brien was previously a destination expert in the Kuoni Expert Hub – its call centre dealing with third-party bookings – and has worked in the industry for more than 10 years.
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The company said the move underlined its commitment to the trade as it courts more business from independent agents and seeks to reduce its reliance on its own shops.
Managing director Mark Duguid said the expanded trade team had already made a difference to sales, aided by substantial decreases in the operator’s prices in 2024 and the introduction of a flexible commission structure.
He would not reveal trade sales targets, but said: “Our B2B share is growing within our business mix, deliberately. We’re refreshing our sales channels. The mix was high for in-house and our strategy is to reduce dependence on in-house retail and broaden our sales channels.”
Our strategy is to reduce dependence on in-house retail and broaden our sales channels
He insisted Kuoni’s own shops – of which there are 27 including high street and John Lewis concessions – remained a “very important, mature” sales channel. Its Manchester store, which is relocating to premises nearby, will be the pilot for the rollout of its refreshed brand from this month as part of its business-wide revamp.
Duguid said the John Lewis partnership was also going from “strength to strength” and revealed plans to move its Edinburgh shop into the city’s John Lewis store this spring due to its higher footfall.
But he said the group now had high expectations for third-party sales in 2025, adding: “Our targets for the trade are ambitious but we’re very confident we can achieve them.”
The operator has already increased the size of its expert hub and hailed a “phenomenal” increase in trade sales in 2024.
The operator will consider other sales tools to push agent bookings.
“We will potentially produce a family brochure,” said Duguid.
“Agents are seeing we’re sharper on price and they value our service, short wait times and expertise.”
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