Working in Market - UK

Distribution system

Australia is a long haul, complex destination for UK travellers to book. Consumers tend to rely on travel professionals for advice when planning a holiday itinerary. Online booking channels remain popular with savvy consumers, particularly for VFR travellers.  

According to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) Travel Trends Report 2024/5, the proportion of people booking a holiday with a travel professional in the past 12 months has risen to 38%, up from 34% last year reflecting the need for reassurance that someone is there to help them if something goes wrong. Among the top reasons for using a travel expert are ease of booking (54%), time saving (43%), value for money (39%), feeling more confident (36%) and access to expert help and advice (35%) 

This is also evident for high value and luxury holidays to destinations such as Australia. Long haul specialists, including Trailfinders, Flight Centre and Audley Travel, continue to play a key role in converting consumers and influencing them to spend more, travel widely and stay longer. They also encourage customers to pre-book more ground components, boosting overall spend, length of stay and dispersal.

Tour operators

Commission level: up to 20%

• Tour Operators vary from traditional wholesalers to companies that combine various wholesale, direct, online and retail channels.
• There are more than 50 tour operators selling Australia throughout the UK, however a large proportion of sales to Australia are handled by a few key specialist long-haul Tour Operators.
• Trailfinders and Flight Centre are major retail, long-haul specialist tour operators for Australia. Other operators sending significant numbers of passengers to Australia include Travelbag, Audley Travel, the Lotus Group/DialAFlight and Travel Counsellors.
• The key traditional wholesalers include Gold Medal Travel Group (dnata) and If Only (for B2B luxury sales). However, companies like Kuoni and Audley Travel now consider B2B an important distribution channel. 

Retail agents

Commission level: up to 10%

• Retail agents generally have a basic knowledge of Australia, largely due to the Commonwealth, sporting and historic ties that Australia shares with Britain as well as the regular mainstream media coverage of the destination.
• With nearly 500 stores, Hays Travel is the largest retail chain in the UK and are considered the largest business development opportunity for the UK market.
• Working closely with retail consortia, The Advantage Travel Partnership allows Tourism Australia to reach more than 750 independent agency members across the UK with clear Australia messaging.   

Online

• Direct flights and accommodation bookings make up most sales through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), a channel favoured by the VFR market, or those familiar with Australia.
• Compared to the specialist Tour Operators, OTAs have a limited capability to transact complete itineraries for holidays in Australia. True dynamic packaging cannot be purchased online through any OTA.
• The major UK OTAs are Expedia, eDreams, Opodo, Booking.com, Skyscanner and Netflights (dnata).

Aussie Specialists

• The Aussie Specialist Program (ASP) is the primary platform for Tourism Australia to train and develop front line travel sellers to best sell Australia.
• There are over 2,300 qualified Aussie Specialists in the UK. This includes 90 ‘Premier Aussie Specialists’, recognised with Premier status for their extensive knowledge of the destination, commitment to selling Australia and ongoing learning via the Aussie Specialist Program.

Inbound Tour Operators

Commission level: up to 30%

• There are several Inbound Tour Operators (ITOs) active in the UK market, including: ATS Pacific/AOT Inbound, Pan Pacific, Southern World, ANZCRO, and Across Australia/Goway. In addition, The Tailor, Southern Crossings, Beyond the Blue and Alquemie target the luxury sector.

Trends

Distribution

• Australia is a key destination for specialist long-haul Tour Operators and Aussie Specialist travel agents due to the complexity and high value of the destination.
• Distribution partners remain important in influencing consumers to spend more, disperse further, stay longer and pre-book more ground components.
• To adapt to the changing distribution landscape, major retail agencies have invested in direct selling channels, such as call centres and online booking sites. For long haul travel, retail agents remain an important channel for consumers and although vertical integration, consolidation and globalisation continue to be key trends, high street retail agencies are growing in number with Trailfinders, Flight Centre and Travelbag opening new stores in strategic, high yielding locations across the country.
• Independent home working is also increasing in the UK, particularly through the likes of Travel Counsellors. This allows agents flexibility at work, required by many post-pandemic. It also means tour operators and travel agencies can access talent beyond their local area. 

Planning and purchasing travel

• The total trip spend on leisure travel to Australia by the Brits was AUD$3.3 billion in 2024, growing by 8% compared to 2023, while the average trip spend was AUD$6,648, growing by 2% compared to 2023 (Source: IVS Sep 2024).
• Compared to other key source markets, UK out of region travellers are more inclined to book flights and accommodation directly with operators – 49% of consumers book flights directly airlines, while 28% book accommodation directly. They are less likely to visit online travel marketplaces (e.g. Hotel.com, Booking.com) to book.
• When travelling to Australia prior to the pandemic, 68% of UK holiday visitors booked flights with travel agents (in person and online). UK travellers are increasingly comfortable booking flights directly with airlines, with this share rising from 25% in 2019 to 45% in the year ending June 2024. Despite this, travel agents remain an important booking channel, handling 48% of air bookings for UK holiday visitors to Australia.
• Australia has traditionally had long lead booking times due to the perceived complexity of the purchase in terms of time, distance and cost. Whilst short term tactical fares do stimulate bookings, the UK has largely reverted back to these traditional booking patterns allowing tour operators and travel agents to plan and market the destination more effectively. 

Special interest

• The youth travel market continues to evolve with many youth travellers choosing to book a large portion of their trip direct. This being said, operators specialising in youth travel continue to play an important role. These include Trailfinders, Student Universe, JENZA (USIT/BUNAC) and Gap360. Kilroy, the largest youth agency in Northern Europe has opened its first retail store in the UK with plans to open more.
• Key operators specialising in the luxury sector include Abercrombie & Kent, Elegant Resorts, Original Travel, Carrier, Scott Dunn, ITC and Turquoise Holidays, many of whom are members of the luxury consortia, Serandipians by Traveller Made and Virtuoso.

Planning a visit to market

Top tips for sales calls

• The best time of year for sales calls is March to June and October to November. Try to avoid the UK summer holiday period from July to the end of August and the peak booking period of January and February.
• The key region to visit is London and the South East, with most specialist operators to Australia located in or around this region. Gold Medal Travel is in Preston, whilst operators focused on high-end holidays are based in the London, Chester, and Cheltenham areas.
• For more general information on sales calls and planning a visit to market, please see Tourism Australia’s 'Tourism Export Toolkit'.