Q. You started your role in October last year. What was your strategy?

A. Trade sales are hugely important and my first priority was engagement. I talked to our partners about what they needed and their response was clear - they wanted content to take out to clients. We've pulled together a marketing toolkit - an online portal where our agent partners can access imagery, content and offers to use on their own social channels.

Q. What trends have emerged during the pandemic?

A. It's been a real mixed bag. We're seeing consistent demand for long-range bookings - bucket-list trips, multigenerational holidays and cruises in 2022 and beyond. There has also been a demand for quarantine-free destinations as the rules change. We've made sure teams are up to date so they can impart accurate information to partners to pass on to customers. We find that if the terms and conditions are agreeable, customers will book.

Q. What do agents need to know about ITC?

A. I’m keen to raise awareness of the diversity across all our brands. We have beautiful beach packages and tailor-made bucket-list holidays from ITC, specialist Africa and Latin America product at Rainbow Tours, our sports brand Spectate for those who want to travel for sporting events, and experiential adventure at Regent Holidays. There's nothing you can tell them about Russia, the Arctic and Iceland - many of their experts have lived and worked in destination.

Q. How can agents best access this expertise?

A. We run regular 'Lunch and Learn' webinars with specialists in a particular destination or activity, and we have monthly ‘Connect Fridays’ on Facebook, with competitions, quizzes and Q&As with our experts and our suppliers.