Coombes is three months into his new role at the country’s biggest travel agent, after early last year taking redundancy from Flight Centre when there was an upper level shakeup. He had a 23-year career there, including as the listed company’s New Zealand boss.
House of Travel has about 1000 staff across its brands.
The first House of Travel store opened in Timaru in January 1987 and remains in private hands with each store being in a 50/50 voting rights partnership with the corporate entity, House of Travel Holdings. There are just on 60 House of Travel stores throughout the country.
The holding company takes a share of profit, charges for information technology, and other services and the stores contribute to a marketing pool.
The House of Travel Group includes retail, Orbit World Travel, HOT Product, HOT Holdings, Global Travel Network, Travel Managers Australia, Travel Advocates, Mix and Match, Hoot, and Discover Travel Christchurch.
Coombes said working with store owners with skin in the group’s game had been a positive contrast from working for a listed company. Some store owners had been embedded in their communities for close to 30 years.
“I’ve come in and met a lot of these guys.
“It is not so much who’s doing well, but the fact that everybody’s doing better than they’ve ever done so the comment that I hear is that ‘we’ve had our best year ever’.”
The group doesn’t disclose revenue figures but it is now understood to be on a par with earnings of about $2 billion a year.
While New Zealanders were increasingly interested in places where the struggling Kiwi dollar was going further – parts of South East Asia and Japan – many of those who use travel agents wanted bespoke luxury. Older travellers with disposable income were turning to agents to put together more complex itineraries rather than booking themselves through online travel agents.
“They’re coming to a brand that resonates with them rather than other channels that might feel it more directly because you really want the assistance of an agent,” Coombes said.
Travel was bumpy coming out of the pandemic with labour and aircraft shortages. This northern hemisphere summer had generally been smoother but there was still potential for disruption from IT problems, more severe weather events and rising geo-political tension.
This helped prove the value of agents who work harder when clients are disrupted without being paid more commission.
Coombes said he hoped the Government would bring in tougher and clearer rules to protect travellers such as in Europe and the United States where there is automatic compensation for airline delays.
Agents were often at loggerheads with the previous Government as the pandemic came close to wiping out the travel industry. He said relations with the new Government had been much smoother, as it had a better understanding of where the industry fitted into the economy, he said.
Although Kiwis who take off on holiday were taking money out of this economy they were also helping support airlines that brought in tourists and there were other social benefits.
There has been a rise in protests against ‘overtourism’ in places such as Barcelona and new charges and rules to stem numbers in Venice and Amsterdam.
Coombes said this wasn’t deterring New Zealanders but they needed to be mindful of the best time to go to popular destinations and look for guidance around alternatives.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
