Travel agents face a trust and retention test at Naas 2026

By Elena Vasquez

Ninety percent of training is forgotten within a week, according to Russell Hablo of Hablo, putting travel sellers on notice that guidance for staff and clients must be repeated to have an effect.

At Travel Centres Conference 2026 in Naas, which returned with a packed programme of practical advice, motivational sessions and technology discussions, Hablo said the average person has 24 minutes a week available to upskill.

He cited a forgetting curve showing that 50 per cent of training disappears within a day. Hablo warned that long emails get dismissed with “TL;DR” — too long, didn’t read — and said training must be short, memorable and repeated to stick.

The commercial implication depends on whether concise refreshers improve selling, but the session provided no bookings, revenue or conversion evidence for the recommendation.

What makes clients stay with an agency?

Kevin Kelly, a motivational speaker and author of Do, argued that roughly 12 per cent of success comes from originality while 88 per cent comes from executing a normal idea in a fresh or better way.

Kelly drew on the book’s “Return on Intuition” chapter and asthma-care work linked to Galway’s Patrick McKeown and Agnes McCourt of Newry. These examples supported his argument for better execution rather than continuous product reinvention.

Kelly also said many clients change travel agents because of response speed, making inquiry handling a retention issue rather than merely an administrative task. His directive was to “sell people back their product”: focus on what clients already value instead of pushing something new.

That principle protects repeat revenue when the product is already understood, although Kelly supplied no churn rate or other measured evidence quantifying the effect.

Kelly demonstrated a technique he called seat gymnastics, showing how physical interaction can keep a sales conversation active. He said one genuinely enthusiastic person can shift the energy of an entire sales team and argued that consistently showing up for clients remains a powerful tool.

No agency sales result followed from the demonstration, leaving Kelly’s commercial claims as operating guidance rather than documented performance.

Can travel AI close the trust gap?

Laura Plunkett examined applied artificial intelligence (AI) already being used in travel businesses. Her advice was to avoid off-the-shelf solutions and build tailored tools such as custom itinerary planners.

Plunkett highlighted a persistent trust gap and the need for explainability, meaning staff and clients can see why a system made a recommendation and understand why they should accept it.

For sellers, explainability can determine whether employees use a tool and whether clients accept its output. Plunkett presented no adoption, cost, conversion or revenue results, however, so the proposal remained a strategic pitch.

Amanda Middler updated the audience on Silversea Cruises. No product, booking or distribution figures accompanied that update in the conference account.

Val Murphy of American Drifters and Compass Floats shared specialist-market updates, also without quantified results. Jo Rzymowska asked whether travel agencies would outlive their owners, turning succession planning into another challenge for agency principals.

Jennifer Callister of Royal Caribbean closed the product segment by announcing a new ship launching next year. The announcement creates a future sales hook for agencies, but it remains a product projection rather than evidence of bookings or market-share gains.

Plunkett’s AI guidance and Callister’s ship announcement were recommendations and plans, not measured commercial outcomes. The event disclosed no agency revenue, commission or distribution data against which sellers could test either proposition.

What did the closing panel establish?

A panel featuring Jo Rzymowska, Kevin Kelly, Laura Plunkett and Sandra Corkin pulled the conference themes together: short human communication, stronger execution of familiar ideas, technology that earns trust and consistent presence with clients.

Adam Weatherly of ISME then reminded delegates that small businesses remain the engine of the economy. His intervention placed independent agencies at the center of any redistribution of travel sales, although the session did not quantify their share or economic contribution.

The conference’s annual awards provided the closing recognition:

• Travel Agency of the Year: Tom Britton of Marble Travel in Kilkenny.
• Agent of the Year: Dave Smith of TUI.
• Supplier of the Year: Brendan Barry of Discover Travel.

The titles offer peer visibility but do not establish bookings, revenue, commission changes or market-share performance for the recognized businesses.

For sellers, the forward agenda is clear: respond faster, repeat short training and require explainable itinerary tools. Royal Caribbean’s next-year ship launch supplies a concrete product hook, while actual bookings and revenue will determine whether the conference advice changes agency market share.