At the HOT conference on Saturday Coombes referenced the down grade of the travel advisory to the United Travel Emirates and customer sentiment reported by economist Tony Alexander as further reasons to be optimistic for the near future – but says the company’s own data is already indicating that sales are heading back to be in line with the same period last year.
‘We can see that retail travel was impacted greatly, more than business travel, by the Middle East conflict but it is now recovering strongly.’
He says both the leisure and TMC sectors are clearly tracking back.
‘We know from previous disruptions that once they are over we see an immediate increase in demand. We can see that we are coming out the other side, momentum is about to recover and we have a plan in place,’ Coombes told delegates at the conference.
He emphasises that as a group House of Travel is ‘leveraging scale to drive efficiency and simplify operations without losing the personalities and individuality of our operators.’
Coombes notes that the traditional House of Travel brand and on-line channel Mix & Match have completely different customer types.
‘We are committed to the House of Travel channel and we are looking to open more stores. Meantime e-commerce continues to be a growing channel and without a strong proposition we will not remain relevant. It is important that we have one platform serving both brands but also catering for their distinct customer mix.’
He highlighted the booking, trip planning and itinerary generating platform TripBuilder and also HOT Brain (AI) as key developments as the company enters its second year of a three year plan announced at the 2025 conference.
The conference on Saturday was a major day of recognition, with awards and celebration of success throughout the day. Among the key awards presented were:
Overall HOT Consultant of the Year: Belinda Fifield, Christchurch City; HOT New Consultant of the Year: Carly Dorrington, Papamoa; Wholesale Consultant of the Year: Stacey Tritt; Wholesale Air Consultant of the Year: Leah Kim; Cruise Consultant of the Year: Lorraine Van Veen; Cruise Store of the Year: Botany Junction; CEO Award: House of Travel Motueka; HOT HQ Hottie of the Year: Maria Stephens; Overall Customer Champion Store 2026: High Street Lanes; Overall Customer Champion Consultant: Brendon Maguire, Nelson; HOT Store of the Year, Papamoa; HOT Top Small Size Store: Takapuna; HOT Top Medium Size Store: Motueka; HOT Top Large Size Store: Papamoa; Cruise Wholesale Consultant of the Year, Nicky Tucker; Best Performing Store HOT Product land: House of Travel Christchurch City; Cruise Growth of the Year, House of Travel Westport.
