Audley Travel has stressed its commitment to travel agents will remain unchanged as it moves into physical retail with 12 John Lewis concessions.
The tailormade operator, which has existed for 30 years without a high-street presence, said the concessions are intended to reach a different client base from its existing trade partners.
Retail Director Christian Haas said: “We know customers are loyal to their travel agent, and to support this we will be putting in place protections to ensure that their clients, should they visit our retail premises, are encouraged to continue their relationship with their travel agent.”
The John Lewis concessions will sell the same products available through Audley’s direct and trade channels.
However, Audley Travel Head of Trade Sales Greg Thurston said the move would not affect the operator’s investment in its agency partnerships.
He said: “This partnership does not, in any way, impact our commitment to the trade. We are delighted with the performance of our trade sales programme which delivered its best-ever start to the year and we remain firmly committed to growing and investing in our travel agent partnerships.
“These relationships are more important than ever to us, and we have planned further investment in my team as well as more training, marketing support and ‘Experience Trips’ for agents scheduled for this year and into 2027.”
Audley said its decision to enter physical retail was driven by a desire to give customers more ways to engage with the brand.
Christian said: “We have been looking at options for a physical retail presence for Audley for a while, with the objective of reaching new clients for our tailormade trips.
“We want to give people as much choice as possible about how they connect with us – for many, talking to our team whilst shopping in a John Lewis store will be a welcome and convenient option.”
The concessions are being designed to ‘reflect the Audley experience featuring immersive, sensory focused destination spaces’ rather than ‘traditional and functional booking desks’.
John Lewis has 36 stores across the UK, and Audley has left the door open to expanding its physical retail presence beyond the initial 12 locations.
Christian said: “Our focus at the moment is on opening these 12 sites. Once they are open, and assuming they are successful – which we believe they will be – we’ll happily consider any further opportunities John Lewis brings to us.
“John Lewis is the ideal partner for us, as our brands and clients share many synergies, for example a discerning, affluent customer base and high levels of personal service.”
The 12 locations include nine John Lewis stores that have previously housed Kuoni travel concessions – Cardiff, Chelmsford, Cribbs Causeway, Edinburgh, Norwich, Reading, Oxford Street, Peter Jones (Sloane Square) and Southampton – alongside sites in Cambridge, Poole and High Wycombe.
Luxury operator Kuoni is moving out of all nine of its John Lewis concessions and its one pop-up shop by the end of September as part of the strategic review.
Audley’s first concessions are planned to open in late November, with ‘as many as possible open before Christmas’ as part of a phased rollout.
