Travel with Katie Butler: Jet2holidays VIP agent conference​

Katie Butler, Total Travel, writes: We were lucky enough to stay at the very swish hotel –Voyage Belek Golf and Spa in the resort of Belek.We had the choice to depart from either Glasgow or Birmingham and of course Birmingham was our closer option and so on Sunday evening we jumped on the train from Leeds to Birmingham Airport and stayed overnight ready for our 7am departure.

The flight was chartered exclusively for travel agents and we got to sample the all day breakfast and of course a few cheeky drinks from the onboard bar service.

The overall check-in and getting through security took less than ten minutes, even though there were several flights departing at a similar time – very impressed.Turkey is not commonly known as a winter destination, however, the region of Antalya does operate all year round and is popular with golfers especially in Belek.

On arrival in Turkey, the temperature was 14 degrees, but the sun was shining, with not a cloud in the sky.The Jet2holidays VIP agent conference is without doubt my favourite event of the year. It is a reward – to thank the top selling agents for their hard work throughout the year.

It's a lot of fun, as well as extremely informative, and we are looked after exceptionally well by the Jet2 Trade Team.Our first evening was a fun evening with a Western theme and of course fancy dress. After a not too late night, and not too many drinks, we were up for breakfast the next day at 7am ready for our first day of conference sessions and hotelier networking.

Conference sessions on day one included a talk from Jet2holidays CEO Steve Heapy on sustainability and the work that the company are doing around this very important topic –including carbon offsetting, the purchase of a new fleet of Airbus A321 NEO aircraft (which have more seats and consume less fuel) and also the soon to be produced hotel sustainability charter.

The conference was followed that evening with a black tie gala dinner event.

Day two included the session I get very excited about – new products. It was announced live at conference, the new routes that Jet2 will be operating in 2024/2025.

The vibrant city of Porto has been added to the city break range alongside Athens coast, the Greek Island of Symi and the re-introduction of Pula in Croatia as new beach destinations.

We also had a talk from Olympic Gold medallist Nicola Adams, although we opted out of the boxing masterclass and instead opted to partake in the Jet2holidays quiz.

In-between conference sessions we met with many hoteliers including representatives from Barcelo, Iberostar, Palladium and Constantinou Bros hotel chains, to name a few.

Thank you once again Jet2holidays for an amazing conference but more importantly thank you to all our customers who choose to book with us, without you we wouldn’t be a top-selling VIP agency.