Travel agent Tom Randles has experienced numerous downturns and crises in the industry including, most recently, the conflict in the Middle East—but the Kerry-born accountant remains determinedly optimistic.

“Our industry is very resilient,” says Randles, who owns Barter’s Travelnet in Cork and was recently re-elected President of the Irish Travel Agents Association for a second term.

“We’ve hit a lot of headwinds over the years, from strikes and ash clouds to Covid, wars and recessions, and we’ve constantly bounced back and got stronger, if anything”, Randles says.

“I think we can continue to do that. No doubt another crisis will come along, but we’ll get over that too”.

Fascination with numbers

Randles’ journey into the travel industry was almost accidental. Having studied accountancy at Munster Technological University, he joined Cork practice Clibborn & Co. as a trainee accountant in 1993.

“I always had a fascination with numbers— that was my strong point at school and I kind of knew I wanted to become an accountant”, he says.

“Clibborn & Co. was quite a big practice. There were about 20 staff at the time looking after a vast range of clients, from farming to sole traders, and large and small companies to the public sector.

“I started off prepping accounts for sole traders and then moved on to audit work for various companies. One of my early audits was Barter’s Travelnet, and I got to learn a little bit about the business”.

This initial exposure to the travel sector quickly led to deeper immersion.

The two people who looked after the accounts for Barter’s Travelnet moved on and George Barter, the business owner, asked Clibborn & Co. if he could hire Randles on a six-month secondment to fill the gap.

That was in 1995 and Randles is still there 31 years later. “I was attracted to the industry because it was dynamic, fast-moving, vibrant—always new things happening”, Randles says.

“In the back of my mind was the idea that I would complete my training and then go travelling. That was my career plan, but once I got stuck into it full-time, I fell more and more in love with the business.

“I can remember George Barter saying, ‘this business is like a drug’”, he continues.

“When it gets into you, it’s very hard to kick. I think that’s what happened to me”.

From secondment to buyout

Randles secondment with Barter’s Travelnet turned into a full-time role in 1996.

By that time, Clibborn & Co.’s two partners had gone their separate ways to establish their own practices, leaving Randles in professional limbo.

“George asked me if I’d be interested in coming on board full-time as financial controller at Barter’s Travelnet”, he says.

At the time, the company was involved in both corporate and leisure travel. “We sold the corporate side in 2006, leaving us almost exclusively in leisure”.

Further change came a few years later when George Barter stepped back from the business and Randles took on the role of managing director.

“In 2018, George wanted to retire and approached me to see if I was interested in buying the business”, Randles says.

“I structured a four-year buyout, and everything was going according to plan in 2018 and 2019—then Covid hit.

“That was a very difficult couple of years. Like many other industries, we had to cut our cloth. We relied on Government supports to help get us through it, but I felt at the time that, once we came out of it, we’d be a lot stronger”.

Customers remained Randles’ number one priority throughout the pandemic.

“A lot of people got burned by doing their holiday bookings themselves instead of with a travel agent”, he says. “We made sure we got our customers’ money back for them. We made sure to look after them”.

At the same time, he decided to take advantage of the lull and the time and space it offered to develop the business.

“We rebranded from Barter Travel to Barter’s Travelnet and remodelled all our shops. We were the first travel agent to open our doors again after Covid”, he says.

“When retail could open, we opened. We thought it was important to have the doors open even when people weren’t booking.

“We picked up a lot of kudos and credibility for that and the way we looked after customers during the pandemic has stood to us since”.

Long-standing legacy

Randles is keenly aware of his responsibility to uphold the company’s hard-earned reputation and guard its heritage.

“Our business dates right back to 1865. We celebrated our 150th anniversary about 10 years ago. There’s a lot of history here and a lot of loyalty amongst Cork people”.

Today, Barter’s Travelnet employs 18 people at three premises on Patrick Street in Cork city, Douglas Village Shopping Centre and Bandon in West Cork.

The company focuses mainly on leisure travel along with specialist niches in group travel and pilgrimages.

“At the start of 2024, we took over the business of another travel agent specialising in pilgrimage travel, and we have now integrated that into our operation”, Randles says.

“We have a great team and an open style of management. When your company is small like ours, it’s all hands on deck. Our staff can interchange into various roles, and that flexibility is crucial”.

This management style and team ethos is also important for attracting fresh talent.

“Because we don’t operate on massive margins, we can’t afford to pay massive salaries”, Randles explains.

“We’ve got to be flexible in our work patterns, give other benefits to employees and make sure they enjoy their work and have a bit of fun as well”.

His involvement with the ITAA began in 2023 when he joined its board. He was subsequently approached to take on the presidency in April 2025 and re-elected again this year.

“Since the war broke out [in the Middle East], it has been really full on”, Randles says.

“It started with getting people home from the region, and then there has been all the noise about lack of fuel supplies, possible cancellations, prices going up. That has depressed consumer demand, and we’re fighting to try to reverse that”.

Far from fearing the rise of internet bookings as the death knell for travel agents, Randles has a positive take.

“I think the internet was the best thing that ever happened to the travel industry because it opened up the market”, he says. “I saw it as an opportunity and not a threat. And that’s why we took the decision to embrace it”.

A Google programme organised in conjunction with Retail Excellence Ireland a little over 10 years ago marked the beginning of the company’s online journey.

“I saw straight away that, to survive, we needed to invest in marketing and embrace the internet”, Randles’ says.

“We took on a full-time marketing person and she and I headed to Google once a week for about two months.

“It was the best thing we ever did because we could see how powerful Google and social media was becoming at the time. We developed our site, our marketing strategy and, after that, our social media platforms”.

“It’s the critical piece that’s made the difference in our business from the point of view of staying relevant, being able to compete and attract customers, not just in the Cork area but countrywide”.

Adapting to market trends and technologies

As Randles sees it, adapting to new market trends and emerging technologies is critical to business survival.

“You have got to differentiate and come up with new ideas, new itineraries, new destinations, new products—and to always be adapting”, he says.

“The professionalism and advice we offer is the other side of it. The licensing and bonding pieces are also very important.

“We give customers protection and security. Their money is protected if they book with us or any member of the Irish Travel Agents Association because we’re licensed and bonded. That gives the consumer added confidence”. Looking to the future, Randles anticipates further consolidation in his sector in the years ahead. “We have seen some of this already, particularly among members reaching retirement age”, he says.

“I think it’s inevitable. I think the industry will continue to evolve. We’ll move away from the simple bucket and spade and continually come up with new itineraries, new destinations, new products.

“Technology will play a greater role. AI will come into it dramatically and will assist agents in creating itineraries, new ideas.

“That will probably have as dramatic an impact as the internet had on our business all those years ago, and we’re only scratching the surface now”.

*Interview by Barry McCall