After announcing its biggest-ever turn-of-year marketing campaign, doubling its 2024 promotion spend, Ocean Holidays’ director of sales Matt Rains spoke to Travel Bulletin about the operator’s trade success and plans for 2026, including portfolio expansion and a new agent portal
While Matt’s sights are firmly on 2026, 2025’s success was foundational to the operator’s future trade plans.
"It was a fantastic year across the board. Our B2B business has doubled in the last year, which says a lot about the team we have here at Ocean Florida and the partners we work with. We have built close relationships, and the feedback we receive genuinely shapes what we do."
That trade success was celebrated last month with a new trade-focused brochure. "For a long time, the question we heard the most was 'Do you have a brochure?', so it is great to finally have it out there and sitting in hundreds of agencies nationwide. The feedback has been brilliant, and it has helped our partners secure more bookings to the USA.”
With Ocean's strong focus on Florida, it's no surprise that recent additions compounded the work the operator was doing to increase its trade business. "The arrival of new attractions like EPIC Universe has continued to add energy to the destination, and we expect even more interest when ticket structures change in 2026 so visitors can enjoy EPIC Universe for more than one day."
As for the wealth of destinations outside of the Sunshine State, Matt attested to "strong growth outside of Florida. Around half of our bookings now go to other destinations, particularly cruise and stay holidays, USA city breaks, Route 66, the deep south and California.
"All these things work hand in hand to deliver our trade partners with exceptional service and product offering across the board, something I am incredibly proud to be part of."
The goal for 2026 remains clear: “Our aim is always to make life easier for agents and support the growth of their businesses.”
Those plans will soon come to light; Matt promised “several major promotions... that will make a real impact,” alongside the ongoing incentive scheme worth up to £600 per booking and the recent move to open sales through 2029.
Along with its peaks promotions, the operator has “plans to expand our destination portfolio,” and will finally launch “the answer to our new most-asked question... we will open our travel agent booking portal.”
