1. The post-pandemic holiday boom
The rapid rise of the homeworker has been one of the most significant trends to take hold in the travel industry for decades, according to TTG Media (read the story here).
According to the Association of British Travel Agents “confidence to travel across the UK population is up by 6 points compared with 2023”.
People are prepared to spend money on holidays: from once-in-a-lifetime bucket list trips to fly-and-flop packages, demand is up. If you need proof that the package holiday market continues to grow then the fact that three of the biggest UK holiday companies are all upping their capacities for 2025 is proof enough (in October, Jet2 announced its capacity would be about 6% higher in 2025).
With soaring demand and thousands of holidays offers from our suppliers, you could grab one of the last few remaining places to train with us before Christmas and launch your home-based travel business before the busiest time in travel – the January to March ‘Peaks’ period when agents typically book four times more holidays than any other time of the year.
2. Travel agents are in demand
New research by ABTA reveals that more people are choosing to use travel agents and this research is backed up by Phocuswright which recently noted a growing trend for travel agents to open brick-and-mortar agencies. Take a look at this article which suggests that customers are tired of trawling, and agents do often have access to better deals.
Book a client a holiday once and they are likely to book with you again – especially if you go the extra mile, like Illesh. After having a trip organised for 38 people postponed due to the Pandemic, personal Travel Consultant Illesh decided to go above and beyond, meeting his customers at 2.30am at Stansted Airport to ensure they all got away without a hitch. You too could offer customers something unique.
3. Commissions and agent incentives are rising
ABTA’s report also revealed that 46% of travellers are expecting to spend more money on their holidays, which means bigger commission for agents.
Our agents are experiencing this first hand with average booking values at around £5,000 per holiday, compared to £3,495 in October 2019.
Some tour operators are also offering agents “commission uplifts” and tax-free benefits, including high street vouchers, designer clothes and the latest technology and gadgets.
4. Specialise in cruise and reap the rewards
Many savvy agents are becoming experts in niche travel products that attract high-paying repeat clients. These include areas such as cruising which typically offers commission of around 15-20 per cent.
Our customer-facing brand Not Just Travel launched a Cruise Division in 2022 and recruited experts who can train you to become a ‘cruise master’ giving you the skills and credentials you need to succeed. Since then our cruise sales have tripled! One of our consultants made over £1 million-worth of sales booking hundreds of customers onto one single cruise that our cruise team helped her tailormake!
We also have some incredible key cruise trade partners giving us exclusive cruise deals to help you show your clients that you have the competitive edge.
Franchisee Ashlie McClauley took part in our pilot ‘Seminar at Sea’ cruise mastery programme, part of the new cruise division, on board the brand new NCL’s Norwegian Prima, back in Sept 22
5. Travel perks including FAM trips, and our unique mentorship retreats abroad – free with our Elite franchise
It’s no secret that travel agents get discounted holidays and educational trips (known as FAM or familiarisation trips) to learn about the places and products they’re selling.
Many travel suppliers are increasingly keen to host agents and boost business over the next year and give behind-the-scenes tours of new ships and hotels too.
We also host company events overseas for our consultants and our unique money-can’t-buy mentorship retreats abroad which are free to franchisees on our Elite franchise package.
In September we arranged no less than five separate overseas trips taking nearly 200 franchisees overseas. Mauritius, Antigua, Barbados, Ibiza, Rome and Peru were on the menu.
We had agents training in five-star hotels; we had them networking and learning on board a cruise ship for a week and we saw 21 agents complete the Machu Picchu trek at altitude in Peru for charity.
And now into October, we’ve just welcomed back 68 Elite agents from a Millionaire’s Retreat in sunny Crete.
Hundreds of our travel consultants have joined us on our Millionaire’s and Elite Experience Retreats this year in Crete, Mauritius, the Canary Islands, the Caribbean and Florida
6. You can make a difference
Booking people’s dream holidays is incredibly satisfying, as is helping out when things go wrong.
During the pandemic, 2022’s airport delays, the Greek forest fires in 2023 and the occasional industry strike, more some tourists needed help switching flights last-minute. Many of our agents found this a positive. Our agents help customers in many different ways when things go wrong – and right!
By helping, caring and adding a personal touch, they establish lasting relationships and repeat clients.
So is NOW the right time to become a travel consultant with us? Take it from our franchisees.
