When Stuart and his wife Karen joined The Travel Franchise in July 2021, they were looking for more than just an extra income – they were laying the foundation for a dream retirement.
“We run a refrigerated transport business but we wanted a retirement plan, something we were passionate about to do on the side, slowly build and still have a decent income when we retire from transport.”
Fast-forward four years, and not only is their travel business thriving – it’s outperforming the business they’ve run for over 15 years.
What started as a bit of a hobby is now their main focus.
“The plan was for it to be a bit of a sideline, but after year two we decided to take it a bit more seriously as we realised its potential and that it could become our main source of income.
“We’re not quite ready to retire yet, but as it’s overtaken our income from the transport business the plan now is to hopefully exit that one and go full time in travel sometime next year.”
The game-changer: Focusing on cruise
Stuart and Karen credit much of their success to embracing cruise travel – a niche sector with one of the highest earning potentials in the industry. It’s why we have a prolific Cruise Division and a strong team of cruise experts at the ready to train every new joiner.
“It’s reassuring to have experts like Duncan or Neal to turn to, who have been in the business for years. You know you’re offering the right product and handling bookings correctly.”
The couple recently secured a £20,000 cruise booking, and it all came down to the training experiences we offer.
“A couple came to us saying they had a very special occasion coming up next year and although they’d been to their local high street travel agent they just didn’t feel they were being listened to and felt they were simply being sold something off the shelf. We’d recently attended a visit of Celebrity Cruises’ Apex which meant we literally knew it inside out. So we spent half an hour with them describing the ship and they booked – in fact they ended up booking a second suite so they could bring their brother and sister-in-law too.”
That single conversation led to a five-figure sale, great commission and extremely satisfied clients – who are now likely to become loyal, repeat bookers.
Real training, firsthand
Stuart and Karen have now done more than a dozen ship visits that we’ve arranged.
“A ship visit when the ships are in port – Southampton, Tilbury, Liverpool – you get a chance to go on board, have a guided tour, and usually a great lunch. The confidence you get from seeing the ships firsthand is huge. You’re not just guessing; you’re speaking from experience.”
“We didn’t take our first cruise until 2021, and now we’ve been on around a dozen, with three more booked. Cruise is now around 40% of our business. It’s what really took us from just pottering along to serious growth.”
The couple also attended one of our Virgin Voyages Seminars at Sea, a week-long experience that blends learning, networking and content creation – all while enjoying a real cruise.
“It’s a training conference on board a cruise. You get to experience the ship, do training, meet colleagues, and gather loads of content for your social media.”
But don’t worry, there’s also plenty of optional training you can do at home.
“There’s so much free training – literally daily webinars with every supplier you can think of. You don’t remember everything straight away, but when a client gets in touch, nuggets from months ago come back to you and help you look knowledgeable. And if you don’t know something, there’s always someone to ask.”
“There isn’t a day that goes by without some kind of training – online or in person. If you want to train five days a week, no problem – but it’s not compulsory.”
Customer bookings
One of the couple’s standout bookings has been for a group of influencers who reserved eight cabins – and the ripple effect is incredible.
“They run a YouTube channel and vlog their holidays. So we’re going with them and doing the same next year with others. We’ve booked about 13 cabins for next year, and we’re hoping to get up to 30 cabins.”
Even better – some of these influencers are now Partners in Travel, earning a share of commission while promoting the couple’s services to thousands of viewers.
“Their videos reach huge audiences. When people ask how they book, they refer them to us. It brings in clients from all over the UK – Scotland, Devon –we’re based in Norfolk and would never have reached them otherwise.”
Community and commission
Beyond bookings and commissions, the journey has also brought something less expected: genuine friendships.
“We’ve got a couple of clients I would now consider friends. We met up with some for drinks just recently.”
And they’re also part of an active strong travel consultant community, meeting like-minded people at our overseas events including our free mentorship retreats like the Elite Experience led by our co-founders Paul or Steve. Stuart even attended our charity trek to Peru.
“We’re still close to people from our initial training and on the Peru trip, I made what I’d call lifetime friends.”
The couple are incredibly happy with the income his travel business is generating but Stuart points out you have to work hard to reap the rewards.
“As you get paid after the clients have travelled, there’s a lag when you first join, but now travel out-earns our other business considerably some months. You do have to put the hours in, build relationships and nurture clients. But now, four years in, we’re getting repeat bookings, higher values and great commissions.”
The couple love receiving pictures of happy clients on holiday, but of course, some days are tough.
“Flights get cancelled, things go wrong – but that’s part of the job. And often those become our best reviews, because we’re there to help.”
But the couple wouldn’t change anything.
“I have no regrets at all. We spent six months looking at lots of options and travel franchises but we definitely made the right decision.”
