Ever dreamt of turning your passion for holidays into a thriving travel business, but worried you don’t have the time?
Meet Alex and Tracy, who are proving that you can build a successful travel business part-time, even while juggling busy careers.
The couple joined The Travel Franchise in May 2025 and just three days after finishing their training, they made their first booking. Not bad for two people with no previous experience in travel.
“I work full-time as a ceramic engineer, while Tracy works three days a week in finance,” says Alex.
“I always enjoyed looking for holidays for family and friends, and I just thought — why not try and make a business of it? We’re a good double act: I look for the holidays, and Tracy deals with all of the social media.”
Now, they’ve built a Facebook page that already has nearly 300 followers and is generating regular enquiries. Tracy schedules three or four posts a day – deals, destination inspiration, videos – all timed for when their audience is online.
Their biggest booking so far?
A £14,000 luxury family holiday to Dubai for seven people.
“They wanted something special to celebrate,” says Alex. “We found them a hotel they loved, sorted transfers – and just made it all work. That’s the bit I love most: finding the perfect fit.”
The couple are certainly off to a good start with their new business. But what’s been the secret to their success so far? Hard work, plus our training and support.
Over 98 per cent of our franchisees have never worked in travel before, but we employ people who have worked in the industry for decades so that you don’t have to.
“For the record, it has been outstanding,” says Alex. “We wanted a franchise that would help us along the way, and that’s certainly been the case. There are other ones we’d heard about where they just tend to leave you on your own – but that’s definitely not the case with The Travel Franchise.”
Everyone who joins us gets allocated a personal business development manager (BDM) who has years of travel experience and, for Alex and Tracy, that’s Donna.
“She’s so fast at replying and always there when we need her,” says Alex who also makes daily use of our online knowledge Hub, which is packed with marketing tools, offers, webinars and templates.
The couple also use T-Profile to create beautiful, interactive quotes that help seal the deal with clients. And the best part? It’s included in the franchise package.
So what made them decide to take the leap and launch their travel business?
Before joining, they watched videos of other franchisees and were inspired by their stories. Seeing co-founder Paul accept The World’s Best Lifestyle Franchise award in Las Vegas gave them the confidence that they were joining something serious.
“We spoke to co-founder Paul directly,” says Tracy. “It helped so much. We knew this was a big decision, but he made us feel like we could do it.”
And now they are doing it – and loving it, too.
Their goal is to be full-time within three years, focusing on cruise holidays, which they both adore. But even now, running it part-time, it already feels like something bigger.
“We’re building towards something we can do together, full-time, on our own terms,” says Alex. “That’s the dream.”
And their advice to others?
“You don’t need experience,” says Tracy. “You just need to go for it. The training is brilliant, the support is there.”
What will kickstart it for you? This blog, an advert, our 10-minute Discovery video?
