Are you dreaming of starting a home-based travel business but you’ve never worked in the industry before?
Then you may be interested to hear about Reshma, a mum of three young boys, who is celebrating making a £150k booking this week.
She’s also attending a prestigious industry ceremony tomorrow having been nominated for TTG’s New Luxury Designer of the Year award (watch this space!).
“I’m so excited to have been recognised at this early stage of my business as a finalist. I love making a difference, playing a small part giving people amazing experiences.”
Reshma’s new career began in November 2020 when she decided to take the leap and launch her travel agency with the support of the UK’s leading travel franchise! Yes, that’s us!
Our incredible team of business development managers, support staff and network of over 450+ travel suppliers helped her find her feet and then her hard work really paid off…
Just six months later she achieved our Money-Back Challenge where we refund your franchise fee if you sell enough holidays in a year to make £38k in commission.
“When I first enquired I was nervous as I loved travel but had no travel industry experience,” says Reshma.
“I also thought the job might be about sales but actually I soon learnt that success is about listening and developing relationships with your clients and travel suppliers.
“I love combining my passion for travel and organisation. I am methodical, enjoy talking and networking and creating amazing experiences for people that go beyond booking a flight and hotel.
“It doesn’t matter if the holiday is worth £5,000 or £50,000 I have a responsibility, I’m obsessive with every detail and take pride in what I do.”
Reshma has indeed organised some incredible trips using our huge list of 450-plus travel suppliers.
This month, February 2023, her biggest booking through one of our key trade partners, Exsus, amounted to £150k.
Reshma was tasked with creating an adventurous four-week holiday for a family who wanted to be pushed outside their comfort zone.
She spent days crafting a thrilling itinerary taking in Canada, the US and Mexico with activities including zip lining, trekking to see bears, cowboy cookouts, whale watching and even a chauffeur driven safari on Harley Davidsons.
Reshma says she has seen rising demand for milestone holidays and epic long-haul family trips.
“After being in isolation for months during Covid many families want to book a bucket-list trip, live life now and experience different things with their children.”
She’s also booked a £61k South America trip spanning seven countries for a family travelling this summer, a £51k tour of Antarctica, a £35k luxury trip to Turkey for an 80th birthday, and a £31k family luxury safari to the Serengeti.
Reshma particularly enjoys tailormaking holidays for families so that she can input her experience as a mum, adding on all sorts of activities from salsa dancing, to cooking classes and homestays to keep kids amused.
Her dedication has paid off. She is now shortlisted for a prestigious industry award – TTG’s New Luxury Designer of the Year.
But best of all, she really loves her new job.
“It’s really changed my life. I juggle work around my three young boys but I’m also making friends while booking incredible holidays.”
Clearly Reshma has found her dream job and discovered she’s rather good at it.
And she’s not the only one.
Two more of our homeworking consultants are up for a TTG award tomorrow: Rachel, a former nurse, and Ross, a musical director.
They are all inspirational. And none of them had ever worked in travel before.
