Not Just Travel, the consumer-facing brand of The Travel Franchise under which all of our consultants trade, has just made one of its biggest moves in years.
We have launched a brand new luxury strategy, a tiered training and development programme that gives our consultants everything they need to sell high-end travel with confidence. The news was first revealed to our consultants at our recent Summer Celebration conference, and now that it is public, the industry press has wasted no time picking it up, with TTG Media covering the launch as one of the most significant developments in the homeworking travel sector this year.
We are calling it our biggest strategic upgrade since we launched our cruise division in 2022. And if you know what that division did for our consultants, you will understand why we are excited.
Why luxury, and why now
The way people book holidays is changing, and the shift is happening right in front of us. Customers are trading up on their hotels, asking for more personalised experiences and putting quality at the top of their list. This is no longer just the territory of millionaires. Premium products such as Jet2’s Indulgent Escapes and easyJet holidays’ new Luxury Collection show how far luxury demand has filtered down into the mainstream market.
We have watched it happen inside our own network too.
“Customers are spending more on quality,” says co-founder Steve Witt. “We see it through partners such as Beachcomber Tours, whose premium Mauritius resorts have become a key part of our training calendar. Sales through Beachcomber have grown four-fold since becoming a key trade partner, giving consultants the confidence to sell high-end resort stays.”
For our consultants, the commercial logic is simple. Higher value holidays mean higher commissions for very similar amounts of work. A consultant who can confidently guide a client from a £2,000 package to a £10,000 tailor-made experience is not just delivering a better holiday. They are building a completely different level of business.
What the new luxury programme looks like
The programme runs across three tiers, so there is a route in for every consultant regardless of where they are on their journey.
The first tier is free and open to our entire network of more than 800 consultants. It includes access to The Luxury Standard, our new podcast, alongside fresh training resources focused on identifying and selling luxury add-ons. This is where consultants learn to spot the opportunities that are already sitting inside their existing client base.
The second tier is the Elevation Programme, which develops deep knowledge of luxury travel product and teaches consultants how to tap into the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth market. Places are limited and entry is by application only, because this level of training deserves proper focus and the right people.
At the top sits Signature by NJT, our elite level specialising in curating ultra-luxury journeys supported by a premium concierge service. Consultants accepted into Signature will gain access to specialist luxury events and corporate hosting conferences, both in the UK and overseas.
We have done this before, and it worked
The reason we are so confident about this programme is that we have already proven the formula.
In September 2022 we launched our cruise division, built on the same principles of high-level training, product immersion and direct supplier access. The result was a tripling of our cruise sales and the creation of the Cruise Experts Club, which gives members a personalised cruise website, CLIA membership and regular opportunities for ship visits and familiarisation trips.
“Our cruise division proved what happens when you give consultants high-level training, immerse them in the product and put them in front of the right suppliers,” says Steve. “Sales tripled because of our focus on consultant development and trade opportunities, empowering them to become confident specialists. We will do exactly the same with luxury.”
Luxury means the client, not just the price tag
One thing worth understanding about our approach is how we define luxury in the first place. It is not simply about expensive hotels.
“Luxury is a term that the travel industry struggles to define,” says Josie Allen, our recently appointed Head of Marketing. “For us, luxury is providing an exceptional experience tailored to the client. We are supporting our consultants at every stage with transformative in-depth training, support and marketing collateral.”
That philosophy runs through the whole programme. The goal is not to turn every consultant into a seller of five star suites. It is to give every consultant the skills to understand what an exceptional experience looks like for each individual client, and the product knowledge and supplier relationships to deliver it.
What this means if you are thinking about joining
If you are considering starting a travel business, announcements like this one tell you something important about the company you would be partnering with.
The Travel Franchise does not stand still. In the past few years alone we have built a cruise division that tripled cruise sales, launched NJT Smart AI to hand our consultants thousands of hours back every month, redesigned our Lite package to make starting more accessible than ever, and now we are making our biggest move yet into one of the fastest growing areas of travel. Every one of those investments exists for a single reason, which is to give our consultants more ways to grow, more ways to earn and more reasons to stay ahead of everyone else in the market.
That is what being part of the world’s best lifestyle franchise actually means. Further announcements on supplier partnerships and future luxury programme developments are coming in the months ahead, and we cannot wait to share them.
