To be successful, travel advisors must master a variety of skills and negotiate an ever-more-complex industry. To stay on top, many turn to educational resources offered by suppliers and industry organizations. But an increasing number of advisors have also created their own ways to help others, by devising side gigs focused on industry education and empowerment.
The mantra for these entrepreneurial individuals is clear: Agencies and advisors will find more success when they focus on working together and building community within the travel agency industry.
“Our motto has always been ‘community over competition,’ and we are committed to fostering connections throughout the travel industry, to forge strong and mutually beneficial partnerships,” said Steven Gould, owner of Goulds Travel, co-founder of Luxera Travel and creator of Travel Advisor Resource Center (TARC), an organization that provides resources, education and collaborative opportunities for travel agencies.
TARC, which launched in 2020, offers a free travel agency set-up program and a 13-module certification program. It also manages multiple Facebook communities, including Travel Advisors Selling Europe and TARC Tribe, a space for travel advisors and supplier partners.
Also championing the concept of advisors helping others in the industry is Christen Perry, owner and travel advisor at Classic Travel Connection, an Affluent Traveler Collection affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., who also runs Christen Perry Coaching and Consulting.
Building our agencies to include capable and trained agents is critical to the longevity of the travel industry.
“Community and collaboration — over competition — is so important,” she said. “We don’t need to be selfish with our information. There is so much business for all of us. If we can teach others, encourage each other and lift each other up, it’s so much better than competing and tearing each other down.”
Perry’s business helps advisors in a number of ways.
“I love coaching other people,” she said. “I love helping people go from point A to point B. The advantage for travel advisors working with someone who has ‘been there, done that’ is just that. You’re learning from someone else’s experiences and someone who’s been where you are. A lot of times, professional development resources aren’t necessarily from someone who has had the same experiences as a travel agency owner or a travel advisor.”
Gould agrees about the advantages of peer-created educational resources.
“It’s easier for travel advisors to relate to one another, since they understand similar pain points, growth strategies and opportunities,” he said. “Connecting with each other is also a great way to find a mastermind group, a mentor or someone to look up to; [it’s] opening advisors to a world full of information – not just information about one specific supplier.”
It’s easier for travel advisors to relate to one another, since they understand similar pain points, growth strategies and opportunities.
Additional Resources
Advisors around the nation offer an impressively diverse array of educational opportunities.
Among the Virtuoso members that offer advisor-targeted services, for example, is Lindsey Epperly, a Jet Set World Travel advisor in Atlanta who recently launched a podcast called “Who Made You the Boss?,” which complements EntreTravel, a training platform for independent contractors (ICs). Another member of Virtuoso, Carrie Wallace of Chicago-based Cerulean World Travel, operates FamGuru, a platform that helps advisors to make the most of familiarization trips.
Advisors looking to improve their online skills, meanwhile, can turn to Shelby Frenette, co-owner of TravelFun, an agency that also provides social media training for travel advisors with videos, webinars and other resources.
Jamie Weitl, advisor and owner at Pineapple Escapes in Oglesby, Ill., is yet another industry expert who offers services to advisors and travel agencies, through her Vacation Escapes Travel division.
“I work with agency owners to develop training programs for their ICs,” she said. “I also offer courses for agents that focus on developing their knowledge and skills in the industry. I opened my own independent agency in 2020 and immediately saw the need for more training and education within the IC community. I started by developing a training program for my ICs and then branched out to offer to other agencies, as well.”
Weitl, who has a PhD in organizational leadership with a specialization in corporate training and eLearning, adds that “training services for my agents — and now other agents and agencies —was a natural progression” for her.
Training and education are especially important because of a lack of set standards within the travel agency community, according to Weitl.
Community and collaboration — over competition — is so important.
“Building our agencies to include capable and trained agents is critical to the longevity of the travel industry,” she said. “Because there is no government regulation, too many companies market [the idea] that anyone can become a travel agent. But without proper training, this simply is not true, and these untrained agents make those of us who do this as our career look bad, as well.”
Classic Travel Connection's Perry is also passionate about education, and last year, she introduced a new professional retreat in Alabama that includes a trade show for agencies and suppliers.
“It’s so important that we elevate the professionalism in the industry,” she said. “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can just learn from someone else’s successes and failures. I approach the coaching that way.”
