At Signature Travel Network’s 2025 Annual Conference earlier this month, company president Alex Sharpe delivered a lot of great news about network growth and sales increases.
But he also encouraged travel advisor members to start thinking more strategically about that growth, which he acknowledges may not come as easily moving forward as it has in the past few years, while the industry continued to benefit from pent-up pandemic demand.
“I think most people would have said during COVID-19 that I was more positive than most — I tried to be,” Sharpe said. “But I don’t want to be Pollyanna. Everyone was successful coming out of COVID-19. But that [amount of business] is not just going to keep coming in. So, this is a call to folks to refocus."
We sat down with Sharpe to discuss what advisors should be focusing on now, the importance of establishing themselves as true professionals and more.
How has business been for Signature this year?
The year's been great. I think it has in many ways been pretty typical of pre-COVID-19. And when I say it's been more normal, [I mean] more modest growth versus 2022 and 2023, and even 2024, when it was just crazy growth. Between 2019 and 2024, we more than doubled the business [in volume].
So, this year has felt a little more typical. But we've got some great investments in technology, and Karryn [Christopher's] promotion has certainly been a highlight for me and for everyone. She's such a rock star. I wanted her to be in a role where she had a bigger voice in all of it — the decisions we’re making, the investment we’re making now. We have so much opportunity and so many decisions to make that are going to impact our company for the next five to 10 years.
What are some of those specific opportunities that Signature is looking to seize?
One is the validation or separation between advisors and what I'll call “agents.” I think it's great that there's all these new people coming into the business. But I look at some of the advertising for it and I'm like, “No, those aren't travel advisors.” And I don't want our members to be painted with that brush. So, we have to continue to be great stewards and only let in agencies that fit the mold and share a common culture [of professionalism]. We can do a lot in terms of training and technology, all these things that help distinguish [our members], but then they've got to take it the extra step.
And right now, I think the best option for that — beyond their own training and product knowledge — is ASTA [the American Society of Travel Advisors] membership and its Verified Travel Advisor program. Without having true certification or licensing through the government, how do advisors say, “I take this more seriously than your neighbor who started last week?”
As I think about the future, that's critical. Because the hardest thing is that first impression. If their hobbyist neighbor books them on their holiday and it’s not great, are they going to use a travel advisor again? So, we really have to put a stake in the ground and make sure there is a clear difference.
Without having true certification or licensing through the government, how do advisors say, ‘I take this more seriously than your neighbor who started last week?’
How else does Signature think advisors can distinguish themselves as true professionals?
It could be delivered from a technology perspective; if you're a hobbyist, you probably don't have an itinerary planning app, or other tools to be efficient, effective and enhance the customer journey.
It’s really about how you enhance the whole experience for the customer. And we keep thinking about what else we can do. Simple things, like leaning into luggage shipping. It's silly in the grand scheme of things. But if you're going on a European cruise and you're unsure about your flight connections, to know that your luggage is going to be there waiting for you and your advisor is the one who facilitated it, that creates an earning opportunity for the advisor. And, more importantly, it creates a value opportunity to look great in front of your customer.
The network is also putting more emphasis on the Travel Elevates nonprofit — how does that help with this goal?
The nonprofit is the part that makes me feel good. Let's raise money and build schools and do all this great work. I love that. But the key piece that I affectionately tell our partners is, “You do a lot of great things in your communities or for other communities, but you suck at telling people about it.” And that might be humility. That might be not wanting to commercialize it. So, let us tell that story, because it validates why you work with a company like us.
But the other thing is making it easy for advisors to incorporate some sort of impact activity into clients’ itineraries. It's not every itinerary. But what are those opportunities and how do we serve them up so that the advisor can present them to the customer or just include it as a surprise and delight? If someone goes to Africa and their friends say, “Tell me all about the animals.” And they’re like, “They were great, but let me tell you about Suzie, the little girl I met in a village where we brought soccer balls, blew them up and played with [the kids].”
We want to make it easy for advisors to deliver those types of experiences that we know will blow people away, get them talking and get them referring [business to their advisors]. Even with people who know those experiences are important to me, I have to ask for them way too often. And I’m hoping that over the next few years, [making that suggestion] will become commonplace, at least for Signature advisors. I think it’s a way to really differentiate.
What other advice do you have for advisors right now?
Look, there was huge pent-up demand post-COVID-19. The booking curves were crazy, weird and nutty. And what happens when things are going that well is you start to lose some of your edge. You think, “I don’t have to market as hard; it’s on cruise control.”
But eventually that pipeline starts to even out. And that's what's happening. I have to remind myself of that because I love big numbers. I want to grow, I want to get up there and just brag and brag. And our [more modest] 10% growth goal for this year is still hundreds of millions of dollars — it’s significant.
But it’s also a call to come back to the basics, to think about everything from recruiting advisors to recruiting new customers and keeping in touch with existing clients to ask for additional sales. It’s not just going to come in forever. So, it’s a reminder to members to refocus on their business.
