Travel Counsellors and Future Travel ran ads in Travel Weekly (July 21) using two female staff to instill the virtues of homeworking and their respective organisations.
Both firms concede their campaigns are strikingly similar, but deny copying the other.
Future Travel is in the second part of a three-stage advertising campaign which uses 12 of its homeworkers to illustrate the benefits of the company.
Future Travel brand development manager Amanda Taylor said the campaign has led to a 150% increase in enquiries from prospective homeworkers.
She added: “Travel Counsellors has also used its homeworkers in its ads. We have not done it because they have, but they may have seen our ads.”
However, Travel Counsellors managing director Steve Byrne said the agency has always used its staff in its advertising.
Byrne added that the recent ads have been very successful, with 17 homeworkers joining in June, while a further 20 have signed up so far this month, increasing the total to 641.
“We have to try to show what it’s like to be a Travel Counsellor,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hays Travel has been running a similar campaign based around homeworker Bridget John and her diary. General manager Tracy Luke said the ads had helped the agency grow its network from 131 to 208 in a year.
Holiday Experts managing director Mike Russell described campaigns using staff as “jaded”.
The company, which is halfway to its target of 100 homeworkers, used an ad design firm from outside the travel industry to create “a fresher feel”.