New partnerships with destinations management companies in North America, Greece and Cuba have been confirmed by Travel Counsellors following an almost doubling of revenue from the sector.
More than 1,200 bespoke bookings have been made so far this year with DMCs compared to 400 throughout 2016.
Demand for bespoke, tailor-made travel through its in-house booking system, which now accounts for nearly 40% of sales made by Travel Counsellors, has seen increased use of DMCs.
UK managing director, Kirsten Hughes, said: “Our Travel Counsellors have direct relationships with our DMCs on the ground around the world and know that their customers will always be looked after in a really personal way, and will be on hand should anything happen whilst the customer is away.
“The Travel Counsellor is booking what is right for the customer, is in control of that booking by working directly with experts on the ground and is also in control of the margin they make.”
The company ran its first ‘DMC takeover day’ at its UK headquarters in Manchester, attended by 65 Travel Counsellors and six of its largest DMC partners.
Nottingham-based Travel Counsellor Grant Stirling, who attended, said: “I use DMC’s for about 30% of my business – they enable me to give completely bespoke itineraries for my clients whilst being in complete control of the entire process, safe in the knowledge that my clients will have a wonderful experience from people on the ground who know that country inside out.”