The Global Travel Group has outlined plans for a more aggressive recruitment drive as it seeks to raise its profile among established travel agents.
The consortium says it is already attracting interest from some “large agencies” as a result of increased brand awareness.
Traditionally, Global has recruited members from non‑travel backgrounds, including sole traders starting their businesses from scratch.
Managing director Andy Stark said Global would continue to focus on recruiting members from non‑travel backgrounds, but would now target existing travel retailers more aggressively to add more “quality agents” to its consortium.
“We are going to be more aggressive because agents need to know we are an option,” he said.
“We are not aggressively poaching from other consortia but we want to be on agents’ lists.
“What is interesting now is the number of existing agents talking to me. We have got large agencies that are talking to us because we have created awareness and that’s down to good PR and sharing information on what we do.”
The group currently has about 400 members, of which about half are Global members and half are Abta-bonded Independent Options agencies. In the past year it has attracted about 20 new businesses, including former Thomas Cook managers who have set up agencies as a result of shop closures.
Three new agencies joined Global in January. Stark would not give a target for the size of the consortium, instead saying it was about creating a “quality membership”. He added: “It’s not about being the biggest [consortium]. We want to be the most effective and focused.”