Homeworking agencies are reporting their best-ever years and biggest-ever recruitment drives. Katie McGonagle reports
Homeworking is the hottest ticket in travel, if the past year is anything to go by, with record -breaking numbers reported by many key players, big and small. Home-based agents are thriving as customers’ booking habits change and as the choice of agency models and commission structures continues to expand.
This start-up culture is paying dividends for established homeworking businesses as well as newcomers. Travel Counsellors’ global sales director Jim Eastwood says: “We continue to see phenomenal growth with record annual bookings of £933 million in the past financial year, up 23% on the previous year – and more than 700 travel counsellors had their best year ever in 2023.
“During peaks, we even did ‘the treble’, with our biggest-ever booking on the best-ever sales day, all in the best-ever week of sales in the company’s 30-year history.”
On the rise
With such stellar sales figures, it’s no surprise new players are entering this sector.
Travelosophers launched in November 2021 and has already grown to 48 agents and expanded its head office team, while Club Voyages was set up in 2022 with a focus on cruise, but has since branched out into luxury tailor-made trips and increased its team by 50% to 16 agents.
Established high-street names such as Althams Travel have expanded into homeworking with Baldwins Travel also set to follow, while up-and-comer One Travel Club – which only began trading in April 2023 – says it is aiming to grow from 100 to 300 homeworking agents by this autumn.
Last year marked the fifth anniversary of US-owned InteleTravel’s launch in the British market. The company now reports a network of more than 19,000 agents across the UK and Ireland.
UK managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes told Travel Weekly that key milestones for the company included gaining Abta membership in 2019 and an Atol licence in 2021, with many suppliers now acting as ‘ambassadors’ to change perceptions.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing this year though, with the collapse of Luxury Holidays and Honeymoons in February, although the “large majority” of its 123 agents have reportedly found roles elsewhere.
Industry innovations
The homeworking sector is ripe for innovation. Travel Counsellors invested more than £10 million into digital platform Phenix in 2023, with a further £15 million planned this year including the acquisition of travel technology platform Planisto, which enables agents to create complex bespoke itineraries.
It was just the second acquisition in the company’s history, after taking over Holidaysplease in March 2023. One year later, around 90% of the former brand’s 100 agents remain within the Travel Counsellors ‘umbrella’, although only around 30 were still trading under the Holidaysplease name.
There are lots of roles that fall under the term ‘homeworking’, including the ‘virtual call centre’ model embodied by Travel Solutions Network since its launch in 2022.
Chief operating officer Lindsey Winterburn says: “We are growing rapidly, working on behalf of several travel businesses including easyJet holidays and Thomas Cook. We work as a seamless extension to their call centre.
We recruit experienced, home-based agents who can choose the hours they work in our virtual call centre on behalf of brand partners, while at the same time we can provide them with the tools to operate and service their own travel business.”
Innovations go beyond just the technological sphere, though, with sales tools such as Designer Travel’s new Fab Bank, announced at its conference in Andalusia in May, offering a way for the company’s agents to share tips with each other on the best restaurants, resorts and activities so they can stand out as true travel experts.
A bright future?
The rise of homeworking seems all but assured – and many in the industry agree.
Travelosophers head of sales Nisha Bean says: “The homeworking sector will continue to grow as many people want a work-life balance. More clients are looking for that personal touch, be it meeting after office hours or just being able to call the same person all the time.”
With some agents hitting six-figure incomes, employing their own staff or renting office space, the sector looks set to evolve further.
“Homeworking will get bigger and stronger than retail,” says Paul Harrison, co-founder of Not Just Travel and The Travel Franchise. “If you combine great deals, incredible service and entrepreneurial drive, it’s hugely powerful.
We intend to help make our agents more competitive, via relationships with key trade partners, so we believe the homeworking sector is one to watch!”
In numbers…
- 24% rise in average profits for Vertical Travel Group homeworkers
- 30% conversion rate on Silver Travel Advisor enquiries, with an average booking value of more than £5,000
- £72m turnover from The Personal Travel Agents, its biggest-ever year for sales
- £10,000 the amount Inspire says its highest earning agents can take home each month
- £4,535 average booking value for GoCruise & Travel’s franchisees
PICTURE: Shutterstock/Prostock Studio
Click here to read the 2024 edition of the Guide to Homeworking.