Travel Counsellors is looking to help athletes launch a new career after their retirement from sport.
The homeworking agency has partnered with Life After Professional Sport (LAPS), a careers resource platform for sportspeople, to offer training on how to set up a franchise.
The Travel Counsellors academy offers people a way into the industry through a six-month “training and onboarding programme”.
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Former professional footballer Ben Pierce, now a travel counsellor, said: “I have a passion for travel and spent most of my off seasons travelling. Owning my own business was a life goal and Travel Counsellors has allowed me to tie up those two passions.”
Travel Counsellors’ recruitment team recently attended three events organised by LAPS and spoke to athletes from a range of sports.
The ‘Ahead of the Games’ events, held at football stadiums, were hosted by former badminton world champion Gail Emms.
Speakers included former 400m world champion and Olympic medallist Kelly Massey, ex-MK Dons and Oxford City footballer Finn Tapp and retired track-and-field star Christian Malcolm.
The first event was on March 8 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, with the others at The Valley, in Charlton, London, and Ashton Gate in Bristol.
Ben Pierce, who played in goal for Macclesfield and West Bromwich Albion, attended the events to speak about his time with Travel Counsellors, who he has been with for four months.
He said: “I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of the world and love to help my customers with the knowledge I have of hotels and destinations. It’s a great knowledge base and one that is strengthened by the great technology and community at Travel Counsellors.”
LAPS managing director Robbie Simpson said: “We are pleased to work with the Travel Counsellors team to offer our members a way into launching their own travel careers.
“There is a lot of synergy with our members and the attributes of a travel counsellor – who do not want to be tied to a desk, have an entrepreneurial spirit and are used to working on results.
“Our members are also very familiar with the travel market and what customers are looking for.”
Matt Harding, Travel Counsellors’ head of franchise recruitment and training, said LAPS members are likely to have traits that make successful Travel Counsellors.
He said the travel company values those who work well in a team, as well as people who are resilient and “have an entrepreneurial spirit”.
The LAPS platform has 5,500 members of all ages and from a range of sports and career stages.
Travel Counsellors, launched in 1994, says its academy programme is delivered by an accredited and expert training team, and people are given access to a personal mentor and learning and development tools.