Luxury travel specialists say charging for advice can protect profitability, improve client commitment and recognise the value of expertise, but believe confidence remains a hurdle stopping more advisors doing this in the UK market.

Travel advisors at Black Book, TTG Media’s new luxury tradeshow, heard they should be more confident about charging for their expertise, with a panel of luxury travel specialists who already charge professional fees stressing how they can help protect time, profitability and client relationships.

Justin Huxter, co-founder of Cartology Travel, said clients often underestimate the work behind a bespoke itinerary, from researching logistics and local conditions to creating a seamless journey. He argued that fees recognise this expertise and help advisors focus on serious enquiries rather than spending hours on proposals that never convert.

Duncan Greenfield-Turk, founder of Global Travel Moments, shared how he gradually wove fees into his business model and now ensures a fee accompanies any client’s trip.

He warned that unpaid planning can leave advisors out of pocket when clients take an itinerary elsewhere to book independently. Charging a commitment or planning fee, he said, means the advisor is paid for their work even if the trip does not proceed.

“Think about the time these things take you. There is nothing worse than having a client that you have done 20, 30, 40 hours’ worth of work for on an itinerary and they walk away and book it themselves because you’ve not charged them anything,” he said.

Mary Steadman, co-founder of Lure Lifestyle, has charged a membership fee to access hers and her colleague’s expertise from the outset of her business.

Steadman said the industry should celebrate its knowledge and connections rather than rely solely on supplier commissions.

“People talk about commissions, you know, saying ‘well, you get paid with commissions.’ But that’s just the transaction. Where is the acknowledgement for the expertise?” she said.

Lura Lifestyle structures membership around clients’ needs and the level of service required, including out-of-hours support. “Often clients start at one level and move up when they start to realise what’s available to them; they never move down.”

But the panel all agreed there is a cultural difference here in the UK around the acceptance of paying a fee for something seen to be ‘free’, alongside a fear among agents that they will lost a customer if they say there is a fee.

“Introducing fees can feel daunting in the UK particularly, where some customers expect advice to be free,” Huxter said. “But you could start with a fee that is deducted from the final trip cost.”

Greenfield-Turk agreed there is a bit of a “culture difference” in the UK when it comes to paying fees, so advocated clear contracts setting out exactly what clients receive.

Panellists agreed the message was clear: it’s not that every client must pay the same fee or every time, rather that advisors should understand the value of their time, communicate it confidently and build a model that better reflects the service they provide as professionals.

“This is to protect your business and your conversion rates – yes someone may make a big booking, but that commission is not coming for months, sometimes years, and anything could happen in between, so the fee protects the work you do,” said Huxter.