A leading luxury tour operator says its investment in ‘concierge-led fam trips’ has been instrumental to better supporting its agent partners.

Carrier has now completed three of these tours, which have involved members of its dedicated concierge desk visiting various destinations over the past year. 

The purpose of these trips is twofold: to strengthen the team’s credibility and knowledge, which in turn will enable them to provide bespoke support to advisors and agents.

“It’s all about finding those operational nuances that aren’t available online,” Lorraine Norcross, concierge manager at Carrier, told TTG Luxury.

These “nuances” could be anything from finding the best view at a restaurant and the quietest floor of a hotel to sourcing the fanciest catamaran on the marina.

Norcross cites a recent concierge fam trip to Barbados, which had her trialling a “Carrier-style itinerary” at Sandy Lane. The luxury travel specialist says the visit allowed her to understand key logistical details about the Platinum Coast, such as the distance between The Cliff Barbados and QB Bistro: “I never realised how close they were.”

Norcross also had a positive ride on a specific catamaran, which gave her the confidence to recommend it to a client.

“This is so important in Barbados, because there are so many catamaran suppliers,” she explained. “So you need to know the ones that are small and intimate – on some of them, you’ll be sharing with 20 other people, while some are entirely private.” She also said this vetting process is crucial for clients with children, who will likely require more shaded areas and a higher level of crew attentiveness.

Nikita Ritchie, another member of the Carrier concierge team, agreed that these fam trips are essential for grasping a destination’s technical details.

“This was really noticeable when I visited Disneyland Florida,” she said. “I’d never been before and it’s a minefield. But using the app myself in real-time was invaluable. Previously, I would guide clients through it without having used it. Now I understand how to book restaurants, experiences and quick-service dining through the app, and I can confidently explain it to clients.” 

For Joanne Tullet, the fam trip concierge programme has been hugely beneficial for selling Dubai – one of the team’s most in-demand destinations. Having never visited the Emirate city before, Tullet took full advantage to gain as much information as possible for her clients. 

“We get a lot of requests for restaurants that have views of the Dubai Fountain and the Burj Khalifa, so one evening, I headed down there to visit all the restaurants and take photos of all the views,” said Tullet. “This is an insight that you can’t find online or by reading reviews.”

Tullet also said the fam trip helped her understand the difference between Dubai’s desert landscapes: the Red Desert, which is uninhabited and famous for its steep dunes, and the Golden Desert, a rolling savannah home to the nomadic Bedouin tribe. Tullet sampled the more intimate latter, which included a falconry safari and a traditional dinner cooked in an underground sandpit.

“It helped me match the right experience to the right client,” she explained. “Since returning, we’ve confidently booked that second desert experience multiple times.”

Ritchie also said that her Florida trip taught her what was possible from her supplier partners. For example, she discovered that Four Seasons Orlando has an in-house team who can assist with booking Disney VIP guides, which are released 60 days in advance and are infamously competitive to secure. 

“This was something we’d always just managed ourselves,” she said. “But now we know we have that local support on the ground.”

Ritchie gained another insider hack after approaching a VIP guide who was waiting for his assigned family at the end of a park ride.

“We only chatted for a few minutes, but it was so invaluable because I learned that clients have the option to meet their guide at the park or the guide can pick them up from the hotel,” she said.

“And from the conversation, I gathered that the guides prefer to meet their clients at the hotel. That 10 to 15 minutes in the morning is really invaluable because the guide gets to create a bond with the family. This is something I’d have never known, and I’ll 100% now recommend clients have the guide pick them up.”