A top agent has revealed the secrets to fam trip success after pulling off his first self-organised group tour earlier this year.
Ben Casey, founder of Out of this World Travel, took his team of eight to Dubai last month for six days of site inspections across the emirate’s most sought-after hotels.
The trip featured much of what you’d expect from a typical luxury fam: visits to five-star resorts, local excursions and, of course, lots of hosted meals.
What made this tour different, however, was Casey’s hands-on approach to planning it.
Rather than partner with a tour operator, the Travel Industry Awards winner decided to handle all the details himself – from selecting the properties to designing the itinerary.
“If you’re going on a fam arranged by a tour operator, you’ve got no control whatsoever,” Casey, who runs his business as part of Not Just Travel, told TTG. “Self-organising meant I could tailor make the itinerary. It was also an opportunity for our team, who are all remote, to bond outside of work meetings or training days.”
Having already created his own ‘mini fam trip’ in Mexico, Casey had the all skills needed to pull off a successful group tour. He has now shared his top five tips for other agents looking to do the same – without having a meltdown, that is.
Pick the right destination
With so much product on the market, it can be hard to settle on one destination for your first fam trip.
To simplify the process, Casey suggests selecting a place that is not only currently popular with clients – but also has clear potential for sales growth.
For him, the choice of Dubai was a no-brainer. Out of this World Travel has enjoyed a 30% jump year-on-year for bookings to the Middle Eastern city, with its team increasingly including it as a stopover hub for the likes of the Maldives and Mauritius.
More clients are also opting to holiday in Dubai over southern Europe, favouring the former for its reliably sunny weather and wider choice of luxury hotels.
“It really is a destination where we can easily convert people from going to Greece or Turkey,” Casey explained. “The weather is often a bit better and it’s only a couple extra hours on the flight.”
He also said that a Dubai trip presents a key opportunity to provide an elevated travel experience, by introducing clients to premium airlines like Emirates and Virgin Atlantic.
Visit what you sell
It may be tempting to visit a destination’s most luxurious hotels, but this isn’t always the right business approach. Casey stresses the importance of touring properties that are relevant to your target clientele: “There’s no point visiting super luxury places if you don’t or can’t sell them.”
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include top-tier hotels in your itinerary, however. Casey arranged site visits of both “keenly priced” and “aspirational” hotels, hoping that the latter might help agents upsell some clients from premium to luxury or even ultra-luxury.
Contact suppliers directly
Once you’ve decided which hotels you wish to visit, reach out personally to their sales team via email or LinkedIn. While this process can be time-consuming, it’s also a key opportunity to make yourself known to potential partners.
“It might take a couple jumps to get to the right person, but it really helps to build those contacts,” Casey explained. This correspondence also sharpens the relationship between the agent and the supplier, establishing a rapport before the trip has even begun.
“It’s one of the big benefits of doing it yourself,” he added. “Your clients are even more likely to get that VIP treatment if the supplier knows you personally.”
It’s also important to make a strong business proposal in that initial message to the supplier. Casey offered each property several reasons behind his site visit request, including evidence of past bookings and the potential for future sales. Sharing links to the individual agents’ websites proved equally effective, as it helped to verify their professionalism and showcase their clientele.
Plan the itinerary wisely
With the itinerary being the backbone of any fam trip, Casey says careful planning is essential.
Drawing on his previous experience of Dubai, Casey created a bespoke schedule that included visits to 12 luxury hotels alongside a selection of key destination experiences. The aim was to balance structured site inspections with time for agents to experience the destination as their clients would.
A core objective was to improve agents’ grasp on Dubai’s geography: “People don’t always understand the layout of Dubai – I didn’t the first time I visited. It’s just as much about understanding how to get around the city as it is about seeing the hotels.”
The itinerary was designed to highlight the key differences between areas including Downtown Dubai, The Palm, Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) and Dubai Marina, enabling the agents to select the right destination for the ir client.
Casey also recommends keeping travel time between site visits to a minimum and ensuring agents are given adequate downtime: “I’ve been on fam trips that are so full-on you’re out from 8am until 6pm with barely any time to reset. But we have a duty of care to people.”
Set expectations
While fam trip etiquette is widely understood, Casey believes expectations should still be made clear in advance.
He introduced a dress code for site inspections, including a ban on flip-flops, to ensure agents presented themselves professionally. Agents were also asked to wear branded lanyards with name badges, making introductions easier and reinforcing credibility with suppliers.
“It’s about being respectful of the hotels hosting you and representing your business properly,” Casey said.
Agents were also briefed on social media expectations, with an emphasis on professional posting and tagging suppliers appropriately.
As for the pay-off, Casey said organising the trip has already delivered results.
“We now have much stronger relationships with key hotel contacts, benefiting both our team and clients. We plan to expand our team of self-employed homeworkers into 2026 - both those new to travel and those with industry experience - yet retain the ‘family’ feel in the team. We’re already brainstorming ideas and looking to work with suppliers on where I can take the team for our next.”
