Four graduates of the Designer Travel Academy have together achieved over £1 million in sales in their first year, despite having never worked in the industry before.
Dee Bolton, James Johnson and Helen Hollinshead all completed the luxury agency’s 12-month-long course in April, followed by Carolyn Ellis in May.
Their impressive results follow those of the 2023 graduates, who made an average sales each of £294,000 during their training.
All four of the 2024 graduates had joined Designer Travel from a wide range of different occupations, including health and beauty, PR, accountancy and teaching. Despite being equally enthusiastic about travel, none had prior experience as advisors.
Two standout bookings from the cohort include a £42,000 back-to-back Caribbean Cruise followed by an Alaska Cruise by Bolton, as well as a £38,000 luxury family holiday to Florida by Ellis.
Designer Travel said these impressive results showed the advisors’ solid margins and a careful approach to discounting, suggesting strong commercial acumen alongside customer service skills.
“Choosing Designer Travel was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Hollinshead said. “The academy has supported me every step of the way and I have never felt alone. The guidance and knowledge have given me the confidence to launch my travel business, whilst being part of an inspiring and supportive team.”
Hollinshead’s enthusiasm was echoed by Ellis, who said: “The training & support has been first class; my only honest regret was that I didn’t join sooner.”
Now in its fourth year, the Designer Travel Academy is extremely competitive, accepting between 12 and 15 candidates out of the hundreds who apply annually.
Throughout the training, each graduate has the one-to-one mentorship of academy manager Abi Hyslop, who boasts more than 24 years of experience in travel sales. They also attend ongoing skills development days, events and sessions.
“Any experienced travel agent will know that building a business is a challenge in itself but to combine growing a business with generating superb sales results is truly commendable,” said Hyslop.
“Our academy is focused on providing a comprehensive training program including experiencing an overseas fam trip, a twelve-month training program and one to one mentoring and support. Our aim is to provide each academy member with the complete package.
Whilst we have a standard twelve-month academy program incorporating all aspects of the retail travel industry, we also tailor the program to each candidate to ensure they have the very best chance of achieving their own objectives. From product knowledge to building a business it’s my job to ensure the academy members become confident and competent travel professionals. I am so proud of Dee, Carolyn, James and Helen they have risen to every challenge and are now well placed to join our network of PTE’s around the UK.”
