The collective was first set up Nadine Brady in February 2023 and has now grown to more than 80 members across the world, with around 25% now coming from outside the UK.

Brady, who also runs travl.love and Limelight Escapes, told TTG Luxury Travel Sisterhood had “developed quite organically” in the past couple of years.

“From the seed of an idea and a WhatsApp account it’s now grown arms and legs,” she said. “It’s been really fulfilling – the reason I wanted to start it was that I didn’t feel I had the support when I came into the industry.

“Whenever I travel I meet other female luxury agents. Women like emotional support and that’s what we’re providing.”

The group emphasises the importance of “collaboration over competition”, as well as the ability to receive guidance from experienced female business owners, alongside finding the right work-life balance.

Currently most communications between members goes through Travel Sisterhood’s Slack and WhatsApp accounts, as well as holding quarterly lunches at UK hotels where some of the “sisters” get together in person.

“It’s important to have a conversation with give and take. Our members can offer advice on what to do if a tour operator lets you down or a hotel has not paid commission,” explained Brady.

“We will talk about these things and try to solve problems. We’re trying to do that in a positive way and be constructive.

“We have a rants and raves channel – a safe space to have a rant but then we will discuss how the situation was turned around. They can also rave about the excellent service received by their client.”

Brady stressed that expanding Travel Sisterhood would be focused on “maintaining the quality” of membership, which is currently estimated to have a collective buying power of more than £100 million per year.

She is aided in the management of the group through an “inner circle” of members, including Rebecca Green of Wanderlux, Mary Steadman from Lura Lifestyle, Designer Travel’s Natalie Stacey, Jess Pugh of Blue Moon Escapes and Megan McCaffrey from Bella Vita Travels in Italy.

Next steps

Another development for the network is introducing a membership fee to cover “operational costs and event logistics”, such as the subscription for its Slack channel. This will be levied at £20 per month for UK-based agents and £10 per month for international members as they have less access to the group’s events in the UK.

“We want to maintain a quality group of women who are giving and taking,” added Brady. “The membership fee is a vehicle for making a commitment to this.

“It gives you amazing access to people who are willing to share information, knowledge and experience. If a client asks for a destination, you can search on Slack for all mentions of that destination or you can ask who the best suppliers are.”

Other initiatives include encouraging international members to create their own regional Travel Sisterhood chapters with local events, as well as plans to start producing regular newsletters and a website. The group will also hold a fam trip to Formentera in the Balearic Islands in May.

Brady added that they were “exploring” the idea of offering mentorship programmes to connect new female luxury travel agents with experienced members for one-to-one guidance.

“We will let it build and develop organically – we’ll see where it goes. There are lots of opportunities,” she said. “What we’re trying to do with our events or any sort of gathering is to provide more personal and business development.

“We’ve already had manifestation and personal branding experts who have attended our events. We’ll also look to encourage people with an inspirational story.”

The Travel Sisterhood’s current members are based across the UK, Europe, North America, India, United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

Brady also praised Sarah Ives from Cartology Travel for “all the amazing women she has brought into the group”.

“I’m grateful to the inner circle for working alongside me in the past year who have gone out as ambassadors and spoken to people in their networks, which has given benefits to the whole group,” added Brady.

“The Travel Sisterhood is more than just a network – it’s a collective built on women showing up for one another. It’s about giving as much as we take, sharing knowledge, support and connections to create something bigger than ourselves.”