Travel Counsellors: Taking things to a different level

And while both leisure and corporate travel will be a focus, Byrne reveals the business is on the hunt for someone to head up the latter and take it to the next level.

“We have a clear corporate strategy focused on small to medium-sized customers – those that want independently tailor-made travel but also want some managed service travel with account management to back it up,” he says.

“We see that as a big opportunity and are now looking to bring in a dedicated person to lead that in the UK and globally.”

Across the board, Travel Counsellors’ strategy includes further investment in the content provided to its 1,700 Travel Counsellors, in terms of directly contracted hotels, airlines and DMC partners bookable via the in-house platform, Phenix.

“We are focused on recruitment, referrals and rebookings and Phenix (RRP) in both leisure and corporate travel in the existing countries we are in, and then we will look to achieve new markets in the next couple of years,” says Byrne. “But the priority is to consolidate in the countries that we’re already in.”

That’s not to say the business is looking to cut down on the number of tour operators it works with though.

“What tends to happen is that quality shines through,” Byrne insists. “Those suppliers that provide a customised, personalised travel experience for the Travel Counsellor and the customer will benefit from business, and those that don’t, won’t.

“We want to empower the Travel Counsellor to make the decisions about which supplier is right for their customer. And that empowerment is fundamental to our model.”