The business, the franchise arm of Not Just Travel, says it welcomed almost double the number of new franchisees during the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2017.

Over the past three months, The Travel Franchise has signed up a further 60 new homeworkers, boosting its ranks to more than 600.

To support its growth, the company - founded by Steve Witt and Paul Harrison - has expanded its head office team by 20% in recent months and taken on additional space at its Bournemouth HQ.

Harrison said more and more people were keen to become their own boss, adding the company’s recent “discovery day” in Scotland had brought prospective franchisees together face-to-face with some of its existing travel consultants.

“Franchising is a growing sector [and] The Travel Franchise is perfectly placed to offer those interested in franchising the opportunity to create their own destiny,” he said.

“We have ambitious plans to grow our franchise network to 1,000 franchisees by 2020, providing opportunities for entrepreneurial individuals to start their own travel consultancy businesses.”

Harrison said the company had enjoyed a strong start to 2018, and was “well-placed” to meet its growth targets through 2020: “We are extremely optimistic for the future,” he added. “We expect our growth to continue apace.”

Witt added with other travel companies experiencing a summer slump brought on by the World Cup, Wimbledon and the balmy weather, Travel Franchise consultants bucked the trend to deliver record bookings.