New-to-travel or seasoned pro? How two business owners built momentum with Travel Counsellors

Experienced in travel: “It was a very natural step…and I’m loving every minute of it!”

Karen Munro joined Travel Counsellors in June 2025, bringing more than 30 years’ experience in the travel industry. She worked as a resort rep and cabin crew member before joining Kuoni, rising to assistant store manager and then private client manager.

“In terms of the day-to-day work with clients and the holidays I book, the transition to becoming a Travel Counsellor was quite natural. I was used to looking after a good portfolio of repeat clients, and I was already very retention-focused, used to managing margins and thinking commercially. But the biggest leap has been the mindset shift from employee to business owner. I have responsibility not just for the quality and depth of each itinerary, but for how I grow my client base, how I market myself, and how I shape my working week.

When I was looking at options, Travel Counsellors stood out because I knew I wanted to stay in a premium, service-led environment where relationships really matter, and clients aren’t just bookings on a screen. Travel Counsellors is very, very much client-orientated.

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Some people do have pre-conceived ideas about franchising, and picture it as a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach. But having taken the leap, I can say it’s the complete opposite of that. Don't assume franchising means giving up control, or being on your own. You have a lot of freedom to shape the type of business you want, the clients you focus on, and the style of holidays.

And then at the same time there's that real depth of support that you don't see from the outside – the technology, the systems, the marketing and the training. Travel Counsellors’ operations and support teams are phenomenal. They treat everybody equally, whether you're brand-new-to-travel or experienced. There’s a very strong support structure behind the scenes.

And the community of other Travel Counsellors are brilliant – everybody helps each other. This support and structure has meant I’ve never felt I’m doing this alone. If I have any questions, I just pick up the phone, and ask somebody. I think it's a brilliant balance between the freedom that I have in the day-to-day running of my business and the support in the background.

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For others in the industry considering a similar move, be really honest with yourself, and think about your “why”. If you want more control of your time, your client relationships, the type of holidays you create, then growing your business can be incredibly rewarding.

Do your homework, speak to as many existing Travel Counsellors as you can, and understand the financials. You need to be clear about what you need to earn and how long it might take you to get there. You don't have to have everything figured out from day one, but if you bring some strong industry experience, a genuine care for your clients, and you’re willing to be proactive, becoming a Travel Counsellor is a very natural step.

I specialise in complex tailor-made and multi-centre holidays, including the Indian Ocean, and my average booking value is currently sitting around £16,000. When I joined, I set myself a sales target for my first 12 months, and I was very proud to achieve that within the first nine months. That gave me a lot of confidence that the move had been the right one. It’s been more than a year now, and I’m absolutely loving every minute of it.”

New to travel: “After a year I made a £47,000 booking”

Ben Grimes was new to travel when he joined Travel Counsellors in March 2025 via the group’s Travel Academy training course. He’d spent 28 years working in creative agencies, including as a studio manager.

“It was redundancy that led me to change careers, and aged 49, it was something of a daunting prospect. Travel very quickly crept into the conversation as a potential ‘plan B’, as I knew people who were Travel Counsellors. I’d seen them be successful, and I was curious. I had some really good conversations with them, and they were very honest about the positives and the challenges.

If anyone is interested in joining, then attend a Discovery Day, because you get so much insight into what Travel Counsellors is about. It took me a few months to make a decision, but I made it after attending a Discovery Day. You can see how the company works, and the power that’s going to be behind you ultimately. There were talks from people in the head office, management, marketing, support and leadership teams. It was a real eye-opener, and I knew this was it – I wanted to do this.

The recruitment team were amazing, and the whole process was as smooth and as unpressured as it could possibly be.

Travel Counsellors

When I joined I had two weeks of virtual onboarding training. This was as part of a group, and then my business went live. That stage was quite intense, but then I had a further six months of onboarding training, covering everything from the systems and technology to destinations and suppliers. I did a range of modules and webinars – which are all still open to me now – and I started going to events too. Without a doubt, all this helped me build relationships with suppliers and it really built my confidence and helped towards my growth. 

The Travel Counsellor I already knew, Michelle Goulding, became my mentor. You can go to your mentor for any help, queries on using the system, or any particularly complex inquiries. We had weekly catch-ups, and I could just WhatsApp her with any urgent questions.

The community at Travel Counsellors has been amazing. There are a couple of ladies who live near me, but there’s no fighting over sales, as there’s enough business for everyone, and one of them has become like a second mentor to me, and a good friend. We have our online portal, TC World, and a Facebook group. And if you don’t know a destination, or want a suggestion for a hotel, you can post a question and there'll be countless answers. It’s really brilliant, and everyone wants you to get the sale.

The support teams are also amazing. When one of my clients had a bereavement before travelling, the support team advised me on the next steps, and helped me work through how to support them, meaning I could fully focus on my clients. The family were really grateful knowing that I was on their side, with my team supporting me.

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Travel Counsellors also really invests in its systems, and Phenix, the main booking system, is really good and it’s always being improved. We also have TC Co-Pilot, an AI tool, which I find really beneficial.

At the moment I still book a whole variety, as people are still discovering me. My biggest booking was in May, for a £47,000 adventure of a lifetime to Patagonia with Journey Latin America. But my most-booked destination is Thailand.

I think having the right mindset is super-important, as last year, the rollercoaster was truly real. I’ve had some wobbles, but the community are very supportive. Going to the Annual Conference is a great motivator, as you get to meet a lot of people in person, and I always encourage new Travel Counsellors to go along. At the start of this year, I started to see an uptick, as people were starting to trust me, refer and make repeat bookings.

For anyone else who doesn’t come from travel, I would say if you've got the passion, the mindset and the drive, then go for it. It’s a scary concept when you’ve not done anything like this before, but you can really make it work.  For me now, my business has got momentum, and my continued growth is the really exciting element.”