We learned how their experiences have helped them tackle tricky bookings, choose the sectors in which they want to develop next year and support their growth ambitions, with some even revealing how they’ve brought their family into the world of travel!

Caroline Dillon

‘I’m sure half the world thought I was bonkers’

For Caroline Dillon, joining InteleTravel in June 2020 was her opportunity to get into travel. Her business, Another Trip Away, started with one-night stays and spa breaks but lockdown in December 2020 meant she had to persevere with a strong social media presence. “I’m sure half the world thought ‘she is bonkers’ – but the other half maybe thought, ‘she’s got a good business there’”, she laughs.

Dillon learnt the ropes by dedicating evenings to training during the pandemic. Five years later, Another Trip Away is set to hit £800,000 turnover, with £1 million targeted for 2026. Anything is possible for her solid customer base, but “multi-centre itineraries are a favourite,” she says. One now-regular customer booked a multi-gen fly-and-stay cruise in Miami after “quote after quote” for holidays that had gone nowhere. “But then she came to me for the big one after the time I’d spent with her,” Dillon says.

Dillon’s background – running apprenticeships for young people in retail and warehousing, which she still does part time – meant becoming an InteleTravel ambassador was a natural fit. Her role includes assisting with Dreamaker training and hosting webinars for suppliers. Meanwhile, her son Haydn has dipped his toes in and joined InteleTravel part-time alongside his university studies. “The sign-up was my 18th birthday present to him,” Dillion says proudly.

‘We’re a community wanting to help each other grow their businesses’

Speaking to TTG soon after delivering a session at InteleTravel Quest 2025 about corporate travel, AA Events & Travel founder and InteleTravel ambassador Angela Hayward’s 38-year career in hospitality was a strong starting ground for her entry into travel over five years ago – to the point where her knowledge of back offices allowed her to build her own booking system.

Now a specialist in honeymoons and corporate travel, Hayward is leaping into weddings abroad under the sub-brand Forever After Destinations by AA Events & Travel. £1 million in revenue is her next target, having almost surpassed £700,000 to date, and she is a rock to her immediate InteleTravel community “of like-minded women who want to help each other grow their businesses individually”.

Hayward’s business takes up 90% of her time, she says, while she keeps her hand in hospitality with a consulting role at a small hotel. With many complicated bookings under her belt – including a honeymoon spanning over a month that took in Sydney, a motorhome vacation in Cairns and Singapore – she is clear that she has worked hard to succeed. “I booked someone’s honeymoon, her mum then booked her hen party with me, and then she booked her family holiday with me to Orlando,” she says by way of demonstration, adding that securing this level of repeat business “doesn’t happen overnight”.

'Being thrown into cruise was my choice'

Charlotte Ireland wanted to work in travel since leaving school, but found entry difficult with a lack of opportunities for new starters at the time. But on turning 30, she was looking to change careers from her work within the NHS. A friend was a travel agent, and after being inspired by her posts, she took the leap in summer 2023. And leap she did – being “thrown into the world of cruise”.

“It was my choice,” she insists, adding that in-depth online training developed her passion, and her business CS Travels now mainly operates within the sector. Reeling off a list of ship visits to demonstrate her passion, Ireland was present on the NCL Aqua inaugural voyage in Europe to Belgium.

Ireland and husband Simon, also a travel agent, run CS Travels, and she still works for the NHS. Cruise remains a focus for the business but “we can book anything”, she says, pointing to her third-ever booking of a Maldives honeymoon and an upcoming safari as just two examples. She has also faced stern competition, adding that for the Maldives she was pitted against another agent, originally without her knowledge, but owing to the support of supplier partner Major Travel, she was able to secure the booking. Inspiration from InteleTravel Quest 2025 means she is eyeing corporate travel “as a new little entry point”.

Annice Long

‘The sort of human connection you can’t get from just booking online’

On a surprise weekend break in October 2023 after welcoming their third child, Annice Long was inspired by a travel agent friend. “She told me about what it was like and I thought let’s give it a go.” Long was not unfamiliar with travel, working for BA at the start of her career for six years, but her next move needed to fit around her growing family and her luxury home fragrance product business, which she runs with her mother.

Luxury is a specialism of Long’s business, Triple A Travels, but she wants to develop further into wellness travel and retreats. Her husband is a fitness coach, “so we could possibly collaborate”, she muses.

Long is quick to highlight the human behind her business. She is emotional recalling a client whose wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer after the family thought she had the all-clear. “He wanted to do something for the family to enjoy and be together, but we had to consider that her immunity was low.” Long spoke to her supplier to ensure the family could access the airport lounge, arranged private transfers and even private dining in-resort. “We really went in hard to make sure she felt comfortable, but that the whole family could have the best time. That’s the sort of human connection you can’t get from just booking online.”

‘I went for it and now I want to do this full time’

Nicky Taylor had not long completed her training as a travel advisor after joining InteleTravel in late 2019, when the pandemic threatened to stall her plans. But working from home during the pandemic meant she could continue developing her business, Simply Bliss Travel, alongside a full-time role in accounting, to the point where the situation has now reversed and accounts are a thing of the past. “I found InteleTravel and just went for it, and now I want to do it full time,” she enthuses.

Among many memorable bookings in her six years in the industry, a stand-out 40-day cruise booking was for a client travelling solo for the first time. “Her husband had passed away, and she was really nervous,” Taylor recalls, but reveals the happy ending of her client meeting her future partner on the cruise. The couple have since booked another cruise with Taylor, this time to Peru.

With a commitment to a full-time career in travel, Taylor is quick to develop, dipping her toe into weddings and honeymoons, having focused her energy on luxury, high-end travel. Simply Bliss Travel is pitching up at a local wedding fair just days from now, and Taylor also has her eyes on a move into corporate travel in the future.

‘InteleTravel is good at spotting the gaps in the market’

After being furloughed in July 2020, Gemma Wright turned her passion for travel into a living. “InteleTravel gives normal people a good opportunity – for a lot of companies, you need experience,” she says. “During the pandemic there was the time to learn. We were on Zoom calls every night doing quizzes, training and webinars to keep us going”.

Her support network of fellow InteleTravel agents is invaluable. She considers the agency’s AI capabilities “a gamechanger” but “it’s a big travel community within InteleTravel. We say we’re independent but we’re not on our own”. An example is a booking made with support from colleague and cruise specialist Charlotte Ireland, to secure a last-minute place for a client on a P&O Cruises sailing after the original booking was cancelled days before she was due to depart. “We had to act fast to get her on that ship, there was only one cabin left,” Wight says.

Wright also works in exhibitions and events and sees the potential for event-based travel – InteleTravel’s acquisition of ticketing platform Tickitoo has particularly excited her. “It’s a gap in the market; InteleTravel is really good at spotting those gaps.” Wright’s business, Gemma Wright Travel, sponsors a local girls’ football team, and while Wright acknowledges the potential for attracting bookings, she is passionately “supporting the girls in their footballing dreams”.