Should you join a travel agent consortium? Gary Peters speaks to those in the know to determine the benefits.

Advantage Travel Partnership: Paula Lacey, outgoing group membership & commercial director

History of consortium

Advantage Travel Partnership is the UK’s largest independent travel agent partnership. Advantage leisure and business travel agents who are part of the group are each independently owned, but as a collective they produce more than £4.5bn of travel sales each year, making members experts in every aspect of the travel industry.

Number of members and annual cost of membership

[We have] 353 member companies with more than 650 locations through the UK. All members are independent. Each member is an individual business and we tailor support accordingly. [Annual cost] depends on the size of the members business. However, on average our members receive annual benefits equal to 20x their subscription fee investment.

Benefits of being a member

Advantage is owned by its members, ensuring they have control over the destiny of the organisation. We are the top selling consortia for more than 100 suppliers, meaning we can deliver best-in-class commercial deals. We also have a wide range of marketing programmes to help members with customer retention and acquisition, as well as dedicated business development managers to offer support. Product specific schemes such as cruise champions, luxury connoisseurs and a new explorers scheme help members get a strong foothold in the growing adventure and touring markets.

Measures to educate members about cruise

We have a very specific and targeted focus on cruise and as such it has its own dedicated resource. We have a Cruise Champions strategy, with over 140 members, and these are members that are either already knowledgeable in cruise or members that want to grow their cruise business.

We also provide a range of dedicated marketing services, including cruise guides, while a recent innovation was Cruise Finder, which can be used by members to easily match the perfect cruise to a clients’ needs. Soon we’ll be launching Cruise & More within the Advantage Holidays platform, giving members the ability to repackage cruise at highly competitive prices under the Advantage ATOL.

AITO, Gemma Antrobus, chair AITO specialist travel agents

History of consortium

AITO was started as an association for independent tour operators in 1976. Some 19 years later, in 1995, the association expanded to include an agents’ division, initially set up as a distribution channel for the specialist independent tour operator product that’s available within the association

Number of members and annual cost of membership

Approximately 100 agents, 120 tour operators, 50 affiliates and 35 tourist boards, which is growing every month. For travel agents with one branch [the price] is £458 + VAT, with a sliding scale for additional branches and homeworkers.

Benefits of being a member

It is the access to niche and specialist product that non-AITO Agent members (and thus the consumer) can’t, respectively, either sell or find elsewhere on the high street. Many of the small and niche tour operators do not sell via any agent network other than AITO agents, so this gives AITO agents a good USP in the overcrowded marketplace that is now ‘retail’ sales, whether that be from a shop front, an office or as a homeworker.

Measures to educate members about cruise

AITO has recently welcomed new river cruise members to the association. AITO continues to recruit cruise companies that meet its membership criteria in respect of independence. Education comes in the form of our regular product training events, which are well attended by agents.

Co-op Travel Consortium, Alison Holmes, head of Co-operative Travel Consortium

History of consortium

The consortium is now in its sixth year and is enjoying steady growth. We wanted to create a consortium that reflects the Co-Operative values for our members.

Number of members and annual cost of membership

70 independent travel agents, made up of a mixture of call centres, retail shops, and homeworking businesses. We charge a management fee based on agents’ net commission.

Benefits of being a member

We supply our members with ABTA and ATOL facilities, market-leading commercial terms with suppliers, merchant facilities, reduced administration and overhead costs through our centralised payment system, as well as support and advice on any regulatory matters and general day-to-day support.

Measures to educate members about cruise

[We] arrange webinars with cruise suppliers, events and promote ship visits.

Global Travel Group, Rhian Herbert, head of new business development

History of consortium

Global Travel Group is a travel consortium with more than 25 years of established travel business, providing travel agents with training, commercial and technical support, marketing resources and ATOL protection, which allows our members to dynamically package and tailor holidays to their clients’ needs.

Number of members and annual cost of membership

Global Travel Group has more than 350 members, with people from all backgrounds and experiences. Our comprehensive two-week training course provides all types of agents with the necessary skills they require to start their own travel business. There is a one-off fee to become a member of Global Travel Group, regardless of whether you want to be based at home, office or a retail shop. This is £14,995 plus VAT – however, if you are already working in the travel industry the joining fee is waived.

Benefits of being a member

Being part of dnata, a major global player in the travel market, allows us to offer substantial additional benefits to our members including the increase in the strength of our buying power and stronger commercial terms with many travel industry suppliers. The main benefits of being a member also include core training, commercial and technical support, marketing resources and ATOL protection.

We have also partnered with mybookingrewards.com to help our agents earn rewards on holiday bookings at more than 2,000 hotels and destinations, with the benefit of being able to manage them all in one place.

Measures to educate members about cruise

We hold a series of regional one-day training events, providing agents and suppliers with the opportunity to enjoy valuable one-on-one meetings during speed-networking sessions. In the past we have also held on-board training sessions, giving agents essential experience of cruise ships and the calibre of features their customers can expect at sea. There are also dedicated cruise marketing programmes taking place throughout the year.

Hays Travel, Jonathon Woodall, group head of commercial and cruise

History of consortium

From its humble beginnings in 1980, Hays Travel has grown from a small retail shop in Seaham, Sunderland, to the UK’s largest independent travel agent. A key ingredient in this success was the formation of the Hays Travel Independence Group in 1995, formed to provide other independent travel companies with the tools and support necessary to run a successful travel business.

Number of members and annual cost of membership

We have 108 members trading from more than 200 locations. All members bring a diverse range of travel agencies to the consortia; from high street shops to telesales operators, online travel agents, corporate travel management companies and homeworker networks. We also have over 250 homeworkers.

Costings vary depending on the size, needs and the type of membership that the member holds. While monthly costs are kept to a minimum, our contracts usually involve a commission split ranging from 10 per cent for an independent travel agent in their own retail shop, to 70 per cent where we generate all the customer leads for a homeworker.

Benefits of being a member

We have a complete off-the-shelf solution. We are a large and well-established company with substantial buying power, therefore we have excellent commercial terms with some of the UK’s biggest tour operators and suppliers. All members are issued with their own ABTA number and can offer fully financially protected bookings to their customers. We also provide cutting-edge travel software and our very own tour operating system, providing access to unique in-house products.

Measures to educate members about cruise

We actively encourage our members to attend educational events hosted by cruise lines. We often include these as part of our annual conference or roadshows so people can familiarise themselves with what’s on offer. We also have webinars available for one-to-one cruise training. On top of all this, we have a dedicated cruise team in head office who are constantly sharing the latest cruise offers and deals.

InteleTravel, Tricia Hughes, UK Director

History of consortium

Globally InteleTravel is the largest homeworking agency and is recognised by the world’s leading travel brands.

Core objectives

[Our next step] is about taking our education and tutorials to a different level. After two years the agency finally achieved ABTA approval in March 2019 and is now fully ensconced into the UK travel industry.

Number of members and annual cost of membership

In the UK it is 3,000 members. There is a £144 one-off fee, plus £32 per month.

Benefits of being a member

Our main benefits include access to partner training, education, and competitive commercial deals, providing good commission earnings.

Measures to educate members about cruise

[We are focusing on] delivering high-intensity cruise training that can be shared with customers, customer presentations and ship visits, promoting CLIA benefits, attending CLIA conferences and dedicated cruise webinars.

The Travel Network Group, Alexis Coles-Barrasso, director of PR and communications

History of consortium

The Travel Trust Association (a part of the Travel Network Group) was established in 1993 and was designed for travel businesses looking for an alternative to bonding arrangements. All money is secured into a member’s own individual trust account and guaranteed by the Travel Trust Association. Travel Trust Association membership also gives tour operators and travel agents full compliance within the industry’s travel regulations and the tools to book without the need for any financial bonds, security or net assets.

Number of members and annual cost of membership

With a 1,000-strong membership base, our members range from some of the UK’s largest networks of independent travel retailers and multi-million-pound e-commerce travel companies through to smaller family-run high street travel agents and self-employed homeworkers, demonstrating that we have membership propositions to suit all travel enterprises, large or small. We have around 120 homeworkers that operate under the Independent Travel Experts brand. They are a key part of our business and we are attracting new homeworkers all the time.

[Cost of membership] varies from brand to brand.

Benefits of being a member

Over the last few years, our business has become the fastest-growing travel membership organisation in the UK, purely due to our obsession with delivering world-class support to our members. We have transformed our business in recent years through ensuring that we take a professional, timely and easy-to-do-business-with approach to everything we do.

Members actively selling cruise

The vast majority of our members are actively selling cruise. We established a cruise tour operation two years ago, called Cruise Club Concierge, that assists with selling and packaging cruise. It’s been very successful and is growing all the time.

Measures to educate members about cruise

We run workshops, open days and seminars throughout the year that cover cruising and how members can grow their cruise sales. We also host an annual cruise conference and work closely with cruise lines to make sure we are at the forefront of their developments and agent offers.

Travel Counsellors, Kirsten Hughes, managing director

History of consortium

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Travel Counsellors business model was one of the first of its kind in the UK to offer travel professionals the opportunity to run their own corporate or leisure travel business from home or shared offices.

Number of members and annual cost of membership

More than 1,200 Travel Counsellors in seven countries (UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Australia, and the UAE), and 400 support team colleagues across the globe. There is no annual fee, although there is an initial joining fee. The entry fee for experienced travel professionals is £295 + VAT.

Benefits of being a member

We empower professional people to launch and grow a successful travel business in an industry they love, providing the support, tools, and technology to focus on creating brilliant travel experiences and building long-lasting customer relationships.

We also use technology to enhance the human touch, not replace it. Our bespoke-built booking platform ‘Phenix’, enables access to hundreds of travel suppliers and cruise companies, allowing each Travel Counsellor to create customised travel itineraries finely tuned to client preferences and booking behaviour.

Measures to educate members about cruise

This year alone we have hosted up to 100 dedicated cruise-themed roadshows, training initiatives and events in partnership with cruising suppliers to keep individual Travel Counsellors up-to-date with the latest innovations and product developments in the cruise industry and identify the very best travel experiences available.

There is also a dedicated, in-house TV channel, TCTV, which hosts a weekly cruise-focused show, featuring representatives from international cruise suppliers and the latest news from the industry.