40 years in the game is certainly something to celebrate, but what does the future hold for independent agency network Travellers Choice?
A lot has changed in the last four decades, with the travel industry no exception. Many have fallen by the wayside, but not so for Travellers Choice.
“If you look at the way businesses operated 40 years ago compared to how they work today, it’s like chalk and cheese,” chief executive Christian Hunter told KarryOn.
“Agents themselves have really had to adapt to technology, embrace it as a key part of their businesses and see it as a friend rather than competitor.”
As a result, the agency network has seen its members become increasingly creative with their own uses of technology through their web presences and the way they position themselves both online and through social media.
Travellers Choice chief executive Christian Hunter
Travellers Choice also offers them a range of digital services to support them either in “doing their own thing” or by outsourcing the operation of their digital platforms to head office.
“It really depends on the business – of where they are at in that space and what they are trying to achieve through those digital channels,” Hunter explained.
“There’s certainly a range of services there to support our members in whatever activity they do.”
But while technology adoption has undoubtedly played a role, the true secret to the network’s success is the “outstanding service” provided by its members with technology merely an “enabler”, according to Hunter.
Travellers Choice agents at the gala dinner in November 2016.
“At the end of the day, if a travel agent isn’t adding value to the transaction, then what is the purpose of them being there?” he asked.
“They can’t be order takers, can’t be a generic retailer – they’ve got to be doing something different, adding value, specialising, really creatively thinking about own business and how to engage with the local community.”
The unique nature of each of its member business means that Travellers Choice has eschewed a “cookie cutter” approach and instead been “a bit more strategic”, Hunter explained.
“We’re doing a lot of work internally in terms of how we can best meet the needs of the agents out there and I think we have got quite a strong proposition right now.”
So what exactly is that proposition? At its core is the idea that travel agents are part of the organisation’s ownership and so financially benefit when the network as a whole prospers.
Hunter calls it a “virtuous circle” that creates a great sense of camaraderie and spirit throughout the network.
Gold Choice Award winners at last year’s conference in Canberra
“Every stage of the process adds value back to the member so the more successful we are, the more we see flowing back to the travel agents that are driving the sales.”
That provides a strong incentive for agents to strongly support preferred suppliers, benefitting the business as a whole.
“Members really feel they have got a voice that’s heard, they’re not just a number in a group where they don’t mean anything and they really appreciate that,” Hunter said.
It’s a set-up that will see the network continue to thrive into the next 40 years, he confidently predicted. But that doesn’t mean chasing more and more members.
“Obviously, we’re looking for growth, but we don’t get too caught up in numbers – we’ve seen numbers vary over the years and really it’s about the sales members are bringing in rather than the number of dots on the map,” Hunter said.
“We’re conscious that we don’t want to grow to be too big, we want to maintain that ’boutique’ style and don’t want to lose that great culture so that members do feel like they’re just a number.”
And while the way people travel will probably change over time, Hunter is confident agents’s skillsets will still continue to be relevant.
“If we look back 40 years ago, we thought that in 2017 we’d be flying around in cars with robots doing everything and the world’s not like that,” he mused.
“I certainly think travel agents will have strong role to play, but just how that might look we’ll have to wait and see.”