There’s probably never been a more important time in our recent history for consistency, proactivity, and an unquestionable level of support. Both on a personal level and for your business. We can’t do much about your home life, but for your travel business, our buddies at TravelManagers have proven they have the goods.
TravelManagers, in case you’re fresh off the spaceship, is Australia’s most successful home-based mobile travel advisory business. TravelManagers gets you beyond the ordinary, no matter what stage your travel agency business is at.
With 17 years dedicated to the home-based mobile travel consulting biz, TravelManagers knows their stuff. It was during the pandemic, though, that they showed how much value they truly brought to the table.
Help when you need it
TravelManagers are doers. Their go-get-’em team at the National Partnership Office (NPO) allow you to be a doer, too. They do this by ensuring you have everything you need to succeed, whether the task is in your wheelhouse or out of your comfort zone.
Enjoy marketing, but your brain feels scrambled when it comes to accounting? No problem, TravelManagers’ backend support has everything you need, including help from the finance team and your state-based Business Partnership Manager (BPM).
Could you use assistance with your marketing? Sales? Ops? Ticketing? The NPO has you covered with dedicated help available.
During COVID, this level of support never wavered. José Cañas from the fares and ticketing team recalls, “Early 2020, we supported our personal travel managers (PTMs) with hundreds of reissues that started even before border closures. Once everything shut down, our main job was to assist PTMs with airline refunds, follow-ups, and interpretation and guidance on the ever-changing airline policies.”
Troy Coelho, from TravelManagers’ ops and training team, also knew that keeping PTMs up to date was crucial during the pandemic. “We facilitated 250 webinars with a wide range of suppliers to ensure PTMs were up-to-date about COVID cancellations and policy changes.” He continues, “These webinars gave our PTMs confidence to respond to client questions.”
Tanyu Cilek from TravelManagers’ finance and commercial team regales a similar tale of proactivity and support. “We constantly contacted suppliers to help our PTMs navigate refunds and credits. We would then update client files as we executed millions of dollars in refunds. I can only imagine how hard that would have been for travel advisors working without support like ours.”
When social distancing was everything, virtual support became the norm, from BPM meetings to supplier updates to social gatherings. PTMs were even offered assistance with their wellbeing, including personal counselling sessions.
Tap into supplier relationships
With TravelManagers, you get to access their long-standing partnerships. This includes airlines, cruise companies, tour operators, general wholesalers, and specialist providers. Plus, they’ve several luxury and niche product providers, giving you an instant ability to spot and fill niche gaps in your local market.
It’s not a one-way street with PTMs loving the support they receive working with TravelManagers; suppliers love it too!
Alexa Papoulias, NSW/ACT regional sales manager at Globus family of brands said, “Julia and the TravelManagers team made enthusiastic efforts to stay connected with PTMs over the last two years. On behalf of Globus family of brands, thank you for being such an engaging and supportive partner to work with.”
Support in many forms
It’s important to know that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. As the pandemic took hold from February 2020 TravelManagers’ NPO team were always there to support their PTMs and moved quickly adapting their support to an unstable and everchanging environment.
Competitions and refresher courses kept everyone connected – both to each other and to what was happening in this erratic and unpredictable travel landscape.
Once restrictions eased within individual states, localised social gatherings resumed, with TravelManagers’ six state-based BPMs hosting regular opportunities to inspire innovation and lateral thinking.
TravelManagers even introduced new products (Signature) and systems (MINT) when many other travel businesses were hibernating.
James McCullagh, BDM at Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), appreciated TravelManagers’ dynamic leadership. He commented, “Living in Victoria our ferocious two years of lockdowns made it a challenge for everyone in the industry and beyond. However, NCL still needed to communicate and interact with the PTM’s due to changing policies, cancelled sailings, and future goals.”
“This was accomplished via Zoom meetings thanks to Kellie and Despina rallying the troops to attend. As things shifted, they helped me organise coffee clusters and more recently invited me to participate in business partners lunch and Geelong cruise activities designed to rekindle the important personal relationship between PTMs and supplier representatives.
I can honestly say our relationship locally with TravelManagers is the strongest and it’s a great joy to work with two highly motivated BPMs who really care for the consultants they look after.”
Nick Lewis, QLD BDM for Air New Zealand, was full of rave reviews for Karen, Noree and the QLD TravelManagers team. He commented, “When the pandemic hit, our industry hit a stall like never before. Despite the obvious adversities, our industry faced, Karen and Noree were incredibly proactive, regularly rolling out monthly lunch catch-ups for the PTMs and suppliers alike. It was an integral lifeline to us all as it kept us connected, gave purpose, and strengthened relationships.”
Would you like support like this?
In summary, across the pandemic, TravelManagers coordinated over 700 PTM activities and events both during standard working hours, and after hours so that PTMs who had secured temporary alternative employment could attend! These included:
- Operational & Partner Supplier updates
- Preparing for Life after COVID e.g. building your corporate business & Domestic sales tips and tricks
- Social activities, including Friday afternoon drinks, Trivia competitions, Virtual walking challenges and an Armchair Traveller series
- Marketing training incorporating one-on-one bespoke sessions
- Specialist PTM guest speakers
- Refresher courses on systems & processes
- State specific meetings
- Wellbeing assistance including reminders about TravelManagers’ Network Assistance Program
- An extensive RESET program setting up post-COVID Best Practices including the launching of new tools covering client and PTM checklists together with Value Proposition collateral and a focus on introducing service fees (for PTMs not already charging them).
And so much more!
Agents, get the support you deserve
Does this sound like the level of support you’d like to grow your home-based mobile business?
If you’re a confident, enthusiastic, self-motivated person, who also understands the value of assistance during challenging times, visit join.travelmanagers.com.au or contact Graciela Craig on 1800 019 599 today to be part of a partnership you can rely on.
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