Luxury travel advisors Dimitri Giannakopoulos and Bart Hostyn have been life partners for 25 years and have spent the last two years working together at FBI Travel, and say they’re “living the dream”.
“We always work, we love what we do and we’re obsessed with what we do,” says Giannakopoulos (pictured left) who runs ‘The Art of Travel’ with Hostyn, as independent contractors through FBI Travel.
“But you do need to have a solid base in your relationship to make it work, and we’ve been together 25 years,” he adds.
The pair met in New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland through a dating site, and soon realised they were inseparable.
Hostyn was travelling from Belgium, and Giannakopoulos from Australia, but they eventually (after much paperwork) settled in Melbourne, and are now living and working in their forever home, after a 14-month renovation.
We’re sitting around the table in their magazine-worthy property; the couple often finishing each other’s sentences, and it’s clear they’re as connected as colleagues as they are as life partners.
“We help each other out with clients,” says Hostyn when I ask how they work their dual client base.
“As an example, I have a corporate client who wanted to go to Greece and Dimitri specialises in Greece, so it made sense he took that one on.”
“And you are excellent in emergencies,” adds Giannakopoulos.
“I love an emergency!” says Hostyn. “I love to solve the problem, and I’m happy when clients rely on me and we can fix problems after hours. An example is I got an email at 10pm at night saying ‘I’m flying at 9am the next day and the flight is cancelled, what do I do?’.”
Everyone had to rebook in a day or two, but Hostyn got those people on a flight the same day.
“That’s how it works, we don’t give each other a hard time for working late or having the laptop out because then, when things are slow, we can take a break together,” says Giannakopoulos.
The only downside, the pair say, is it’s challenging for them to travel together.
“It just means one of us is usually working, but there are slower periods that we can travel in, so we just have to time holidays then,” adds Giannakopoulos.
Changing times
The couple both had careers in travel before they joined FBI Travel.
Giannakopoulos started his career as a courier, dropping payments to airlines and picking up tickets before he worked for, and then ran, Juanita Scott Travel for two decades.
Hostyn started work at Singapore Airlines in Brussels and has since worked as airfares manager for Intrepid, and assistant team manager and travel advisor at Flight Centre in Melbourne.
And they both say there have been some big changes in the industry in their time, but none more than since the pandemic.
“COVID changed everything because there was a lot of online bookings and money lost and people are booking with us because if they book through a travel agent they know who to call. They can literally pick up the phone and we’re at the end of it ready to help solve their problems,” says Hostyn.
Giannakopoulos says 15 years ago people thought the internet would kill the travel advisor and if anything, it’s been the opposite.
“They are using us more because we are a person at the end of the phone, you’re not going to a call centre, and we have the knowledge and contacts to give you the best experience possible.”
“For instance,” says Hostyn, “FBI Travel is both Forbes endorsed, and also part of Virtuoso, so if you book a luxury hotel with us, we can get you additional benefits. It might be breakfast and late check-out, so why would you book online when the rates are the same and you don’t get those benefits?”
As for what is the next luxury hotspot?
“Africa.” They say in unison.
Advice for those wanting to step into luxury
“It takes years to build up a database, you can’t just decide to do it and expect to get results,” says Giannakopoulos.
“And you need to travel a lot,” says Hostyn. “Know the product so you have great hotels to recommend. The star rating system means nothing, you need to go there and know exactly what type of experience it is.”
Giannakopoulos says it’s also important to ask clients for feedback.
“They educate us as much as we educate them, so reach out when they get back and ask them what they did and didn’t like.”
He says it’s also important to go to meetings and updates when they are offered, so you’re across new product, and be prepared to go above and beyond.
“I had a client who wanted to go to the exact geographic point of the South Pole – and I had to hire a jet for him and it cost him A$500k and everyone said you can’t do that, but I made it happen.
“It’s important to always try and achieve the impossible, and look it worked!”
Looking to the future
“We’re going to see travel advisors specialise, whether it’s first and business class, or trains,” says Hostyn. “And technology will change how you issue airline tickets and become more competitive.”
“And people will look for those advisors who they can call, rather than going through a call centre. People appreciate a local number,” says Giannakopoulos. “You need to have flexible hours, to make sure you can cater for that.”
As for their future working together?
“I can’t think of doing anything else,” says Hostyn. “I never wake up and think, oh, now I have to go to work. It’s a hobby and my job and we are so lucky.”
For more information, visit Bart Hostyn, or Dimitri Giannakopoulos.
