Serandipians to cap global agent network at 600

Luxury travel network Serandipians is set to cap its global agent membership at 600, with plans to grow the remaining fraction in the US.

The community currently comprises 570 member agencies in 74 countries.

A total of 222 agencies (39%) are from Europe, 44 of which are UK-based making it the largest market in the region.

Most recently, Scott Dunn Private - which has offices in the UK, Singapore and California - joined the network.

Another UK agency, Suite DNA, is celebrating 10 years as part of the Serandipians' community, earning the recognition of an 'Epics 2014' - the cohort of long-standing member agencies who were celebrated at this year's annual 'The Essence of Luxury' conference, held in Marbella.

Outside of Europe, 18% of the network hails from North America, 8% from South America, 11% in Asia Pacific, 10% in Northern Asia, 8% in Greater China and 6% in the Middle East and Africa.

Founder and chief executive Quentin Desurmont said: “I’ve always promised that we would never have more than 600 Serandipians agencies. We’re getting close. We need to bring some more from the Americas.”

Director of memberships and DMC partnerships, Peter Conway, added: “The idea is to have a more balanced portfolio. Europe is where we started so we have a big presence in the region, but we wanted to reduce the influence of the European market.

“We don’t want any particular country or region directly influencing the direction of the organisation.

“Plus, to maintain the network at 600 maintains a certain amount of intimacy and we can get to know our agents well enough to understand what they need.”

As recruitment slows, Conway said the membership process would become “more selective” and “challenging” for agencies to be accepted.

He added: “Our focus is definitely on smaller volume, higher value clients.”

The average number of full-time employees at Serandipians' member agencies is 10.4 and, in 2023, total revenue for the global network totalled €4.5 billion.