Travel Counsellors confirms aim to double turnover within ‘five or six years’

Travel Counsellors has confirmed it aims to double its turnover within the next five or six years on the back of hitting £1 billion in annual sales for the first time.

In September, the business revealed it had clocked the landmark figure at the end of the 12 months up to August 23.

But chief executive Steve Byrne told Travel Weekly that the homeworking agency is now working towards a goal of £2 billion in annual turnover.

“We have a business plan and broadly we expect to double the sales side of the business within the next five to six years,” he said.

“We’re very blessed to have a large outbound travel market here in the UK worth £60 billion.

“The premium leisure market is worth £10-12 billion, and the corporate SME market is £3-4 billion, so there’s massive scope to grow.”

The agency currently has about 2,100 homeworkers and it typically makes a net gain of between 100-125 each year in the UK, yet it anticipates that most of its revenue growth will come through the efforts of existing agents.

Byrne said the business’s heavy investment in technology would play a crucial role in maximising agents’ potential, while social media would also be important.

He called on agents to create “even stickier relationships with customers” by using social media to share stories and successes and form “human connections” with clients.

Asked for his reaction to Travel Counsellors hitting £1 billion in annual turnover for the first time, he said: “It’s the end result of loads of individual fantastic interactions between travel counsellors and their customers.

“Everyone makes their individual contributions and by doing the great things they do, it adds up to that success.

“The thing I’m most proud of is that when we hit the £1 billion, there was a huge amount of sentiment and goodwill within the Travel Counsellors community celebrating that, so to have a £1 billion business that feels like a community and one that’s powered by a community is quite rare and that’s the standout thing for me.”

Photo credit: Simon Wright