Blog Archives

Gifted Travel Network is excited to announce that our Digital Marketing Manager, Caroline Hollar, was selected for a spot on U by Uniworld’s first ‘Launch’ cruise!

With so many DIY options for travelers to book their own vacations, a great question to ask, when you become a travel agent, is what does it take for a traveler to want a travel agents’ help? Marketing guru, Dan Kennedy, actually has the answer for you in his 5 steps to getting a client to reach out to you and ask for your help.

Gifted Travel Network (GTN) is excited to announce that Sandy Saburn joined the GTN team as Director of Sales. Sandy has worked in travel for 15 years starting as an agent and quickly moving into leadership roles including Training Manager and Marketing Manager where she oversaw all leisure marketing and events, and assisted the corporate and meetings and incentives department with marketing initiatives. As a member of the senior leadership team, she was actively involved in the transition to Signature Travel Network.

If there was one tip I wish someone had given me when I first became a travel agent was this: Do NOT take any and all business that comes your way. Instead, establish a boundary from day 1. The boundary could be based upon a minimum amount of commission you will make per booking. It could be based upon a minimum of budget of your client. For example, you might decide that anything less than $500 in commission is just not worth your time, so your boundary is to not work on any inquiry where the client’s travel budget is less than $5,000.

When you announce to your friends, family and prospects that you have become a travel agent, don’t be surprised if you get the reply, “I didn’t know travel agents still existed!”  The reason why is that visibility of the travel agent profession is gone.

When you become a travel agent, you will soon discover that one of the greatest curses of the travel business is also one of its greatest blessings:  It’s easy to get in. This is a blessing for people with an undying passion for travel.  It’s a great option.  You can work from home.  It costs very little to get started.  You can do it part time or full time.

A long time ago, when I first became a travel agent, a question that ran through my head every single day was, “How do I attract millionaires and billionaires and get them as clients?”  Why?  I was tired of honeymoon budgets of $2K to $3K.  You know the kind … beer budgets with champagne taste.

If you are asking this question, my assumption is that you have a strong desire to attract excellent, ideal clients. Lots of them. And preferably a nice, consistent, never-ending flow of them. Sound good so far?

When you become a travel agent, Facebook will likely be a part of your marketing strategy.  But proceed with a solid strategy and for the right reason.  Many people jump into Facebook because they hear that it’s the place to be, or that they HAVE to in order to survive.  They feel their way around, posting at random, without an effective strategy.  In this article, I hope to clarify the confusion and help you discover WHY you should be on Facebook and HOW to strategically build a loyal following that will eventually lead to new business.

Gifted Travel Network’s CEO, Vanessa McGovern, was invited to sit on The Travel Corporation’s Key Partners Advisory Board. The Travel Corporation is a large and well-respected parent company to travel brands including Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Uniworld, Contiki, among others.