Richard Turen
Q: My husband and I purchased a travel agency in our town in Florida three years ago. Our current sales are $760,000, and we have three agents in addition to myself doing the selling. I personally sell a little over $100,000 annually.
We love the travel business, and we want to open a new division under a different name that is totally devoted to luxury or upscale travel planning. My husband is a CPA, and he will be joining me full-time in this venture in six months. We are both well traveled, and we have taken advantage of industry discounts to experience a wide range of products and places.
How would you advise someone entering the luxury field with a new venture? Just a few things that we should think about would be appreciated.
A: If your agents are splitting the business, and each works full-time, they are generating something like $30,000 in commissions -- and they are returning at least 50% of that to you. So your agents are earning about $15,000 per year.
The first thing I would do is decide that you and your husband will be doing all of the trip planning/selling, and you can hire one or two salaried individuals to help you with operations. Splitting commissions makes no business sense in 2025; it is a 60-year-old business model. Start the business without travel agents.
Forget about Jacksonville or even Florida. Agencies that truly want to make a substantial impact in our industry rarely depend on local, hometown sales. You have to think nationally and generate leads in some of the very top ZIP codes in the country.
There are many ways to do this, from purchasing a list and doing meaningful, personalized mailings that no one else can produce to hiring social media marketing geniuses who can show you how to promote your brand without purchasing prohibitively expensive print ads.
Design a business plan that establishes your honesty and explains how you are different from any other travel firm. Talking honestly with clients and putting their welfare above potential profits is not a business path too many in our industry have followed.
If we were sitting across from one another at a restaurant in your hometown, I would probably ask you, "What won't you sell?" This is a critically important question that many travel-business owners have a tough time answering. If you are truly devoting this new business to luxury products, you must remove 90% of the current travel brands from your inventory. But you need to know true luxury products backward and forward.
You will absolutely have to create your own brand through online websites that highlight your honesty in all things related to luxury travel. Do not sell out to anyone -- do not allow advertising on your websites. Consider hiring a professional public relations person. It will be expensive, but it could pay dividends.
Don't get sucked into playing the "deal game." Instead of price-centered advertising, design a "pledge" that includes a policy of always returning 100% of all legitimate discounts to your clients 100% of the time.
Finally, please know that you are choosing a very long road. With all of your personal travel experience, your reading and your YouTube videos, you will never know even a fraction about worldwide destinations that the newest version of artificial intelligence will make available to your clients in the comfort of their home by 2030.