Hopefully you have a business and marketing plan in place. In writing. And in use! Hopefully you are constantly revising it to maximize your agency’s potential and profit. I have always advocated the very real need to have a limited scope of service (you need to create a niche) and I feel it is of the ultimate importance to partner with select suppliers in a symbiotic relationship. You may think you are doing well. The economy seems robust and stable. But don’t rest on your laurels. Never.

Do you know what makes up your business? Have you ever really taken a deep look and analyzed what makes money for you? What breaks even for you? What loses money for you? Do you have…

Daniel Turner is an environmental biologist who has been working for the advancement of animal welfare knowledge and protection for over 20 years. During that time, he has created and led initiatives that have influenced international policy, national legislation and activities by international travel industry.

From 2000 to 2017 he worked for the international wildlife protection NGO, Born Free Foundation, where he established its department dedicated to animal welfare in tourism. Taking a more pragmatic approach, Daniel developed partnerships with travel businesses and their trade associations to create capacity-building programmes and guidance, which included the Travelife Animal Attractions Handbook (2008) and ABTA’s Animal Welfare Guidelines (2013). In 2018, Daniel co-founded ANIMONDIAL, a specialist consultancy that provides impartial advice and practical guidance to travel…

I've met a large number of new entrants into our industry lately. Certainly the economy has vastly improved and the time seems right to take on some new challenges. Training, study and good working relationships make better business people of us all and recently there is a proliferation of organizations and coaches offering their services.  We periodically need to be reminded to operate leaner, smarter, to market harder, to take more seriously every minute we have allocated to us. In both good times and bad we face obstacles, but I do agree with the adage "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

Regardless of where you are in your career arc, however, there are always obstacles and challenges.  So if you are surviving, hang in there. If you will keep…

Since entering the travel industry in 1984, I have effectively uncovered a simple way to hold on to your valued “partners.” Notice I did not label them “customers” or “clients.” I will explain why shortly.

Having recently been introduced to a shameful statistic, I thought it timely to offer my slant on this subject. I am anxious to see how you swallow this dose of reality: When interviewed, travel agents believe they retain 78% of their paying customers. When interviewed, paying customers cite their loyalty factor closer to 35%.

Let’s not quibble over a percentage point or two. The message is that travel professionals believe their retention rate is a lot higher than it is. Agents are losing customers at an alarming rate, and finding it more…