Richard Turen
Today, we have a question from an agency owner in a midsize city on the West Coast:
Q: We are career-changers and have owned a small storefront agency with seven outside leisure agents for almost four years. My husband and I enjoy the work and, of course, the travel, but we really have an urge to do something different, something new in travel retail. Please consider devoting an upcoming column to brainstorming ideas for a different kind of agency business, perhaps something that has not been tried to date.
A: This could be a very long column, but I will keep it short. There are, I believe, more untried new ideas in travel than there are existing business models. I do believe that our industry is ripe for the expansion of new ways and approaches to how we handle vacation planning.
Here are just a few that I think might have potential:
• Create a rail, bus and cruise world: Hire the best design team at a model railroad convention and have them design a display in your office with the route passing sites that are important parts of worldwide rail journeys. Do the same with model roads and model buses passing villages in Europe, Asia and South America with major sites listed along the route. Add a model waterway with models of actual ships. This will bring people to your office and enable you to meet the world — while you are selling it.
• Open an office inside a good Italian restaurant. It will be a small space out of the way, but you can sell restaurant-sponsored trips to Italy while meeting a stream of potential new clients. Each day you can schedule a lunch and dinner to meet with existing or potential clients. Who doesn’t think about going to Italy while dining on excellent Italian cuisine? Of course, this works equally well in a French restaurant, etc. But make sure that you negotiate this concept with a restaurant that is debt-free and on a long-term lease.
• Open a “for humans, by humans” vacation-planning firm. You outsource air planning while receiving a portion of every air commission. Then you work with guests without using any in-office booking systems. All reservations are made by your humans speaking with other humans at the other end of the phone. You would also headline the fact that you do not use AI in your work. Research is, again, done by humans. This is an emotional approach to business that will increasingly appeal to future clients.
• Start a politically motivated consultancy. Our country is divided. Most of us have chosen sides. A growing number of clients worry about traveling with members of the other “tribe.” So why not eliminate 50% of your potential clients while concentrating on appealing to the 40% to 50% of Americans who share your political beliefs? The agency can specialize in destinations of interest to members of the same political tribe. Staff would all share your political point of view. Every booking would result in a donation to an organization reflecting company values. (Personally, I hate that it has come to this, but there is no denying that consumers love supporting businesses that support their political beliefs.)
• Design your agency around a series of travel specialist stations. (The concept works well for Apple Stores’ Genius Bars, so why not for you?) The desks in your office form a perimeter with each labeled as a specialist in a particular travel category; e.g., cruises and river ships, all-inclusive resorts, Europe, the Caribbean. Each of your inside or outside agents is encouraged to have proficiency in one of these specialties, and guests work with the advisors for their specific vacation type. One agent works out of the middle of the store, qualifying each guest for an appointment with the appropriate specialist. This will enable ICs to spend some time in store and to specialize in their major area of interest. It should increase the number of potential employees earning specialist status.
