Business travel is being targeted as a key growth area for Travel Counsellors following a 12% rise in corporate travel sales year-on-year.
Bookings from the sector have driven increasing revenues in recent months, with 37% of the company’s franchisees making a booking in the last 12 months – up five per cent on the same period last year.
Travel Counsellors secured more than 450 new business travel accounts during the last 12 months.
This trend is also having an impact on individual Travel Counsellors, with a third now saying that corporate bookings account for more than 40% of their business. Eighty per cent of these now focus almost exclusively on business travel.
A London office has been opened to support recruitment of new Travel Counsellors nationwide and as a hub to further stimulate business travel bookings.
The renewed focus on business travel follows a strong financial year, with Travel Counsellors’ annual turnover rising to £188 million, up from £162 million last year – the 11th consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth.
Profits were also up by more than 34%, and have grown a total of 60% since private equity investment in 2014.
Travel Counsellors for Business currently has accounts with a range of companies, from SMEs through to large corporates, and specialises in a number of key sectors, including financial services and sports.
Business travel has also assisted Travel Counsellors, which operates in seven countries, to expand its international reach. The company has carved out a particular niche in South Africa, with the vast majority of its bookings now corporate rather than consumer focused.
To support individual Travel Counsellors in expanding their corporate travel portfolio, the group’s largest business travel conference was held in Birmingham earlier this month, highlighting best practice, to provide industry insights and help identify key business decision makers to increase sales.
A total of 150 delegates from across the UK gathered to hear from a range of speakers, including outgoing GMTC chief executive Paul Wait, discuss the importance of engaging the variety of business decision makers, the main drivers of purchasing decisions and how technology can be utilised to provide the ultimate service for customers.
Travel Counsellors chief executive Steve Byrne said: “Recent strong growth has allowed us to invest further in the business, with the opening of a new London office and the expansion of our corporate travel offering.
“We now have 1,600 Travel Counsellors across our global network, and we’re supporting more of them each in month in growing their corporate travel accounts.
“Technology and talent are key in driving this growth – our market-leading platform allows our franchisees to seamlessly book bespoke, tailored corporate packages anywhere in world.
“At the same time, we want to ensure our Travel Counsellors are fully up-to-speed with the latest trends and insights, so they can provide the best possible service to clients.”
Mladen Lukic, general manager of Travel Counsellors in South Africa, added: “80% of our business in South Africa is derived from corporate travel, and so this is a key business priority for us.
“Our aim is to provide a world class service to the global corporate travel industry, and the global reach of the Travel Counsellors brand allows us to share best practice and new ideas.”
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