This week Gifted Travel Network is thrilled to unveil Travel Business University (TBU) which supports ICs at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey. The rolling out of TBU is consistent with GTN’s mission, to help people achieve and sustain entrepreneurial success built on a passion for travel. We define entrepreneurial success as a business that gives the advisor freedom, fulfillment and financial satisfaction. Each program in Travel Business University is designed for what travel entrepreneurs need to move them along what we believe to be the four stages of a travel business and ultimately, achieve and sustain success.
For these new and early-stage entrepreneurs, the primary focus is on establishing their brand, purpose, and sound business strategy. The first step is getting clear on message, ideal client, and building a brand that speaks to both. Building a strong foundation is critical to long-term success. Get more information on our Travel MBA.
Once the brand has been established, the focus turns to solidifying their sales funnel through establishing list building, relationship building, and client services systems. For most travel advisors this means diving deep into virtual tools including Facebook ads, virtual events, and other digital strategies. Booking support is provided by the GTN Advisory Board made up of experienced travel advisors.
At this stage the advisor is actively booking travel and the focus now turns to adding leverage to ensure business revenue growth outpaces business expense growth. The simplest ways to add leverage are by 1) increasing the transaction size of each booking through selling groups or higher end luxury, and/or 2) increasing the quantity of bookings by adding ICs, and 3) improving the yield on each booking by adding service fees and selling suppliers that pay higher commissions. In Stage 3, there is also a need to fine tune systems.
In this stage the focus is on maximizing your efficiency and shifting into being a leader and visionary, rather than being the “worker bee” in the business. What the Stage 4 travel advisor needs most is to mastermind with fellow Stage 4 travel advisors. That is why the GTN Select program comes with all the benefits of GTN Excel plus a mastermind providing high level support and coaching from GTN’s co-founders, Jen Cochrane, Meredith Hill, and Vanessa McGovern.
Each program within Travel Business University is completely focused on giving travel entrepreneurs the education, support, and community they need to move them through these stages and not get stuck. As business coaches, we understand that content is important, but without three other critical components most people stay stuck in Stage 1 or 2 of the business. The other critical components are a collaborative community, coaching, and inner guidance development. It is a holistic approach to building a travel advisor business that leads to freedom, fulfillment, and financial satisfaction. We want every advisor in our network to have entrepreneurial success so that they can have a life they love. Each of our programs is built using this four-part strategy.
Travel Business University programs are available exclusively to travel advisors hosted by Gifted Travel Network. Program enrollment is open now for programs beginning in January.
For more information, please reach out to joinus@giftedtravelnetwork.com