What Are Travel Consortia & Travel Co-ops?

What is a travel consortium or a travel cooperative? The very short answer that will get you through a cocktail party banter is this: A travel consortium is a collective of host agencies, travel agencies, and/or travel advisors that join forces and combine resources to increase their industry footprint including buying potential, benefits, & commission levels. (Here's a list of travel consortia so you can see some examples of consortia.)

SNOOZE. That’s not a very fun definition. So allow me to defer to a space analogy because space makes everything more fun.

A travel consortium is a collective of host agencies, travel agencies, and/or travel advisors that join forces and combine resources to increase their industry footprint including buying potential, benefits, & commission levels.

Imagine your agency is the star, Upsilon Carinae. When you introduce yourself at parties, you’ll probably get a lot of blank stares. But if you introduce yourself Upsilon Carinae, a part of the Milky Way, then your star acquaintances will understand more about you (without launching into a major astronomy lesson).

While stars have a heckuva lotta light, a single star may not have enough luminosity to be seen from the earth all by its lonesome. If an advisor is a star, a host agency might be like a constellation. A bunch of stars that are more identifiable together and provide more collective light than a single star. But a travel consortium is the entire galaxy—they’re the Milky Ways of the travel world.

Imagine how much more luminosity the Milky Way provides compared to a single star or even a constellation. If a star is a part of that galaxy, they get the benefit of greater visibility from all that collective light.

Ditch the Metaphor. What do Consortia & Co-ops Provide their Members?

Here's a Friday 15 video trailer to help answer this question.

At its most basic, a consortium helps agents and agencies with marketing, training, technologies, and supplier negotiations among other supports that would be otherwise difficult for individual advisors, agencies, and even host agencies to develop on their own. Here are a few examples:

Marketing

This can include direct mailings, hosted websites for agents, social media content and so much more. If you're looking for specific marketing tools, this can help guide your decision.

Technology

Consortia technologies offered might include websites/ web templates, CRM (Customer Relations Management) systems, advisor resources websites/newsfeeds, online booking programs, and other goodies. Again, if you are looking for specific tools, this is another great way to narrow down your choices.

Training/ Education

Some consortiums may offer training opportunities including webinars and online courses, events with educational panels, or (non-required certifications (such as Travel Leaders Adventure certification).

Higher Commissions (Supplier Negotiations)

Since (most) consortia have greater aggregate buying power than an advisor, agency, or host agency, they are also able to leverage higher commissions and more amenities for their members. This is a benefit that "trickles down" to individual agents if you're part of the consortium . . . OR if you're with a host that belongs to the consortium or co-op. Allow me to elaborate.

What Doesn't a Consortium or Co-op Provide? How is it Different from a Host?

It’s probably really important to point out that a travel consortium or co-op does not provide an accreditation number. This is a biggie. So if you want to fly solo (without a host agency or franchise), you will still need to get your accreditation number even if you join a consortium. 

A consortium also does not provide day-to-day back-office support, like tracking commissions, basic bookkeeping, or daily reports. If you are wanting more backend support, a host agency might be a better option (if you’re not a part of one already).

Even if you are with a host agency, it’s good to know a little bit about consortia. Why? Because just about every host agency is a part of a consortia—and if a host agency belongs to that consortia, some of those benefits may pass along to you.

You can read up more on what a host agency provides here and what the difference between a franchise and a host agency is here.

Should I Join a Travel Consortium? What Does it Take?

If you're hosted, it's not likely you will need to align with a travel consortium. However, if you're an independent advisor with your own travel accreditation, then aligning with a consortium is advisable.

Why? Joining a consortium will help "put your agency on the map" with suppliers. Not only that, but you'll have access the consortium's marketing, training (for you or your ICs!), and tech.

what are eligibility requirements to join a consortium?

The eligibility requirements to join a consortium will vary among different organizations. But in general, you can expect that your agency will need to reach a certain sales threshold among a consortium's preferred suppliers before you can join.

Members are also expected to pay member dues (which will vary depending on the consortium). Ultimately, consortium membership is a good fit for agents who have a travel accreditation and don’t need back-end bookkeeping support.  

If you're not eligible to join a specific consortium, a good start is to choose a host that is a part of that consortium. How do you know if a host agency is a part of a consortium? Never thought you'd ask.

1. Go to our consortia listings.
2. Click on your consortia of choice. If you want, you can filter it!
3. Look at which hosts are listed and linked at the bottom of their profile. This is a FABULOUS way to help you choose a host agency. Here's an example below:

If you have fallen in love with a specific consortium but still want to be hosted, you can ask hosts how they leverage their consortia tools.

Questions to Ask a Consortium

Not sure which consortium is the best fit for you? here's a list of questions you can ask to see which one fits the bill for your travel agency.

1. What are member requirements? (Sales thresholds, location requirements, etc?)
2. What are membership fees? 
3. How many members are a part of the consortium (agency members and/or individual advisors)?
4. What are their annual network sales?
5. What technologies are provided?
6. What training/education is provided?
7. What marketing is provided?
8. Do they offer a leads program or Agent Directory?
9. How long has the consortium been established?
10. If it's regional, what region does the consortium serve?
11. Does the consortium have local or regional chapters?
12. If your host agency belongs to the consortia, how do those benefits translate to the individual advisor?
13. If you already belong to a host agency, what is the added value of joining a consortium?

Why Do Travel Consortia Matter to the Hosted Travel Advisor?

A question that crosses the HAR desk from time to time is, "how do consortium affiliations impact me as a hosted advisor?" This is a great question and one that Steph chatted about on Friday 15 with Vanessa McGovern from Gifted Travel Network. Here's what they had to say:

In summary? A host's consortia affiliation will have benefits that "trickle down" to the hosted advisor/ IC. A host's consortium powers a lot of the behind-the-scenes booking and marketing tools used by agencies (you) under your host agency! At the end of the day, a host's consortia affiliations can impact your marketing, access to higher commissions and amenity programs, and/or leads.

The host's affiliation with the consortium will help smaller agencies scale their business and access these tools without having to meet (oftentimes) prohibitive sales threshold as an individual (we're talking in the millions here).

Want to get more familiar with consortia? Check out HAR's consortia profiles and/or "Meet the Consortia Interviews" on our Host Week YouTube playlist!

A Brief Grammar Lesson Because I Literally Cannot Help Myself

When do you say "consortia" and when do you say "consortium?" Never thought you'd ask!

• Consortium is singular: That's right, just the one.
• Consortia is plural: consortia is used to indicate multiple consortiums. *GASP!* You can also use the word consortiums, as it's interchangeable with consortia.

What, you want me to use in a sentence? You do know how to woo a grammar nerd. Here you go:

1. My host agency belongs to MAST. It's a travel consortium.
2. Wow! HAR has 17 consortia profiles on their list!

Okay, What Now?

Are you a lone star looking to combine forces with other stars to increase your luminosity? In case you haven’t heard, Host Agency Reviews has majorly expanded. This means that consortia now have their own space (pun intended) on our website! Go check out the consortia profiles to read reviews, leave a review, and/or dig deeper into each consortium’s specific technologies, marketing support, amenities, and education that each consortium provides!

Once you get all buddy-buddy with your consortium, don't forget to leave a review of them on the site! Your experiences and insights will help other agents make smart and informed choices!

How do you leave a consortium review? 1.) Click on the consortium profile 2.) Click "Leave a Review" 3.) Share your brilliant insights!

Editor's Note: This article was originally published Nov. 2nd, 2018. It was updated and republished on the publish date listed.