Global Travel Group MD goes under the spotlight

TravelMole’s Bev Fearis spoke to Global Travel Group managing director Andy Stark at the consortium’s special 25th anniversary conference at Universal Orlando.

So, how’s business?
It’s very strong. We’re 20% up in revenues. It’s even higher in cruise, with volumes up 25%, and that’s not because of particular agents selling lots of cruise, that’s because of growth across the consortia. I think the cruise companies have been very good at educating agents and agents are becoming more confident in selling cruise. It’s no longer seen as a dark art! We’re also seeing growth in touring and adventure holidays, up 18%, particularly in China, India and Canada. People want experiences.

What’s selling well?
Around 60% of members are selling high end, long-haul holidays and this year we’ve seen particular growth in the Caribbean. Barbados is 6% up due to increased air capacity. We’ve also seen strong sales to the US, despite the drifting pound, and it’s now our top selling long-haul destination having pushed Dubai into number two. I think it’s due to increased air capacity and competitive pricing. Thailand is still strong at number three but we’re seeing more volume going into Singapore and Vietnam in Asia.

What about short-haul sales?
Spain and Portugal are still top but we’re seeing a sharp rise in bookings to Turkey, the Greek Islands and Croatia. Croatia is doing really well thanks to clever positioning.

What about the Global membership?
We’ve signed 23 new members this year and we’ve actually welcomed a total of 33, if you include those that signed up in 2017 but didn’t start trading until this year. 

What kinds of people are signing up?
The average age of our new members is 25-35 which I actually found quite surprising. I think you’ve got two main types of people who are starting up their own travel businesses. You’ve got those in the lower age bracket who are entrepreneurs, who have the confidence to go it alone. They’ve perhaps tried a number of different jobs, moving around from company to company, but then decide they want to work for themselves. Then, in the higher age bracket, you’ve got those who have come to a good time in their career. Perhaps they’ve worked in the health service or the fire service and have taken early retirement. They’ve got their pension and they’ve got some cash and they want to invest it in doing something completely new. We have a very diverse membership, from man and wife teams to multi-generational families, from those who just focus on travel and others who have other businesses. Some have worked for big travel multiples and others come into it with no travel experience whatsoever. We tailor the support depending on their specific needs.

What about geographically? Have you seen any trends there?
No, not really. Traditionally we’ve been very heavily represented in the outskirts of London and in the north west but now we’ve got members in the Midlands and Yorkshire. It’s a good spread. Many of them work from home but more are now seeing opportunities to open in the high street. 

What about for next year?
Yes, we have lots of new members in the pipeline for next year. We’re definitely expecting growth. Although we’re seeing lots of big retailers struggling and closing down shops, the SME market is thriving and that’s what we’re all about.