Search Travel Market Report

mainlogo
www.travelmarketreport.com
  • News
  • Tours & Packages
  • Cruise
  • Hotels & Resorts
  • Destinations
  • Retail Strategies
  • Niche & Luxury
  • Well-Being Travel
  • Training & Events
  • Who We Are
    • Anne Marie Moebes
    • Brian Israel
    • Dan McCarthy
    • Denise Caiazzo
    • Marilee Crocker
    • Paul M. Ruden
    • Dori Saltzman
    • Kelly Fontenelle
Allianz

One On One With Virtuoso’s Matthew Upchurch: A Bright Future For Travel Advisors

by James Shillinglaw / April 25, 2016

Matthew Upchurch speaking at the Virtuoso Symposium in Cape Town, South Africa.

At its annual Symposium in Cape Town, South Africa, last week, Virtuoso released new data showing an increase in the number of new entrants to the travel agent profession among its members. The data also found those new entrants became successful sellers of travel in a much shorter period. I sat down with Virtuoso’s chairman and CEO Matthew Upchurch to talk about the findings as well as his views on the changing future of the travel-agent profession.     

What do you see as the future for the travel-agent profession?
Upchurch: I continue to be really bullish. We saw the largest growth in the number of new travel advisors for our member travel agencies in 2015. I’ve also been talking anecdotally for two or three years now about how I’ve never seen new entrants to the profession grow from zero in sales to multi-million dollar producers in a shorter amount of time, so it was good to have data to support that. The challenge continues to be that the definition of travel agent is changing. Even the definition of a travel agency is changing. We at Virtuoso are adding a lot of new members, but they aren’t all traditional travel agencies. For us, the core is human connection and personal advising. So you can have all kinds of different business models, but that’s what they all focus on in the end. 

Who are the new people entering the travel-agent profession? 
Upchurch: What’s interesting is that mobility and social media have fundamentally changed the business. It’s also unchained the business from the desktop. It used to be as a travel agent you might be lucky to take one or two fam trips a year. Now these new entrants are much more mobile and they travel all over the world to experience the products they sell. They also don’t come from a specific demographic. They are young, they are older, they are career-switchers, they are right out of college or even hospitality schools. What they all have in common is good social networks and sales skills. The other thing I love about most of them is they come in with this attitude that, of course, people are going to pay them fees for their services. They also tend to work more in a 24/7 kind of environment. 

For us, the core is human connection and personal advising. So you can have all kinds of different business models, but that’s what they all focus on in the end. 

Will more people seek to start travel agencies? And if so, what kind of business models will they adopt? 
Upchurch: Absolutely! We as a network do not feel threatened by diversity. What we really try to focus on is who we want to be associated with based on the core values that we share. So you have some key categories of new members: You have lifestyle companies that sell travel and you have concierge companies. You have tech interaction companies, where there is a tech front end but a travel advisor back end. 

How will travel advisors get better educated in the future about the profession, given that such groups as The Travel Institute and CLIA are not necessarily as visible as they have been in the past?
Upchurch: When I was chairman of The Travel Institute we changed from having this base curriculum and only a couple of electives to having a series of educational modules. I think the professional-development framework that is going to be successful is to have educational organizations like The Travel Institute or CLIA build very well- defined modules that can be placed in larger organizations that have their own way of doing business. It’s a little bit of an Intel Inside type of thing. We already do that at Virtuoso with our Virtuoso Certified Travel Advisor (VCTA) program. We don’t try to reinvent the wheel, so if The Travel Institute or CLIA has built something that works, we take that module and use it for our own curriculum. Even within our own network, our agency members adopt the VCTA curriculum in their way. It’s like a Rubik’s Cube—you have to modularize this stuff so you can put it into any combination.  

Will the rise of independent contractors and home-based advisors continue?
Upchurch: First of all the independent contractor model is a very U.S.-centric thing. We’re now in 37 countries and if you go down to Brazil, for example, you don’t see it, though it’s catching on in some other markets, like the U.K. But we’re also seeing fast growth in a lot of other models and I think we’re going to see a huge explosion in the number and variety of models. There are a number of businesses that are being set up in a completely opposite way from the independent contractor model with teams of people. And even storefront models are coming back. We have a couple of members who are doing some really innovative things with storefronts—Departure Lounge is one and Travel & Transport just opened up one in Omaha. What’s interesting about that is that it isn’t a storefront like a traditional agency. When you look at some of these new models, the storefront is more like a gallery or a high-end type of store. It becomes a very viable way of not only attracting customers, but also attracting new talent. 

Will travel consortia and marketing groups, along with host travel agencies, continue as the main way the distribution system is organized in the U.S.?
Upchurch: I do think it’s going to continue. First of all, if you look at the different hosting models, that’s already changed dramatically. You have hosting models that are very much about the independent contractor being very independent. You have other hosting models where it’s very much about the brand. There’s also this whole idea of how to not run afoul of government rules on independent contractors while also helping advisors adopt a much more merchandisable process to the way they do business. You need to look at travel advising as the product unto itself and explain how you add value in the advising process.  

  2
  0
Allianz
Related Articles
Headquarter Happenings: Virtuoso Travel Week Highlights Luxury's Lead in Travel's Recovery
Headquarter Happenings: Virtuoso Stays Focused on Connection, Sustainability & Growth
Advising the Wealthy: Travel Agents Need to Save Clients From Themselves
Virtuoso Names Its Five Hottest Luxury Hotel Openings
Forbes Says ‘Now, More Than Ever, You Need To Find A Good Travel Agent’
Virtuoso’s Upchurch: The Definition Of Travel Agent Has Changed
Forbes Magazine Highlights Virtuoso Lodging Leaders
What’s Hot For Luxury Travel This Summer?
Cruise Veteran Bill Smith Retires As Virtuoso VP-Cruise Sales
TRAVELSAVERS and NEST Now Offering OnlineXpress

MOST VIEWED

Brought To You By
  1. Princess Cruises Forced to Adjust Alaska Sailings After White Pass Rail Road Decision
  2. River Cruise Lines Prepare to Deal with Low Water Levels on the Rhine
  3. Updated Cruise Line COVID-19 Vaccination, Booster, & Testing Requirements
  4. Water Levels on the Rhine Are Expected to Reach Critical Levels This Week
  5. The Ten Unwritten Rules of Travel
  6. Here Is Some of the New CDC Guidance on Cruise Ship Travel

MOST EMAILED

Brought To You By
  1. Updated Cruise Line COVID-19 Vaccination, Booster, & Testing Requirements
  2. River Cruise Lines Prepare to Deal with Low Water Levels on the Rhine
  3. Southwest Airlines’ Flight Credits Will No Longer Expire
  4. Viking Cruises' New Octantis Is So Much More than Just a Cruise Ship
  5. New DOT Rulemaking Goes Off the Rails on Refunds
  6. Princess Cruises Forced to Adjust Alaska Sailings After White Pass Rail Road Decision
TMR THIS WEEK
Sponsored by Intrepid Travel
//services.travelsavers.com/AMGService.svc/REST/GetImage?ImageID=9909dea1-a71c-ed11-b00b-005056a8720b&Width=350&Height&250

Antarctica: Truly Beyond

For advisors who do not regularly book this type of travel, it might seem like an intimidating task. But with the right training and support, any advisor can become a polar travel specialist. 

Read More...
Allianz
TMR Subscription

Subscribe today to receive daily in-depth coverage, analysis of industry news, trends and issues that affect how you do business. Subscribe now for free.

Subscribe to TMR

Top Stories
Quark Expeditions Expands Polar Camping Options
Quark Expeditions Expands Polar Camping Options

Cruisers can now camp overnight in the Antarctic and Arctic. 

Read...
Headquarter Happenings: Virtuoso Travel Week Highlights Luxury's Lead in Travel's Recovery
Headquarter Happenings: Virtuoso Travel Week Highlights Luxury's Lead in Travel's Recovery

This year’s Travel Week came at a time of increasing optimism, with demand roaring back, and optimism for the advisor community at the highest level since pre-pandemic.

Read...
Choosing Between Permanent & Mobile Safari Camps in the Serengeti
Choosing Between Permanent & Mobile Safari Camps in the Serengeti

Both styles of tented camp have a place in the Serengeti. Which one to choose depends on your client. 

Read...
Explora Journeys Reveals Culinary & Beverage Offerings Onboard Explora I
Explora Journeys Reveals Culinary & Beverage Offerings Onboard Explora I

Options will include 18 distinct venues including six restaurants.

Read...
As Regent Launches New Season, the Cruise Line’s Underrated Value Sticks Out
As Regent Launches New Season, the Cruise Line’s Underrated Value Sticks Out

Regent, with its all-inclusive fare, is "sometimes cheaper than even the luxury or premium lines." 

Read...
How Some Travel Advisors Succeed Selling Luxury Cruises
How Some Travel Advisors Succeed Selling Luxury Cruises

What makes the luxury cruise segment so impactful for travel advisors?

Read...
TMR OUTLOOKS & WHITE PAPERS
lux cruise outlook
CP White Paper
Multi-Gen Outlook
Distribution Outlook (1)
New to Cruise Outlook
River Cruise Outlook 2019
View All
Advertiser's Voice
https://img.youtube.com/vi/J_wmGlymwpc/0.jpg
Video: A Quick Intro to Instagram Reels for Travel Advisors
About Travel Market Report Mission Editorial Staff Advisory Board Advertise
TMR Resources Webinars Calendar of Events
Subscribe to TMR
Select Language
Do You Have an Idea Email
editor@travelmarketreport.com
Give Us a Call
1-(516) 730-3097
Drop Us a Note
Travel Market Report
71 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
News|Leisure Travel|Land Vacations|Cruise|Canada Retail Strategies|Well-Being|Luxury|Training
© 2005 - 2022 Travel Market Report, an American Marketing Group Inc. Company All Rights Reserved | 243 South Street, Oyster Bay, NY, 11771 USA | Telephone (516) 730-3097| Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy