Business is Booming at Travel Leaders Network

At this year’s EDGE conference, held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Travel Leaders Network president John Lovell offered a bird’s eye view of the network’s overall business, which year to date is up about 12% over last year.

By segment, cruise is up 14.5% year-to-date and land is up 6.5%. The land number, he said, is particularly welcome as last year at this time, it was only up 2.3% over 2023.

With bookings pacing ahead, revenue is up as well, with river cruise really leading the way – up 29% year to date over last year. Luxury cruise is up 20%, premium is up 16%, and even the contemporary cruise segment is up 8%.

“When you look at the publicly traded cruise lines, we’re in a much better position than they are overall,” he said. “Just like last year within the cruise space, we performed at about 25% growth. The publicly traded companies were up about 15.6%.”

Later on in a sit-down interview with Lovell, he told TMR that out-pacing the cruise lines in terms of growth is always a “home run” for the network.

Within the land segment, FIT and touring is leading the way – up 13% year to date over last year. Fun & Sun is up 3.7% and – thanks to the Universal Epic affect – Parks is up 12%.

Speaking of demand in general, Lovell told TMR he believes the industry is returning to the traditional pattern of demand that was common pre-pandemic. With that said, he added that there is still some lingering supercharged demand, particularly among the ultra-high net worth.

“I still think there’s a lot of that going one, especially in the ultra-wealthy space,” he said, referring to people that he knows who are “extremely wealthy” who he joked are never home for all the travel they continue to do.

800-Pound Gorilla in the Industry

Overall, Lovell said he couldn’t be happier with where Travel Leaders Network is within the travel agency market.

“We’re the 800-pound gorilla, as John Chernesky said,” Lovell said, referring to NCL’s senior vice president of North American sales who used the term during his main stage presentation.

Lovell also cited a Phocuswright study that found that 50% of the entire U.S. travel agency market is held within the Travel Leaders Network.

When asked about his ambitions for future growth, Lovell offered a measured response.

“Ultimately, we want to deliver for our suppliers and the only way we can do that is for growth for them.”

While the company does have a recruitment team dedicated to growth, recruitment is as much about replacing agencies that shut down when their owners decide to retire or sell.

“We’re very happy with where we are at 50%… if I could get it to 60, I’d be very happy. But if I could get it to 60%, I’d want to make sure that it’s the right 60%. I want to make sure that the people that are with us are engaged with us, utilizing our programs and services so they can make more money.”

Though Lovell mentioned attrition when talking about the size of the network in general, he said he’s seeing more agencies looking at passing on their businesses to younger advisors than actually shutting down.

“Some of them have worked very, very hard and it’s nice to see them sitting next to a younger advisor, somebody that they’re turning the business over to or they’re selling to or now they’re working for because they’ve transitioned the business,” he said.