It’s a Coffee House, It’s a Wine Bar . . . It’s a Travel Agency

The Departure Lounge is a coffee house. And a wine bar. And an event venue. Primarily, though, it’s a travel agency.

Located in downtown Austin, Tex., the Departure Lounge is the brainchild of owner Keith Waldon.

Waldon had never sold travel before he opened the agency in August 2013, but he had worked in the travel industry since 1984, holding customer service and public relations positions on the supplier side.

The agency bills itself as an “interactive travel discovery zone” where clients are “transported” to top destinations through the organic coffees, teas, small-batch wines, artisan chocolates and cheeses, light fare, and more on the Departure Lounge’s menu.

Clients can browse destinations and travel products via touch-screen monitors while sipping freshly brewed dark roast from, say, Costa Rica or a boutique wine from Italy.  

Coffee, tea or. . . travel?
Waldon came up with the idea of combining a travel agency with a coffee and wine bar after witnessing the near disappearance of travel agencies in the community.

“Thirty years ago, you could walk through a city and see a travel company location,” he said, noting that OTAs have since created an “invisible industry.”

The Departure Lounge does not have an online booking engine, although it does have a website.

So Waldon rethought the travel business “in a way that would make sense for a travel company to be visible in the heart of a city,” he said. To that end, he interviewed more than 200 Austinites “who were heavy-duty travelers.”

Virtual travel
Drawing on those interviews, he came up with the idea of having an agency that’s also an upscale lounge offering drinks, nibbles and sandwiches.
 
The agency has extended hours. It’s open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday. It’s closed Sunday. It also offers a daily happy hour.

 “We use your taste buds and eyes to transport you all over the world and put a trip together for you,” said Waldon.

The agency has a team of agents—each specializing in at least two destinations or types of travel—on hand to help clients plan their trips.

Agency newbies
The vast majority of the agency’s travel clients have never used an agency before.

According to Waldon, 60% of them are walk-ins who initially visited the store for a cup of coffee, a glass of wine or a bite to eat and discovered that they can book travel there.

“I’m amazed at how few people don’t know you can work with a travel agent or even that they exist,” he said.

Although these walk-ins are never pressured to book trips, Waldon said travel sales at the agency are three times higher than he had forecasted when it opened.

Spreading the word
“The uniqueness of the concept has been a key driver of most of our publicity to date,” Walden said.

While he has used various marketing techniques — including direct marketing, social media and public relations, “frankly, word of mouth works best,” he said. “My initial clients have told friends and family about us.”

Themed travel events, many in collaboration with preferred suppliers, have also generated a lot of business.

“We get creative,” Waldon said.

The agency, for example, agency recently held a “Cowboys and Spaceships” event that focused on two luxury guest ranches and Virgin Galactic. All of the agency’s touch screens were used to showcase the products.

Another way Waldon generates business is by renting the agency out as an event venue. The Departure Lounge accommodates 125 people, and a private room accommodates 12 to 16.

Attendees of corporate, social and fundraising events have become travel clients. And, to give back to the community, Waldon often offers the agency free of charge to nonprofits holding events.

Catching on
Waldon said his concept is already catching on.

A company that controls retail space at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport approached him about opening a location there as part of the airport’s redevelopment.

Waldon is also considering franchising his business model.

Other people have expressed interest in opening franchise locations, he said.

“We wanted to have a good year under our belt first,” he said.

Triggering innovation
Walden hopes other travel entrepreneurs will follow his lead in coming up with innovative ways to serve up travel.

“When I first conceived this business model, there was a fear I’d be copied; and now I fear that people won’t come up with ideas like this,” he said.

“After doing this for a year, I can you tell that innovation is long overdue. We have to give prospective customers a reason to find us and do business with us.”