In Conversation with Rick Zimmerman & Bill Coyle: How KHM Is Scaling to Half a Billion in Sales

After two decades, host agency KHM Travel Group has reached a turning point. The company celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, acquired boutique host agency Levarté Travel, and is nearing half a billion in sales across its network of 5,900 travel advisors.

Travel Market Report sat down with KHM’s president and CEO, Rick Zimmerman, and its vice president of agent engagement, Bill Coyle, at this year’s Crystal Conference to discuss the company’s recent growth and its path in the future.

“I never imagined you could have nearly 6,000 advisors and still maintain a family atmosphere — but that’s exactly what we’ve built,” said Rick Zimmerman, president and CEO of KHM Travel Group.

KHM is an advisor-forward host agency. TMR witnessed this firsthand at the conference, mingling with the 300-plus advisors in attendance. Maintaining that culture as the company scales has become a central priority for leadership. Both Zimmerman and Coyle emphasized that KHM’s growth strategy is rooted not only in expanding its advisor network, but in continuing to provide the education, support, and community that help independent travel advisors build sustainable businesses.

“Relationships are everything,” said Coyle. “Advisors need to know they have a partner in this business who understands their needs and is working alongside them.”

Education: The Cornerstone of KHM’s Strategy

Since the beginning, KHM has concentrated on supporting its network of advisors as its primary business model. It’s a quality over quantity approach: last year, its 5,900 advisors sold $458 million in bookings, resulting in $53 million in commission payouts.

“Early on, we concentrated on having the best education in the industry,” said Zimmerman. “Those new-to-the-business agents loved it, and so many of them rose to the top and are now selling a million dollars or more.”

Today, KHM offers a tiered education system designed to guide advisors through different stages of their careers. Programs include Boot Camp 1.0 for new advisors, Boot Camp 2.0 for those looking to refine their selling strategies, and ongoing in-person training opportunities such as Destination Success and the Luxury Symposium.

Bill Coyle, KHM’s vice president of agent engagement, said the goal is to ensure that advisors receive training that reflects the real challenges they face in the field. As a longtime travel advisor himself, Coyle said his experience continues to shape how the company develops its educational programming.

“Everything has to be relevant to what advisors need today — not what we think they should be doing, but how we can meet them where they are,” explained Coyle.

A Human-First Approach to Travel Planning

Zimmerman told TMR that he feels “blessed” by KHM’s success. He founded the company in the early aughts, and while at one time he might have dreamed that the company would rapidly expand to a five-digit network of advisors, looking back, he’s grateful that he’s been able to strategically grow the company sustainably, allowing him to better support the individual members.

“I think at first I had the thought that, ‘oh, this is just gonna blow up. It’s gonna be amazing.’ I’m a positive person. 10,000 travel advisors would have been great at that point in time, you know, but it was really a learning process — learning what the business was really about from a host agency perspective,” he explained to TMR.

At nearly 6,000 travel advisors strong, following the Levarté Travel acquisition, KHM Travel Group is a significant player in the host agency space. Yet, the company has been able to maintain a community-building ethos. Despite being the founder, president and CEO, Zimmerman is on a first-name basis with many of the advisors in his network, and makes a point to forge personal relationships — regardless of whether the travel advisor is a part-time newcomer or a long-time top-seller.

“I never knew what type of family atmosphere it would be,” said Zimmerman. “I could not imagine a corporate world that would have 5,900 travel agents and 94 employees and have it be a family atmosphere — and here I get to lead an organization like that.”

Since founding the company, Zimmerman’s leadership at KHM has been supported by principles such as integrity, loyalty, authenticity, teamwork, and gratitude. He said those values shape everything from advisor relationships to company partnerships.

“When we look at partnerships or acquisitions, we look first at values. If those core values resonate, then we know we can work together,” said Zimmerman.

Technology: Challenges & Opportunities

Both Zimmerman and Coyle identified technology as a challenge for KHM, as well as an opportunity.

Over the last few years, the host agency has made a concerted effort to address this gap. During the conference’s general sessions, Geoff Cox, KHM’s vice president of sales and marketing, said the company is in the midst of a three-year commitment to improve its technology. So far, this has resulted in acquiring streaming technology to live-stream its training and events, enhancing its website, and updating its servers.

Coyle suggested there’s more to be done. He told TMR that while technological advancements are welcome, what the advisors really need is the training and experience to implement these tools and resources to enhance their businesses.

“Some of our most experienced agents are top sellers, but their processes are still manual. I don’t think they’re using technology to the best that they can,” said Coyle. “For many advisors, the challenge isn’t the technology itself — it’s understanding the process and how technology fits into that workflow,” said Coyle.

Zimmerman said KHM is currently exploring partnerships with artificial intelligence providers to determine how advisors can best leverage emerging tools without sacrificing the personal relationships that define the profession. Rather than adopting technology simply for its novelty, he said the company is focused on identifying practical applications that can streamline workflows and give advisors more time to focus on their clients.

“Right now, the opportunity for travel advisors is being that real person for their clients. An AI doesn’t know how the sand feels on your toes,” said Zimmerman. “If technology can give advisors time back in their schedule so they can spend more time interacting with their clients, then everyone is better off.”