TM hails record start to 2018

TRAVELMANAGERS says that this year “has seen the best individual sales months we’ve ever had,” the group’s coo Grant Campbell told Travel Daily.

While not disclosing the specific figures, Campbell said that each month had outperformed its corresponding period last year, building on a strong FY2017.

Speaking at the company’s national conference in Honolulu this week, TravelManagers chairman Barry Mayo said the strong financial results were not just attributable to an expanded network, but also the improved performance of its PTMs.

“The average sale per PTM over the last 12 months has actually increased significantly since the start of year,” Mayo said.

The company believes the factors driving up individual sales have included improved collateral such as updated marketing and budgeting tools, catering for more niche offerings, as well working hard to open up more quality product for its PTMs.

“We continue to deliver our network with things like the new Luxury Escapes deal,” ( TD 21 Aug) Campbell said.

“We also recently invested in dedicated cruise specialists - everyone is always quoting strong cruise growth and that has really paid great dividends over the last 12 months,” he added.

A strong theme at TravelManagers this year has focused on the mental wellbeing of its agents, an area the company also believes filters in to its overall success.

One big push in this area has seen the company provide PTMs with 24-7 access to a team of trained psychologists with HR consultancy PeopleSense.

“Our goal is to give our PTMs everything they need to run a good business...they can feel isolated working remotely and we just felt there was more we could do,” Campbell said.

Pictured: TravelManagers chairman and coo Barry Mayo and Grant Campbell.