PHOTO: Lungmus: “We’ve come a long way in two years.”

A little over two years ago, Travel Leaders Franchise Group unveiled its Independent Contractor (IC) Center of Excellence, an initiative designed to help its member agencies to attract independent contractors, whose numbers continue to swell.

It would appear the initiative is paying off. “We’ve come a long way in two years,” says Perry Lungmus, the Travel Leaders vice president who heads the IC Center of Excellence. Last year, he says, the number of ICs joining Travel Leaders host agencies rose by 20 percent, with the number of ICs in the company’s network approaching 2,500.

“The independent contractor segment is a really important part of the industry, and we needed to grow our base. That was our mandate,” says Lungmus.

Through the IC Center of Excellence initiative, Travel Leaders is helping its member agencies serving as hosts to understand their individual value propositions while at the same time arming them with the information they need to lure ICs into their folds. “What that leads to is somebody having the confidence to expand their network,” says Lungmus

Through the initiative, Travel Leaders host agencies are able to capitalize on a robust portfolio of programs and services designed to attract and retain ICs. Hosts, for instance, can reap the benefits of IC management and commission payment system tools; training and education opportunities, including focusing on legal guidelines and asset protection; and a framework to share best practices.

A primary benefit for ICs, meanwhile, is the opportunity to associate themselves with Travel Leaders agencies. “The ICs we’re trying to attract are those who want to align themselves with nearby brick-and-mortar agencies with professional environments where they can meet with suppliers and clients and also build their businesses by learning from others in the office,” says Lungmus.

Still, Travel Leaders is not discounting those ICs who reside in areas where there are no Travel Leaders locations. “If you look at the way the Travel Leaders offices are distributed across the country, there’s white space on that map,” notes Lungmus. “There are certain parts of this country that we need to fill, and ICs can help us populate that map in parts of the country where we may not have brick-and- mortar agencies.”

Also, ICs can capitalize on Travel Leaders’ reputation as a recognized, reputable brand. “In some ways the association with a recognized brand legitimizes an IC’s business,” says Lungmus says.

Better yet, Travel Leaders is making it pretty easy for ICs to find a host agency that meets their geographic and business needs. On Jan. 15, it is re-launching JoinTraveLeaders.com with a more specific focus on ICs, including a section dedicated to helping them search for hosts. “ICs have specific host requirements, and they want to align themselves with agencies that are like minded and can help them build their businesses,” says Lungmus.

Host agencies will be listed geographically on the site with profiles including information on owners, numbers of years in business, number of ICs they host and their GDS platforms. “ICs can find agencies that are nearby and have direct contact with them,” says Lungmus, adding that Travel Leaders does not play matchmaker between member agencies and ICs. “Every one of those host agencies has its own value proposition, so we’ll let the ICs search for hosts that best meet their needs.”

For its part, the Center of Excellence offers a core package of benefits that a host can pass on to the IC, including, among other things, Travel Leaders’ hotel program, DMC network and hosted cruise offers.

“We let the hosts layer on the things that they do best and makes them really unique,” says Lungmus. “On top of that ICs have the ability to engage in marketing, which is huge,” says Lungmus.

Importantly, ICs are able to participate in Travel Leaders’ Agent Profiler lead-generation program. “That’s huge, because we’re delivering thousands of leads to agents every month,” says Lungmus. Better still, Travel Leaders unveiled an enhanced version of Agent Profiler, during the annual Travel Leaders Franchise Group national meeting last month in Glendale, Ariz.

The latest iteration of Agent Profiler, Agent Profiler 2.0, which was in the process of being rolled out at press time, features three main drivers: multiple bios, travel adventures, and customer testimonials and ratings.

Significantly, agents will now be able to create multiple online profiles for each of their areas of specialization, rather than just having one that lists all their specialties. This flexibility will enable them to be very focused in each of their profiles.

The multiple bios will also help agents improve their SEO rankings, since Google ranks topic authorities higher in search results.

Agents will be able to create travel adventures, experiential blog-like travel posts, to showcase their destination knowledge and recent travel experiences, thus encouraging more personal connections with prospective clients.

The third driver, customer testimonials and ratings, will enable clients to provide feedback on their experience working with a particular agent, thus helping to validate that agent’s expertise in the eyes of prospective clients.

Last but certainly not least, Agent Profiler 2.0. is able to distinguish where the IC physically resides versus the address of the agency, enabling consumers to find someone in their own locale.

“I think specialization is the future of the industry and a means to success for today’s travel agent,” says Lungmus. “I think that’s what attracts people to becoming a part of this business and becoming an IC.”

Travel Leaders is also building specialist educational programs for a variety of niches, including honeymoons and destination weddings, luxury travel and active/adventure travel. “For many ICs that’s really important because they have very specific focuses in their businesses,” Lungmus says.

The company relaunched its InteGREAT marketing platform a little more than a year ago, with a separate platform built for ICs called IC InteGREAT, which enables them to manage and market their client lists. It also provides ICs with control and choices relating to their Agent Profiler pages, direct mail, email, consumer travel magazines and customized promotional pages.

In the final analysis, a distinguishing characteristic of the IC Excellence initiative is the way in which host agencies can customize it to suit their own unique business models. “The point would be that, no matter what you’re looking for as an IC, there’s probably a Travel Leaders’ host that’s orienting its business strength toward what you’re looking for,” says Lungmus.

As it stands now, there are two very different segments of ICs joining the Travel Leaders ranks, says Lungmus. The first is a cadre of former agency owners who no longer want the responsibilities and hassles of managing an office. “They want to deal with their own client lists or maybe just a part of their client lists, those clients they really like the most,” says Lungmus.

The second group comprises new entrants, including Millennials. “We’re seeing a lot of intelligent and ambitious young new entrants come into this business,” says Lungmus, “and that’s really exciting.”

In Lungmus’ view, an IC career path is ideally suited for independent-minded Millennials. “They have complete control over their own businesses, they’re making good money and they’re doing what they’re passionate about,” says Lungmus. “This seems like it’s tailor-made for those who have the ambition, wherewithal and connectivity that Millennials seem to have.”

Moreover, these young entrants can capitalize on the trend toward specialization.

“They can pursue something very specific that they themselves have a passion for,” says Lungmus, “I think that’s the future of the industry.”