Protravel International has launched The Journeys, which it calls the "gold standard in luxury travel advisor training and business development programs." The announcement was made at a New York media event where executives also discussed the rebranding of the company, which includes an updated logo, a strategic partnership with Google and enhanced online advisor profiles.
The Journeys is aimed at educating existing Protravel advisors to rise to higher levels of success and training the next generation of advisors aiming to provide elite, concierge-level expertise and service to clients.
Becky Powell, the president, said that the company wants to cultivate advisors who would like to reach the top tier using what she called the most comprehensive program for luxury travel advisors in the industry. She said that Protravel has been Virtuoso's highest-producing agency for 14 consecutive years.
There are three levels to the initiative: The Professional Advisor Journey, featuring professional development, business coaching and mentoring, lead generation and exclusive events; the Supplier Journey, focused on partnership support of advisors through training; and the Traveler Journey, including a new content site offering the inside scoop on destinations, itineraries and exclusive offers.
The full curriculum takes about 18 months to complete. Agents pay a fee of $1,095 for the entire course, which includes both online and in-person education.
The Journeys sessions will be on a scheduled basis with about 25 advisors starting the first level. When they reach the second level, another 25 will begin the program.
Powell said a number of cruise lines and hotel companies have agreed to be partners in The Journeys; they will be announced soon.
As for the branding initiative, Powell said that research was done into other luxury companies across industries and that resulted in the new logo and overall look.
In addition, the strategic partnership with Google has provided leads to Protravel advisors. In less than two months, she said, the campaign resulted in bookings that averaged $12,000 per trip. She said that 450 advisors now have profiles published on www.protravelinc.com, and the goal is to double that number.
Powell also presented trends among supplier categories. On air, she said that 65 percent of Protravel business involves international air travel and 71 percent of that is premium seating with business class doubling the volume of coach class.
On cruises, she mentioned that the main departure ports for the company were: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Venice. The average cruise spend in 2018 was $7,100 per booking with European sailings at $9,700.
For tours, the major destinations were the U.S., Italy, South Africa, Mexico, France, Israel and the U.K. Most tours are booked two to four months in advance.
In the hotel category, most popular cities are New York, London and San Francisco; internationally it's London, Paris and Tokyo. International bookings represented 38 percent of sales, and there has been a shift to high-end hotels.
Protravel, which is part of Travel Leaders Group and is based in New York, has more than 900 travel professionals in its system, with 24 locations in the U.S. and U.K., plus a network of hosted agents around the U.S.
The company has opened three new offices in the last seven months-in Austin; Orange County, California; and San Francisco. It has also upgraded a number of existing offices and opened new headquarters in New York last year.
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