Travel Leaders Network, which calls itself the largest retail travel agency organization in North America, saw a record year of growth in 2019, highlighted by a rapid expansion of its international presence, according to executives speaking at a media event here. Travel Leaders Network is a division of Travel Leaders Group and has about 6,000 agency locations across the U.S. and Canada.

John Lovell, president, leisure travel, supplier relations and networks for Travel Leaders Group, said that travel spend is up and optimism is high despite world events liked the coronavirus crisis in China. He said that despite those issues, travelers are going to spend more and take longer trips in 2020. “We don’t see the industry slowing down at all,” he said; “the industry will continue to grow.”

Travel Leaders Network, said Lovell, is keeping advisors updated on the coronavirus impact, including canceled cruises, airline policy changes and so forth. He said the company is concerned but that it is too early to predict how the virus will ultimately affect global travel. Lovell also said that he didn’t think the presidential election year would have a big impact on travel demand, saying, ”I think people have tuned out politics.”

International Growth

Starting with just six international agencies at the beginning of 2019, Travel Leaders Network grew to 71 international members in 80 countries, with many of them the largest in their regions, according to Lovell. He said the outlook is bright for travel advisors because increasing desire for personalization drives the need to talk to an advisor.

Roger Block, president of Travel Leaders Network, said that the integration of the international agencies was not as challenging as might be expected because a system is already in place to incorporate agencies. Also, many of the new members had been part of larger organizations and were used to following rules and regulations. Most of the international agencies are corporate, but they also have leisure divisions and, said Block, Travel Leaders Network will be leveraging its expertise in leisure to grow that side of their business.

Stephen McGillivray, chief marketing and communications officer for Travel Leaders Group, said that Travel Group Network’s competitors claim they have many international offices but the overwhelming of those are receptive service agencies and not significant travel agencies. He said the company was growing so fast internationally because of its focus on the customer. Instead of a big call center, for example, there are teams of agents devoted to specific clients. “We may not be the cheapest,” said McGillivray, “but we will solve the client’s needs.”

Block said the company added 283 new U.S. Members in 2019, including World Travel Holdings, Inc. a major cruise seller.

Among the other trends and company developments discussed by executives were:

—A change is being seen in in guided vacations (tours) with millennials driving products that offer in-depth and off-the-beaten-path experiences

—81 percent of respondents in a customer survey said they are trying to avoid huge crowds while 66 percent would choose to vacation in less mainstream destinations. McGillivray said the trend toward avoiding crowds and finding less visited places “plays to the value of travel advisors.”

—The first-ever Leisure Leaders Meeting was held last fall in Miami with about 100 agencies sharing best practices and hearing industry leaders.

—This year’s International Summit will be held in Jaipur, India, indicative of initiatives to spotlight less visited places.

—EDGE, the company’s annual conference, was the largest ever and this year’s at Universal Orlando is already sold out.

—Training has been revamped with four tiers established: Tier 1 for new agents; Tier 2 for specialists who have some experience; Tier 3 for consultants; and Tier 4 for trusted advisors.

—The Agent Profiler program, which provides online profiles of member agents, resulted in 170,000 leads delivered last year, up from 140,000 the previous year. One quarter of those leads closed, producing $200 million in sales and $20 million in commissions.

—When a consumer searches Google for a travel advisor a Travel Leaders Network agent will frequently come up first or second because of so much unique, original content available about the advisors.

— A Leaders Edge website program relaunched at Edge last year provides a connection to the travelleaders.com website. Agents can personalize their sites and anything that is updated on the main site will be updated on individual agent sites. As a result of the relaunch, the number of subscribers grew substantially though it is still a small percentage of member agencies. It costs $300-$400 initially to subscribe with a monthly fee thereafter.

—Distinctive Voyages, a program offering added amenities to cruise passengers, saw 30 percent more passengers in 2019 with many customers saying the onboard host was the most appealing factor.

The Select Hotels & Resorts program increased its choice of properties by 20 percent and they now number 1,542. Also, Select Villas now features more than 2,000 private villas in Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas.