Like so many travel advisors, Mitch Krayton has been working hard for years as a travel advisor—and especially so since Covid. But this year, he swears, he’s going to take a little time for himself. “I’m focusing on small groups, under 15,” he says. “I’m going to the places on my personal bucket list—to Patagonia and Greece—and saying, ‘Hey, come along with me.’ I’m not the tour leader, I’m just there to be with my friends, and have my bucket list checked off when I get back.”
He is surely not alone. Across the industry—but especially among those who have been in the business for a long time—the travel bug is biting. And advisors are looking to tick off their bucket lists and fit in some leisure time for themselves while they work.
Autumn Withers says that “after 20 years in the industry, I haven’t traveled as much as I’d like because I haven’t had time. And I think right now that’s a shift for many of us. I want to experience all the on-the-ground things that increase our value and make my life more enjoyable.”
At Dream Vacations Quinn Panzer Travel, Karen Quinn-Panzer built her business around groups interested in the same bucket list destinations that she was, she says—and now is going with the flow toward small in 2025—“small groups, ships within a ship, even Globus announced small group discoveries, down from 24 to 15 and the largest number of small group tours in Europe on land and sea and rivers. People like the ease of travel with small groups, there’s less hassle, less drama, more intimacy and more opportunity to make friends.” She’s headed to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, sailing Oceania, and hosting a private 8-night post-cruise for 12 in Australia, Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef, as well as 10 guests on a small-group culinary land tour in the Abruzze region of Italy through Edible Destinations. “We stay in a palazzo and do cooking tours in the morning and go out in the afternoon fishing and seeing vineyards.”
Her friend Amy Madson at Dream Vacations Madson & Associates has a very similar model, with an average group of 20 and a focus on solo travelers “who like to be independent but still part of a group. We have a core group of solo travelers and then a rolling group of newcomers.”
In the luxury space, meanwhile, Derek Krabill has built a group that’s been “booking one trip after the next, checking off their bucket lists.”
“I build my group trips around what I want to do and what I am passionate about—and I’m obsessed with Japan,” he says. So for 2025 he will be hosting a Travel Leaders voyage there and then adding a custom 10-day itinerary he built around his own dream trip, hiking the Nakasendo Trail. Many of his customers come from a travel club he hosts that at each meeting brings in one supplier to present three products, including one aspirational. The club meets the day before PROST travel industry networking group monthly meetings, “so I don’t have a problem getting a supplier to attend,” he says.
Staffing Up Is a Thing
Krabill is not planning to hire associates or ICs this year; like many travel advisors, he and his partner are content to just handle repeat clients and referrals. They give all new business to their one associate, who after three years with them cleared $1 million tin 2023. But for many others, dreams of a little more leisure include the reality of hiring help to handle clients or build business while they are gone.
But Shawnta Harrison at Harrison Travel is hiring big-time this year, not just to handle more business but also to help mentor a nw generation of travel advisors.
“2025 is a pivotal year for the travel industry,” she says. “More people are seeking transformative experiences, and they’re looking to trusted advisors who can curate journeys that go beyond the ordinary. By equipping and mentoring new agents, I’m not just expanding my business—I’m creating opportunities for others to step into their dreams and help their clients do the same.”
Her one-word focus for 2025 is “elevation—both in my own business and in the lives of those I serve. Travel has become more than just a means of exploration; it’s a pathway to freedom, empowerment, and joy. I’m committed to helping others build successful travel businesses and create lives of purpose and fulfillment.”
To that end, she reached out to her existing client list with an email saying she was expanding her team—and was amazed that 34 people registered for the opportunity, 10 attended her information session, and 6 ended up signing an independent contractor agreement. “It’s been such a joy to see their excitement and passion for this new chapter in their lives,” she says.
Beci Mahnken at MEI-Travel, meanwhile, already has been down that road. With 120 ICs and 8 employees, she’s always looking for good people. “I love finding people who have a passion but don’t know how to go about it,” she says. Even before Facebook, she partnered with discussion boards groups, and early on formed a partnership with Lou Mongelo, a local podcaster, to cover Disney parks and cruise lines and host in-park events. Then she partnered with influencers like Matt at RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com.
“Recruiting is really organic for us, because I look for people who are passionate about their communities, and they bring us people who want to be a travel advisor for the area they are passionate about,” she says.
For 2025, as always, she’ll be looking for opportunities for her ICs to grow, she says. “I try to encourage my agents to have a marketing plan, to go back to the basics of their local markets, their personal contacts and organizations in their hometowns, and find those connections rather than rely on social media. I still sell, too, so when I sit on an advisory board [this year, she is on Royal Caribbean’s] I understand what they are going through and what the customer wants. I’m a true believer that the tide raises all boats. I want to do all I can to give back.”
She’s also looking at AI as a way to “enhance what we do without taking away from the human aspect of service we provide”—specfically, to streamline how she provides quotes and information and to help compare cruise lines in a quick way. “That’s probably the first step. The plan is on the table; we’ve been in the process of trying to find a digital consultant to help us align where we want to go.”
One relative newbie, Audrey Colley Evans, already is looking to diversify into more bucket-list destinations along with her customers in 2025. The youngest travel advisor at her agency—and winner of Signature’s Rising Star Award in her first year—she’s starting to feel comfortable spreading her wings beyond honeymoons, doing more of the Europe and active adventure trips she and her customers want to try.
“I’m 26, just barely Gen Z, and it still surprises me how much of my business is as young as it is; it’s a good opportunity to build a clientele and grow up together.” At conferences, she says, she hangs out with other newcomers to the industry; “I instill in them the importance of asking questions and listening to the answers. Use your resources—use the people sitting right next to you. Ask them questions. And use your host resources too. Signature has a ton of resources; I was in the pilot when they brought back Embark Phase 2, all the teachers are smart and interesting to listen to and they created a whole online community for us”
She’s also “a big fan of using Voyager Social and Toby AI for supplemental information, especially if it’s a new destination. It helps me fill in the little gaps, add some free things to do, experiences, dining options. And I also use it for emails; I’ll first-draft them and then have Toby clean them up.”
And at Signal Travel and Tours, Matt Withers also is looking at AI for 2025. “I hope it will help me save time,” he says. “So I can go fishing.”
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
