It’s a boutique host that acts like a consortium, in its laser-focus on preferred suppliers. It doesn’t really want to add new-to-the-industry advisors. And rather than duplicating the marketing and technology its members get from Signature Travel Network, it gives 100% of its commissions back to top sellers.
In short, Oasis Travel Network is a unique kind of host for a unique kind of travel advisor. Its top advisors on our Avalon Panorama Tulip Time cruise in Amsterdam say it’s the perfect model for them.
OTN founder Lee Smolinski came up with the idea of starting a host agency that paid 100% of commissions back to agents who successfully sold preferred suppliers in 2009. But it’s a model perfectly fitted to the post-Covid world as well.
Since the pandemic, travel advisors want five simple things from their host, Smolinksi says:
- The highest commission levels from suppliers
- The highest percentage commission split, and no fees
- Prompt payment of commissions
- Supplier support
- Recognition for them and their associates
“Ours is a very simple strategy” he says. “Why spend money on things our advisors don’t want? We’ll give them back all the commission if they support OTN’s suppliers. And because we are so focused on our preferred suppliers, they provide over-the-top service for our members.”
Indeed, the model seems to be having a growth spurt. Last year, Oasis advisors racked up $225 million in sales. In 2024, it expects that number to grow by double digits, to between $280 million and $300 million, thanks in part to the success of a new plan that encourages advisors to take on associates.
Oasis offers various plans under which members can choose a fee they feel comfortable paying; each level is weighted based on preferred land, cruise, and insurance sales.” Advisors who earn at least $50,000 in preferred supplier commissions, for example, can get 100% of their commissions back, paid weekly. They also earn Chairmans Club points, similar to frequent flyer points, for additional sales and for attending Oasis events, in a kind of override agreement. They can use these points to offset their fees or to attend other events.
In this booming year for travel, a new Oasis program lets advisors add an unlimited number of associates for a flat fee of $999 a year (which they can offset with Chairmans Club points). The idea is for members to add the associates they need, mentor and manage them, and help them grow their own businesses. So instead of telling a prospective client they cannot help with a simple Carnival booking, for example, overloaded advisors can just pass the customer on to the associates.
“We’re quiet out there; we don’t market for agents,” Smolinski says—and still, March sales were up 35.5%, or $5.5 million, over last year, thanks in large part to about 100 new associates.
“It’s all about growing revenue, not collecting fees,” Smolinski says. “We want to do what’s good for the industry, for our members, and for our supplier partners.”
Oasis hosts four events a year, including a Member Appreciation trip (this one sold out in two weeks), OTN University (this year 121 advisors and 25 suppliers in Mexico, also sold out), and an annual conference and a Top Producers trip. Next year, it will add a trip for top associates.
Oasis Agents Say the Model Works
Not surprisingly, everyone in the top sellers group spoke highly of Oasis in general, of Smolinski in particular, and of the value of a host that focuses on building tight and personal relationships with a small number of preferred suppliers.
“Covid was a gift of time, and I wanted to use it wisely. I looked at all the changes in the industry, the effects of social media, the new tools that didn’t exist when I started—and I realized that when you’re a little guy, you need someone on your side when there are difficulties,” says David Natale, a former tour guide who took the leap into his own travel business and launched RiverCruiseKing.com. “So, when we started sailing again that brought me to Oasis. Lee was there for me; he made some introductions and now I’m filling ships for Amadeus and leading groups on various luxury lines. I realize how much money I was leaving on the table in the form of insurance and land packages, I have all this access to wonderful land and cruise partners, and my clients are thrilled that I’ve expanded my services. Now I’m doing groups with Silversea and Viking and Celebrity. I sell a lot of big-money groups.”
Indeed, Natale last year sold $3.8 million worth of travel as a solo agent; now he has brought on his husband as an admin and signed three new associates. “I don’t want to add associates just to have associates; I don’t need the money and I don’t need more work or more clients. But I have a few friends who work in other aspects of the industry who are looking to make a transition, who see what I do and are interested. And with the new associate’s program I can bring them on and help them create their own businesses.”
After living in Africa, meanwhile, Kristie Keller of Addicted to Adventures in Rochester, NY, says she was planning trips for friends and family but “didn’t even know what a host was” when she Googled “how to become a travel agent” and then Host Agency Reviews—and came upon the well-recommended Oasis Travel Network in 2019. She followed its extensive training program, attended Boot Camp, went full-time in 2023, and sold about $4 million worth of river and luxury cruises in the past 12 months.
“Oasis really took the time to answer all my questions, and Lee is a powerhouse person who has helped me so much,” she says. “The whole team is so supportive. If I need anything they are on it; if there is ever an issue that has to get resolved, they step in. They answer my stupid questions, they don’t judge me, they know who I am, and they support me 1,000%.”
The suppliers, too, were so helpful that soon Keller ditched her original plan to focus on adventure travel in favor of river cruises. “Marcus Leskovar from Amadeus has been instrumental in helping me grow my river cruise business, he is there for me and guides me, and Oceania was so supportive that I said ‘I’ve got this, I can do this’ as I booked two world cruises,” she says. “I’m working 6 am-9 pm every day and 7-5 on weekends but I’m not getting burned out. I’m on a roll and I love my job!”
Susanne Berres at Beyond the Moon Travel LLC spent six months researching host agencies before settling on Oasis; she liked the smaller size and the personal attention, the fact that it feels like a family, the tiered commission structure. Living in Germany now, but with a US clientele, she has been comfortable in the 90% commission bucket since joining in 2019. “I like the way you can have a lower split and pay less; it’s perfect for me,” she says.
With almost $2.4 million in sales, Tamara Jacobs at Destinations by Tamara in Marietta, GA, also is in the 100% tier, and taking advantage of the associates program to add two independent contractors. Both originally came to her as clients through Facebook groups to which she belongs, and then reached out to join the industry themselves.
With her own background in global sports marketing and public relations, Jacobs switched careers in 2019, looking to spend more time at home with her teenaged children. “As I researched and explored, I kept coming back to travel; I knew my consulting, planning and client relationship background, combined with my travel knowledge, would make me a great travel consultant. I opted for the host agency model, and Oasis kept rising to the top on all fronts. It seemed like the best partner, and I loved its relationship with Signature,” she says.
She started in the 90% tier, and when Oasis lowered prices during Covid gave the 100% bucket a try. She’s been there ever since.
Nancy Scorby, president of Scorby Travel in St. Charles, IL, for the past 10 years also has opted for the plan that returns 100% of her commissions.
“Those of us who’ve been around for a long time appreciate Lee’s innovative ways. He’s a disruptor in the industry and I respect that. And he understands that while we support our vendors, they also really need to support us,” Scorby says. “Through Covid, he was tenacious that vendors do right by our clients, and a lot of us came away from that knowing he had our backs. He was also the first one to say ‘get back out there and sell and don’t wait, because people are going to want to travel again.’ So we did those beach vacations and then we crept back into all-inclusive Riviera Maya and Punta Cana trips, and then everything started expanding out from there. And he was right—2022 was my best year ever.”
More information about OTN is available at www.oasistravelnetwork.com.
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.
