It was just after Covid, about 18 months ago, that Jenn Lee and Travel Planners International owners Ken and Tony Gagliano Jr. agreed that the travel industry was coming back strong—and that the time was right for a new kind of model for travel professionals. It was time to start building on their success as a host agency by adding a franchise division “with a fresh perspective on what a franchise should be.”
This week will be Lee’s last at TPI, as she “launches into” the new Vacation Planners. The first item on her agenda is building an interest list of experienced travel advisors and choosing the first 30 to 50 to form the freshman class of new franchisees. In this first round, Lee is looking for advisors who already have a strong business model for marketing and servicing customers; who look at travel as a full-time profession even if they have a side job; who have booked at least $400,000 in travel sales over the past 12-18 months; who have “a business-forward mindset and understand that travel is the product, but building a profitable business and serving clients and the community is the priority.”
Many advisors and agency owners do a great job of taking care of their clients. But while they have an influence locally, they are not known for a company name, Lee says. “They want to focus on curating experiences for their customers, not spend a lot of time trying to get their name out to more and more people. Their passion isn’t in building a national brand. So that will be my job at headquarters: to drive consumer awareness to a Vacation Planners franchisee, and to help the consumer understand that the travel industry is a serious profession, that these are business owners who take this very seriously.”
With a background in entrepreneurial businesses that included regular appearances on Fox Business News, Lee knows how to pitch to national media, she says.
Finished now transitioning her TPI role to former Celebrity strategic account manager Dave Meihoefer — “a guy who really gets the entrepreneurial spirit”—Lee now is focused on the final stages of solidifying the service offerings and hiring a team to support the franchisees. Her game plan is to sign up the Vacation Planners Founders Circle in Q4 2024—and with 150 “active conversations” with advisors already in progress, she is confident she will reach that goal. Next will come in-person training in Orlando, while Vacation Planners ramps up the consumer marketing engine that will bring them customers.
Fees for experienced advisors will start with a $2,500 buy-in for current TPI members and $3,500 otherwise, plus a 90-10 split of commissions and $700 per month. The second phase of recruitment will reach out to new-to-industry travel advisors, with a $7,500 buy-in. Included are training as well as membership in ASTA, CLIA and Signature Travel Network, including Signature’s email marketing programs. Vacation Planners will have a directory to help consumers find a franchise by location or expertise or travel style, as well as a website with a booking engine for the franchise, a CRM, “everything a business owner needs, all run under the TPI back end so we only have to add training and massive amounts of marketing support.”
And beyond the present value of owning your own business, Lee says, a franchise model is a perfect fit for those looking to build a sustainable and more easily transferable business for when they are ready to retire. “It’s about building a travel business that has a legacy component. A franchise can be an easier-to-understand business model, it’s more profitable when folks want to get out of the industry or retire. You have a business that has assets, that has a recognized name, and that’s a lot easier to sell.”
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.
