It’s June, traditionally one of the slowest months in the travel business. But there’s never a dull moment when you own a small business—and many travel advisors report they have plenty of homework to do over their summer vacation.
At Boutique Travel Advisors, co-founder Angela Rice is trying to tackle what she sees as one of the biggest issues facing both travel agency owners and independent contractors: working so hard during Wave season, but then having to wait months to see the cash flow.
The majority of trips are completed in Q2 and Q3—so her agency doesn’t earn 60-70% of its revenue until Q3 and Q4. “This is a real challenge for growing agencies who need to recruit advisors to accommodate their growth,” Rice says. “It’s a big investment for an agency to prepay salaries. And if their advisors are commission only, how do you keep them incentivized to work hard for no pay?”
It’s a conundrum she will be focusing on this summer, when she plans “to strategize on how to curate more travel during Q1 and Q4, to normalize our future sales and revenue,” she says.
Margie Lenau’ of Wonderland Family Vacations LLC, meanwhile, is “looking at the new post-Covid flow of the timing for new bookings, and adjusting our marketing to remind people to book early.”
As travelers hit the road in growing numbers, it’s more important than ever before to book early, she says. The cruise line’s most popular itineraries, like Alaska, are filling fast—and with lots of group business on her books, she already has had to put off some groups until 2026 to get enough rooms.
In the back office, meanwhile, Lenau’ uses the summer “to get in touch with people that may need our services—always a good way to begin creating more group travel.” She is updating the agency’s Terms & Conditions, IC contracts and website, and taking a careful look at agency costs.
In an effort to keep costs down, Lenau’ is getting more creative with her marketing, thinking about partnerships with suppliers and talking with a local TV station about a series of travel segments. In preparation, she is thinking about which destinations to highlight, and tweaking where she is traveling with the show in mind. And of course she is concentrating on education, in classes and future travel FAMS.
Spreading the Word
After a “super-productive May,” Erin Stennett at Majestic Memories Travel and Vacations is focusing on helping the agents on her team gain more clients, and spreading the word about the value of using a travel advisor through social media and in-person presentations at local venues.
She has spoken at the Boys and Girls Club about how she got into travel and her experiences as a travel advisor, and on June 28 will make a presentation at her local library on “Travel Made Easy,” offering information about how to get a passport, how and why to apply for Global Entry and TSA Precheck, and why to use a travel professional.
“I want to inspire people to travel more, to learn about different people, places, cultures and religions, and to know that no matter where you go, people are good and we all pretty much want the same things: to live our lives, support our families, and be happy,” she says.
Gary Smith, owner and CEO at TravelPerks, is happy to report that things really didn’t slow down at his Dream Vacations franchise this year until June. “We use this time for training and planning for 2025,” he says—and especially, thinking about whether to beef up his staff for Wave season. With a program that requires 45-60 days for hiring and 90 more for training, the time to start the process is now if he wants to be ready by early December. He’s also evaluating new processes and efficiencies. “Due to how nice the summers are here, we don’t travel much in summer,” he says. “So we’re here to plan for the future.”
At Destinations Ahead Travel, Jennifer Hawthorn is planning a future of a different kind, using the slower months to plan a few US bus tours for next year, beginning with trips to Niagara Falls and The Ark Encounter in Kentucky. “Hopefully this will be a new group revenue stream for us,” she says.
And Rita Perez has given the whole idea of summer planning a lot of thought—and shared a checklist on LinkedIn “to get your business in order and ready for festive NOW,” instead of waiting until the busy Q4 is upon us.
It includes:
- Review and Update Business Processes and Systems. Ensure everything is streamlined; focus on refining workflows, evaluating task lists, and updating systems to work efficiently and effectively. Review and update email automations to ensure they are aligned with your current marketing strategies. Update your CRM system, ensuring all contact information and client notes are accurate and comprehensive.
- Enhance Your Online Presence. Review and refresh your website copy, update your Google Business Profile, and ensure your social media bios are current and engaging.
- Plan and Review Marketing and Content Strategy and Materials. Strategize and batch out your marketing materials, such as blog posts, social media posts, and newsletters, for the rest of the year. Create a content calendar for Q3 and Q4, working with or around the holidays. Identify key promotional events or trips and outline a strategy for each, including timelines and target audiences. One final thing to update is your marketing assets, especially if you’ve recently updated your visuals, colors, or fonts. Review your most used Canva templates to make sure they are up to date. Conduct a brand audit to ensure consistency across all platforms and materials. And capture new, high-quality photos and videos that highlight your travel services and destinations while you’re on any trips this summer.
- Prepare for Future Business Growth. Plot out programs and partnerships for the fall, and attend networking events to line up potential leads and referral partners for the fall and winter. Set milestones and goals for future growth, and outline the steps needed to achieve them.
So much to do, so little time. Hoping you all find a week or two to just chill this summer. And maybe take a vacation of your own!
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.