Travel Counsellors has welcomed three new travel professionals to its team in Ireland, bringing the total number of Travel Counsellors operating throughout the country to a record 60.
Sonia Blakeman, Cara Hunter and Lisa Brennan are the latest agents to make the move to run their own travel businesses. Sonia, from Cork, has over 20 years’ experience in the travel industry, having previously worked at Shandon Travel for 14 years before becoming a Travel Counsellor.
Sonia said: “I am really excited to begin my new chapter as part of Travel Counsellors. The systems, marketing tools and back office support available to me, and more importantly my clients, are just amazing. I can’t wait to get started and hit the ground running. I aim to build a really successful business and am confident that my customers will appreciate the truly personal and bespoke travel service I can offer as a Travel Counsellor.”
The three new recruits visited the company’s Irish head office in Cork for induction training, where they learnt how to use the unique systems and leading technology, including Phenix, its inhouse dynamic packaging system. The system allows agents to tailor-make holidays for their customers, while giving them the power to control their own margin and dramatically increase their earning potential.
The company has also developed a ‘Return to Travel’ training programme that is a dedicated refresher course for agents who have taken a break from the industry, which both Cara and Lisa attended. Cara previously worked in Travelcare in Bray for 12 years and will specialise in both corporate and leisure travel, while Lisa worked in Carlow and was referred to Travel Counsellors by one of the company’s current agents.
The ‘Return to Travel’ programme allows more in-depth, intensive training, tailored to match each agent’s individual training needs and is yet another tool developed by the company to give travel professionals the opportunity to build their own successful home-based travel businesses.
Cathy Burke, Travel Counsellors Ireland General Manager, said: “I am delighted to have reached 60 Travel Counsellors in Ireland – it is a big milestone for us and as the company continues to grow I am extremely proud of everything that we have achieved. We have definitely seen a surge of interest from travel professionals in the industry, as we are able to offer a secure future to talented individuals, providing them with a tried and tested formula to build a successful travel business.
“It is fantastic to welcome Sonia, Cara and Lisa to the Travel Counsellors family and I am very confident that they will each be very successful. As a company we will continue to focus on recruiting the very best agents in the industry and providing them with the tools to succeed, and I look forward to welcoming more travel professionals very soon to our growing team here in Ireland.”
