New home-based agency concept Your Travel Centre will actively seek to attract newcomers to the travel industry, with the offer of certified training and an income as they learn.
The model, launched by the management team behind home based and retail network Cruise Holidays last month, will focus on rookie agents – a dramatic shift from rival home-based networks where experience is considered crucial.
In order to attract the newcomers and ensure their success, the company has put together a training program with Travel Training Australia that will award students with a Certificate 3 in travel upon completion.
“That’s the attraction for them – by joining with us they can achieve a certificate 3 and earn while they are learning,” managing director Les Farrar said.
“They can start their own business and within a couple of months they can be operating in their own right.”
The rookies will be supported by an in-house support program which will help them through the start-up phase as they find their feet, and into the future. But Farrar acknowledged the challenges of the model.
“You’ve got to have robust training program in place and robust systems and support in place,” he admitted.
"It’s not something any company would take on lightly. Certainly it will take longer for rookies to be productive agents in terms of giving back to the business.”
But he stressed that enabling industry newcomers to enter the business brings a “fresh new perspective” with many able to make sales in their first few weeks thanks to existing networks.
“It’s a nice opportunity for these people to get into the industry and it means we’re getting new blood into the industry which has always been an issue,” Farrar said.
At present, the Your Travel Centre network counts six agents among its ranks, with two of those “rookies” already recruited.
Farrar underlined its offer of behind the scenes support, enabling agents to grow their own brands.
