Homeworking giants smash monthly sales records in January

Manchester-based firm Travel Counsellors said sales last month were up by 12% year-on-year as January 2024 became the “best ever sales month in the company’s 30-year history”. The company reported that peaks bookings hit £125 million last month.

Travel Counsellors’ own tailored packages performed particularly well with a record-breaking total of £47 million in sales during January.

The strength of sales was further highlighted by the fact that Travel Counsellors achieved seven of its top 10 best-ever days for sales during the month, with one day setting a new daily record of £7.5 million in bookings.

More than 400 individual Travel Counsellors enjoyed a record-breaking month for sales during January, while 110 homeworkers had total bookings in excess of £200,000 for the month.

Steve Byrne, Travel Counsellors’ chief executive, said: "We are delighted with these figures, which is thanks to the dedication and hard work of our community of Travel Counsellors, support team colleagues and valued supplier partners who have worked tirelessly as one team to care for each other and our customers.”

Travel Counsellors, which specialises in both leisure and business travel, has more than 2,000 homeworkers on its books globally. In its previous financial year to the end of October 2023, the company achieved total sales of more than £900 million, which was an increase of 20% on the previous year.

“We’re now looking forward to the rest of the year and maintaining our momentum beyond January as we continue to delight more customers and clients with exceptional travel experiences for a truly memorable 2024,” added Byrne.

To celebrate the company’s record-breaking January, a special edition of the TCTV show was produced live at Travel Counsellors’ in-house studio.

Not Just Travel also breaks monthly record

Meanwhile, another major homeworking brand Not Just Travel also experienced its biggest ever month for sales in January during its 22-year history, with the post-payday dates of 30 and 31 January hitting new heights for bookings.

The company reported that revenue was up by 41% during January compared with the same month in 2023, while bookings rose by 32% year-on-year. 

Not Just Travel co-founder Paul Harrison said the record-breaking month was down to a “combination of more agents and productivity due to investment in training and support for franchisees with higher margins too, particularly from cruise bookings”.

“This isn’t unprecedented, as we have been continuously planning and upskilling our consultants precisely for this formidable time in the travel industry’s history,” added Harrison.

“Some people thought holiday bookings in 2024 might not reach the same levels as last year as pent-up demand following the pandemic would dampen down. However, trading so far has been the best in our history and many agents report it’s getting even busier.”

The company said it had also seen its largest monthly increase in the number of trading consultants, with more than 100 new homeworkers becoming active during the month.