A new agency, born from Kosmar Holidays’ venture into the homeworking sector, has set its sights on recruiting more than 250 homeworking agents and franchisees by 2030.
Sheffield-headquartered Destinations Desired is a member of the Travel Trust Association and will offer its tailor-made specialists a range of services alongside the solution of providing travel services to clients.
Its inception marks a formal division from Kosmar, which will continue to operate as a standalone online travel agency business.
In addition to providing franchisees access to "hundreds" of global travel brands, the new brand offers a number of marketing tools, including a personal website and targeted support.
Destinations Desired operates a trust account model and provides Atol solutions for tailor-made bookings. The travel company is fully compliant with the Package Travel Regulations.
Its roots date back to 2018 when Kosmar Holidays, resurrected by Jhy Worsnop-Hesford, introduced its in-house homeworking agency.
Managing director Worsnop-Hesford said: "While we faced challenges in the pandemic like other travel companies, we saw it as an opportunity to reinvent how we do business.
"Kosmar was an OTA focused on mainstream beach destinations in return for low margins. However, we quickly learnt bookings through our homeworking division had higher basket values and more complex itineraries."
Kosmar will now solely operate as an OTA and an entirely separate business. Destinations Desired was soft-launched earlier this year with existing agents migrating from Kosmar.
Recruitment and training managers Hayley Jones and Louise Goodlad aim to recruit more than 250 franchisees by the end of the decade.
Goodlad said: "We’ve got an inspiring solution to offer at Destinations Desired. We don’t charge any application, joining or annual fees. It’s just a low monthly cost in line with the market at £49.
"In addition, we’re offering an industry-leading 85% commission on the profit a tailor-made expert generates."
Jones added: "We’ve seen the homeworking division at Kosmar that was once a small part of a business turn into its entity with its marketing strategy and dedicated team. The innovation over the pandemic was genuinely inspiring."
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