Top 50 2024 - Luxury - Designer Travel

A formidable force on the luxury travel scene, Designer Travel boasts 142 independent travel advisors backed by a team of 20 at the Lancashire head office, and everyone collectively wields an impressive average of 20 years’ experience in travel agency roles. In 2023, Designer Travel launched Beyond The Beach to build up product, relationships and knowledge around the rapidly growing touring and adventure sector. New digital and social media training has been equipping Designer Travel’s associates with the tools they need to become travel influencers. A tripod, selfie stick and camera light were gifted to everyone to make their own videos for social media, with almost half the team now doing regular videos on their social channels. The On Location programme is another brainwave that sees agents dispatched to visit hotels and destinations to improve and share knowledge, via the careful creation of factsheets, images and video content, with a team member recruited to produce the videos. Also new is the Designer Travel Exclusive Journey programme, which has allowed team members to explore desirable destinations via industry partners, also leading to enhanced product knowledge, increased sales and amplified social media exposure. The company has been revving up its innovative online and app-based Designer Rewards scheme too, which incentivises clients to recommend the agency to their network, earning rewards which can then be used towards their own holidays, or even be donated to charity. And from raising £3,500 to support the Dama Dama deer, a native species whose habitat was badly affected by the wildfires in Rhodes, to actively promoting sustainability to clients, Designer Travel is also clearly a business committed to making a positive impact of its own.

designertravel.co.uk