Taking the next step to partner with TravelManagers Australia (TMA) is a significant move in your travel career. It’s important to have all the information you need and answers to those all important questions. To assist you we have compiled our most frequently asked questions below.
Our team of business partnership managers (BPMs) are also available for a confidential chat via home/virtual or can meet for a coffee in your local area, to answer any further questions you may have.
By becoming a personal travel manager you’ll have the freedom and flexibility of working your own way and running your own business, with the most comprehensive support of any mobile travel network in Australia.
We asked some of our personal travel managers.
If you specialise in inspiring luxury travellers, surprising them with one-off adventures, premier treats and seamless journeys, TravelManagers is a good fit for you. TravelManagers Australia announced a new partnership with the Signature Travel Network from the 1st of January 2022.
The Signature Travel Network is a member-owned community of leading travel agencies and supplier partners within the industry. The Network has experienced unprecedented growth in the past ten years – adding over 100 properties to their hotel program in the past 12 months. This growth is reflective of the commitment to exclusively align with the most esteemed travel partners, while simultaneously expanding their reach to more than 11,000 travel advisors in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Mexico, New Zealand and the Caribbean. With a suite of hotels and resorts, Signature helps you build your sales and retain your clients. A win-win for you and your clients.
The Signature Hotels & Resorts collection includes more than 1,100 of the world’s best hotels, resorts, lodges, villas, and spas in 90 countries and 450 unique destinations.
The collection has been designed to bring benefits for your clients as all participating hotels offer exclusive Signature privileges.
Our community of personal travel managers specialise in just about every travel category there is, designing inspiring travel for individuals and groups. You can even be listed on our website as a specialist in either a destination or niche market such as spa and wellness travels so consumers searching in that category can be connected to you. TMA also has access to a wide range of corporate fares, private fares, WOMOs, cruise nett fares and wholesale airfares for our network. Your BPM can talk to you further about your clientele’s special requirements.
If you’re a cruise specialist, our Cruise page will demonstrate our range of unique offers and exclusive deals. Our dedicated cruise product team will keep you up to date with all cruise news and provide the support and training to make the transition to a partnership with TravelManagers smooth sailing.
We recognise that the way you manage your business is largely shaped by the requirements of your corporate client base, which is why we have the ability for personal travel managers to trade under the Corporate Travel Specialists (CTS) brand solely, or dual branded as a CTS and TravelManagers PTM.
TravelManagers offers agency owners/managers a low risk, high return solution that allows you to do what you love, running your own business, without the stress and costs that come with owning an agency. Being a ‘work from home’ travel agent doesn’t mean you should lose any of the credibility associated with a shop front or walk-in office, in fact you offer a more personalised service, and you have the support and back up of a premium travel network with all the advantages.
With TravelManagers you can:
We’re very transparent about what’s included, to find out more information on ongoing costs, head to our Earning Potential page. Becoming a business owner is an important decision, so you want to be sure you are choosing the right partner.
Our monthly administration fee covers a comprehensive range of support, training and marketing assistance; from technology to accounts and system interfaces through to customer relationship management and IT help desk support.
Depending on which model you have chosen for your business, the following will apply:
If you choose the Lifestyle Plus model, the monthly fee is $170 +GST per month.
If you choose the Business Pro model, the monthly fee is $370 + GST per month.
If you don’t already have your own professional indemnity insurance, we can arrange this for you for $260 + GST, charged in two instalments per year.
Yes, you’ll need an ABN number prior to signing your TravelManagers contract. This is very easy to obtain and can be done online.
You’ll have control of your business with full 24/7 access to TravelManagers back/mid office system. Our finance team pays your commissions during the first week of each month and provides extensive reporting. You can track and clear outstanding commissions at any time. We’ll also complete BSP reconciliation on your behalf.
No. There are no specific targets or KPIs you need to achieve when joining TravelManagers.
As long as you have a viable business, you’ll have the freedom and flexibility of working your own way and running your own business, with the best support of any mobile travel network in Australia. Plus, you’ll be able to set your own goals and enjoy unlimited earning potential.
TravelManagers is accredited to IATA (International Air Transport Association) and is authorised to issue tickets on behalf of the trade body’s member airlines.
TravelManagers is a member of ATIA (the Australian Travel Industry Association) and ATAS.
TravelManagers is also a member of CLIA (the Cruise Lines International Association).
TravelManagers has the most comprehensive financial protections in the Australian travel industry.
As part of their initial start-up, TravelManagers offers all new personal travel managers a four-day in-house comprehensive induction program located at our National Partnership Office in Surry Hills, Sydney. For more details on induction, please click here.
During this time, you’ll get to meet members of the various support teams who will be assisting you to run and grow your business. You’ll also meet other personal travel managers and feel part of your new community. Our comprehensive induction program is held monthly and generally runs from Tuesday through to Thursday.
In this ever-changing industry, it’s vital to keep up to date, so we provide online product training via exclusive webinars. These webinars often cover product updates as well as tips on running your business. All webinars are recorded so you can view them at a time convenient for you.
From our annual national conference (often described as the best in the industry), to state meetings, get-togethers and destination days, there’s lots of national, state, and locally planned events you can be part of to exchange ideas, catch-up, learn, be entertained, and have a whole lot of fun!
Our intranet is also a comprehensive source of information for the network.
With a network of more than 500 PTMs using a closed group social media forum to share knowledge and ideas to grow your business, you’re never on your own.
Having a passion for travel is one thing, experiencing it first-hand is what it’s all about and we work hard with our suppliers to offer you amazing opportunities.
Last year over 200 of our personal travel managers participated in our extensive Famil program travelling all over the world, to find out more about training and famils, please click here.
Using our self-ticketing system is easy and it’s available 24/7. Our extensive fares database includes access to special negotiated wholesale and exclusive private airfares.
Experienced staff on the help desk will assist with fare quotes, ticketing enquiries and re-issue international tickets. Plus, after hours emergency ticketing assistance is available. For more information on our fares & ticketing team, please click here.
Our team of state-based Business Partnership Managers will work with you to assist in developing your business through sales and marketing strategies.
Dedicated to educating, coaching, and mentoring our network of personal travel managers, our BPMs also build strong relationships with partner suppliers in every state. They are your face-to-face support, committed to you and your business success. Your BPM is only a phone call away.
We recognise that every personal travel manager needs a break from their business. Many personal travel managers have developed their own buddy system for support when they are on leave. We also have a number of personal travel managers who offer a service as locums that can handle your bookings when you’re away from our office. After all, you’re part of the family.
We offer a choice of GDS systems, contact us for details.
An experienced team of Travel IT professionals are on hand to guide you through the technology environment. They will check the health and safety of your computer, assist with setting up your virtual office and provide ongoing IT assistance and troubleshooting.
The operations team wear many hats, helping you with supplier access and logins, maintenance of the Oracle intranet, organising national and state meetings, industry functions, sales reporting, in-house training etc. They provide day-to-day assistance that helps support your business.
We also streamline communications for you with a daily summary of our partner suppliers’ news sent to you, making it easier for you to stay across all land, air and cruise deals and important updates – all part of our goal of ‘being the best partner in travel’. For more information on our supplier partners, please click here.
Marketing is the key to growing your business and we’ll provide you a comprehensive suite of marketing collateral exclusively designed for your personal travel manager business model.
We also have a comprehensive marketing program to support you in building your personal brand and growing your business.
Your TravelManagers website is an invaluable centralised source of content for Google search to direct customers to you, plus for you to use with your social media activity. We also work proactively with our valued supplier partners to develop and advertise fabulous travel deals to generate enquiry among existing and potential customers.
Absolutely. Your client database will always remain yours, and should you decide to leave TravelManagers for any reason, you take your client database with you.
Once your application is approved, our Operations team will begin to set up your email, GDS and Tramada credentials along with supplier log-ins.
The Training team will look after you from the moment you sign up and will work with you to arrange your flights and accommodation for induction. Once you have completed induction, you are up and running and officially trading in your travel business.
Yes, so long as there’s no conflict of interest. Your business partnership manager can discuss this with you in more detail.
