FRONTLINE
as those who have a huge database and those with a bit more time. I was quite new, so it worked well – a win-win.
Q. How has the Middle East conflict affected your business? When it began, I was covering two other Travel Counsellors agents’ businesses as well. Luckily, it was manageable, but a bit of a nightmare. My parents live in Dubai and we’d come back from visiting in mid-February. I had plenty of rebookings and it settled down. Most people postponed for 12 months and rebooked – and a lot of others switched completely, going west rather than east. I was at Trailfinders during Covid, so I’ve taken a lot of that [experience] into this crisis because you deal with the same sort of things. I’m grateful for Travel Counsellors’ support. We’re all sharing information, and suppliers have been great. I’ve tried to switch [my business] and book a lot more Europe and Caribbean.
Suvira Riza The Sutton Coldfield-based
Travel Counsellors homeworker tells Samantha Mayling about
working closely with fellow agents and developing a niche
Q. How did your career evolve? I studied hospitality at university and worked in that sector around the world, in Orlando, then Australia. Back home, I joined Trailfinders. It was really good experience – long- haul, tailor-made – which is mainly my business now. I moved into the tech industry, where I met Jeremy Smith [now Travel Counsellors’ AI innovation partner], with a remote sales role. His mum Katrina is a Travel Counsellors agent and I became one too in January 2025. I met her at Travel Counsellors’ conference in November and we decided to work together. Jeremy taught me about cold calling and business building – he was a big help, and now I’m helping his mum, which is fun.
Q. Tell us about Jeremy and Katrina. Jeremy joined Travel Counsellors in January. Katrina is a Gold Travel Counsellors agent, who’s well established with a huge database. I’ve been working with her to reconnect with lapsed clients and have generated about £60,000 of business for her, using sales skills I learnt from Jeremy. Travel Counsellors can match agents, such
22 21 MAY 2026
Q. How do you find clients? Word of mouth is best. I’ve had random connections, like the parents of someone from school who I’ve not seen for more than 20 years, because they’ve seen my posts online. I put in business cards with information I send to clients, so they can hand them out. One client came from a golf course where I have ladies’ lessons. I’m also active on socials, trying to post every day. Because of my tech role I did plenty of outreach on LinkedIn, so I had a lot of connections. I don’t want to work in an office; I couldn’t imagine commuting. One client has a dog from the same litter as mine, so we go for regular dog walks. I joined a David Lloyd club to be where my clients are. Whenever there are events locally, a group of us from Travel Counsellors try to go, even to head office in Manchester.
Q. Which Travel Counsellors trips have you joined? The first and second global incentives happened to be my first and second-best month in sales, so I was fortunate to go on those fam trips as part of the winning team. For both, meeting suppliers and having that relationship with them has been invaluable. The first was with Do Something Different, focused on Universal Orlando Resort before Universal Epic Universe opened. The second was with Norwegian Cruise Line, cruising from Miami to Honduras, Belize and Grand Cayman – three destinations I wasn’t familiar with. I now feel confident selling them. I’m trying to build my cruise knowledge. My own holidays this year are to wish-list places I’ve not visited before: Japan and South Africa.
Q. Any unusual bookings or experiences? The most exciting honeymoon was a couple who went to Sweden and Norway in January. They did a fly-drive with quirky accommodation like a glass treehouse and ice hotels. When I was in Australia, I drove the full circumference, from Melbourne to Melbourne, around 45,000 kilometres. I love going off the beaten track. And my laptop comes everywhere with me.
WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?
I want to develop a niche – the most successful Travel Counsellors agents have one. At the moment I’m doing a lot of tailor-made, bespoke, long-haul holidays, primarily for couples and retirees who
like luxury travel. I made £50k in sales in my first month – a lot was to do with the timing in January [last year]. I’d told everybody, before I launched the business, so people
booked with me. I started my socials beforehand to make people aware. I didn’t beat that best month until February this year. I’ve also started a
niche with another local Travel Counsellors agent, Megan O’Leary, who is a Pride ambassador. We’ve started a brand called Voyage Her, within Travel Counsellors, to focus more on women’s travel, such as solo female travellers,
LGBTQ travellers and women’s friendship groups. It’s early days, but Megan’s good at bringing in LGBTQ travellers and the market is definitely there. I also booked a trip for
two widows travelling together. They didn’t know where to start but wanted to do quite a lot of Norway, and I had loads of ideas. It’s a market I’m excited to get into.
Suvira is keen to develop a niche
travelweekly.co.uk
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