NEWS SPECIAL REPORT ‘Welcome to the Millionaires’ Retreat’


Expanding homeworking agency The Travel Franchise treats its new recruits to an inspirational training course. Lucy Huxley reports


When I first heard about The Travel Franchise’s ‘Millionaires’ Retreat’, I assumed it was a trip for the top-performing members who had turned over a million pounds worth of travel sales in a year.


In fact, it’s part of the


introduction package for every new member. Each ‘Retreat’ is a week-long


training course, and so far they have been held in six countries. The latest one was held in a luxury villa in Marbella, while another this year will take place at Club Med’s Opio en Provence resort in the South of France. Franchise director Paul Harrison said every new member attends a week’s training on the south coast as soon as they join. “That’s to


teach them the basics of travel and to get their phone to start ringing,” he said. “About two months after that we take them on the Millionaires’


Retreat and we see a total transformation – not just in the results but also in the agents as individuals.


Lightbulb moment


“Many of them have the initial training, go home, forget stuff, start to struggle and become demoralised. The Retreat gives them the ‘lightbulb moment’. We inspire them with motivational speakers and seven-figure earners, plus they also learn from the other 40-50 members on the retreat.” Harrison cites Walsall-based Sandie Lehal as a prime example. “She joined us in December and


started off making £800 a month. She then came on the retreat and the next month she made £7,500,” he said. “She had the same family and friends, but she had stopped


“Sandie was making £800 a month, the month after the retreat she made £7,500”


moaning, stopped wallowing, stopped waiting for it to happen – and made it happen.” He claims four out of every five


franchise members who attend the retreat go from making less than £1,000 a month to more than £4,000 a month after their return. Once members start to regularly earn substantial commissions, they get an invite to an ‘Elite Experience’, which Harrison describes as “a fam trip on steroids”. These have taken place in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and the


next one will be a nine-day trip to Mauritius staying in a Beachcomber property. Agents can speak to Harrison,


who previously ran home-based direct sales companies, and they are also assigned to one of 11 personal travel coaches who are the most successful franchise members in the company.


Commission split


Harrison said the business works on a split commission basis. The agent keeps 70% and the rest covers the franchise’s consortium fees and 11 personal coaches, who mentor agents in their allotted group and get a clip of the commission. The Travel Franchise now has


430 members, only five of whom had ever worked in travel before joining. The group is part of Not


Just Travel, which started out as a shop in Bournemouth in Dorset, owned by agent Steve Witt. Harrison and Witt joined forces and the group is now the fastest-growing member of the Hays Independence Group, according to Harrison. Hays Travel managing director


John Hays is on Not Just Travel’s advisory board, and in May the group unveiled former Olympic decathlon


champion Daley Thompson as its ambassador. Harrison hopes Hays will help shape the strategic direction and growth of the company, while


Steve Witt, left, and Paul Harrison, founders of The Travel Franchise, part of Not Just Travel


12 travelweekly.co.uk 31 August 2017


Thompson will help raise its profile.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90