The Travel Franchise's David Walker has just hit £10million in holiday sales
David Walker of the Not Just Travel franchise has just hit £10 million in sales! He claims his success is down to a genuine love for giving customers the best-ever experience.
Never one to be idle, David used to sit planning holidays while watching TV, so becoming a personal travel consultant, running his very own travel business felt like the obvious move. Now seven years down the line, he said he’s never been happier.
David, who runs The Travel Snob, is a homeworking travel consultant. He started his business from scratch in 2014 after a high-flying career in HR, which saw him travel the world. David had lived out in the Middle East for 18 years before he contacted us and he was ready for a new challenge.
Having never worked in travel before but this did not put him off. He went for the Elite franchise package with the extra support, training, and development this brought. Not to mention the access to the money-back challenge. David went on to become one of The Travel Franchise’s Money-Back Challenge winners, in which 100% of the franchise fee is paid back.
“I love to make customers happy and give them the best experience for them. I’ve been to 136 countries and that helps hugely with what I do. I’m a huge airline and air mile geek so I can really help people find the right deals and holidays for them."
"Customers listen to me because they know I will make sure they have the best experience. I always listen and find out what they like and don’t like, because what might be one person’s dream holiday, won’t be for someone else. My knowledge of travel helps them, so for example, if someone’s going to New York, I’ll always book them on an afternoon flight, so that they land in the evening, they can have some dinner and go to bed, wake up refreshed and ready to go. It’s all about giving them the best experience."
"My customers have turned into my friends, and they know I’m going to look after them. For me, this is a passion, not a job."
Havana – Cuba, Lebanon, Washington D.C, South Africa, and Madagascar are some of David’s favourite destinations. Before COVID, he travelled frequently, trying out airline routes, destinations, and hotels so that he had a great understanding of the destination for clients.
Even with the background of the COVID-19 pandemic David has seen great sales, with his average booking value for this year currently sitting just over £9,000. Although the year has been tough for the industry, David keeps a positive outlook and still manages to help clients get refunds and rebooking's.
“At the end of the day, the last year was tough for a lot of people, but what was lovely was that I had customers phoning up and asking how I was. It was nice, and I said to them, ‘don’t worry, I’m ok. I’m not going anywhere; I’ll still be doing this job in 5 or 10 years.’ Yes, the Pandemic stopped travel but it’s coming back.
We all love a holiday and when we know what countries we can travel too on the Government’s traffic light system, it’s going to be hugely busy. I think we’re going to see lots of last-minute bookings this year.”
The advice David would give his younger self starting out in 2014 would be: “Just continue to be yourself. You have to be true to yourself and believe you can do it.”
The Travel Franchise Co-Founders, Steve Witt and Paul Harrison congratulated David on his incredible sales.
“Huge congratulations David! We are delighted for you. When he started he’d never sold a holiday before – but what he brought to the table was a very strong desire to succeed, a competitive nature and an open mind – always willing to take advice and be coachable.
David has built his business around developing relationships and his passion for travel. To his credit, he has done exactly what works, followed our plan, and honed his own skills year on year to become not just a better Travel Consultant but a better business owner and entrepreneur. Well done David!”
To learn more about The Travel Franchise opportunity, click here.