In a travel agency landscape of hosts and consortia, the former Independent by Liberty Travel, which rebranded last month to Envoyage, has established itself as being both -- and neither.
Instead, Envoyage hopes to create a network of independent contractors (ICs) and accredited agencies under one global brand.
Flight Centre Travel Group (No. 6 on Travel Weekly's Power List), consolidated Independent by Liberty Travel and a handful of other international brands in late February as part of series of corporate changes. The U.S. rollout of the Envoyage brand was completed this month.
Historically, Independent by Liberty Travel operated as just a host agency, but Envoyage has membership tiers for agencies of all sizes and types.
"Are we a host, or is it a consortium? We're kind of neither and both at the same time," Envoyage executive vice president and general manager Christina Pedroni said. "What we're saying is that we're a membership network that supports any type of travel professional. Be that the independent contractor or an agency that is already accredited in the marketplace, the opportunity to join and get access to our products marketplace can be open to anyone."
Christina Pedroni
Pedroni said the inclusion of all agencies was designed to broaden access to Flight Centre's curated supply of travel products.
The ICs and agencies that affiliate with Envoyage will also have access to the newly launched Home, its proprietary platform that provides single-sign-on access to travel products, marketing, reporting and other resources. Advisors will no longer have to sign in to multiple places to access everything.
"They've been breathing a sigh of relief to have everything in one place where they don't have to constantly be using bookmarks and things like that," Pedroni said.
Envoyage is hoping its unique positioning helps grow its ranks.
Upon its formation, Envoyage consolidated some 1,400 ICs under the brands Independent by Liberty Travel, Independent by Flight Centre, Travel Managers, Travel Associates at Home, Flight Centre Independent and Travel Partners.
Pedroni said the Envoyage model is designed for experienced advisors selling more than $250,000 a year. The network is also seeking advisors with some kind of specialization, and it plans to launch special programs focused on luxury and corporate travel in the U.S.
Similarly, she said, Envoyage is hoping to welcome seasoned, accredited agencies into the fold.
Both its IC and agency tiers carry monthly fees. ICs will see a commission split of 70% to 90% depending on annual production levels, while accredited agencies will receive 100% commission.
Support for group bookings
In addition to the brand rollout, Envoyage this month introduced the Envoyage Group Center.
The division is dedicated to supporting members with group bookings with tasks such as securing group rates, managing inventory and finalizing documents. At its launch, the center is supporting hotel and air group bookings.
Its services will expand to bookings of ocean and river cruises and guided tours in the coming months.
Group trips exploded after the initial impact of the pandemic, Pedroni said, and it appears the trend is here to stay.
Envoyage research into the Mexico and Caribbean destination-wedding market indicates its compound annual growth rate will increase 12.6% from 2023 to 2033.
"I think it's a really unique way for people to connect and to travel in this day and age," Pedroni said of groups, adding that she believes advisors are increasingly proposing group opportunities to repeat travelers.
Selling hotels and air for group travel is nothing new for Flight Centre, but a new trend has emerged within Envoyage: growth in cruise groups, especially in the river cruising.
In addition to supporting group cruise bookings in the next few months, Envoyage plans to develop a traveler-facing website in the future. That will enable advisors to share the site with their clients and ask them to register, avoiding the need for a group leader to collect names and birthdays.
Groups can be a lucrative addition to an advisor's portfolio. And, importantly, they are often a recurring one, Pedroni said.
"It may not be every year, but it may be every other year," she said. "Advisors, if they've got five, 10 big groups a year, that is a great business for them."