Matt Harding

Travel has been a huge part of my life for more than three decades, both professionally and personally.

Outside of work, family is incredibly important to me. Nikki and I have two grown-up children, Micha and Charlie and our Cavapoo Ralph, and I still love getting away whenever we can. Fowey in Cornwall and Kalkan in Turkey are two places I’ll always happily return to.

I’m also quite disciplined about how I start the day. You’ll regularly find me on the Peloton first thing in the morning. I think that routine helps set me up well for the day ahead.

I started my career selling holidays more than 30 years ago.

The industry looked very different then. The idea that somebody could build a successful travel business from home, supported by technology and a wider business infrastructure, would have been difficult to imagine.

I’d known about Travel Counsellors for years and watched the business develop from a distance. I eventually joined in 2019, following the collapse of Thomas Cook.

What attracted me was the combination of entrepreneurship and support. We have business owners building businesses of their own, but they’re doing it with the backing of an established brand, technology, training, commercial relationships and a whole community around them.

I still think that combination is incredibly powerful.

Fundamentally, my role is about people. Our team speak to people from all sorts of backgrounds who are considering becoming a Travel Counsellor.

Some have spent years working in travel. Some are currently employed and want to build something of their own. Others are returning to the industry, looking for a different homeworking model, or considering a completely new career. Our job is to understand the individual.

Why are they considering a change? What are they trying to achieve? What do they want their career and their life to look like in the future?

And importantly, is the Travel Counsellors model right for them?

Starting your own business is a major decision. I don’t think recruitment should simply be about convincing someone to join.

It should be about helping somebody understand the opportunity, the commitment and the realities involved so they can make an informed decision for themselves.

The questions vary enormously, but there are some themes we hear again and again.

People want to understand how they’ll earn money. They want to know what it costs to start a travel business. They want to understand the support they’ll receive.

Some are comparing different travel franchise opportunities or homeworking travel companies and want to know how the models differ.

Others are asking a more fundamental question: could I actually do this?

Those are exactly the conversations people should be having before making a decision.

I’d much rather somebody asked us difficult questions at the beginning than discovered six months later that they hadn’t properly understood what running their own business involved.

There are routes into the industry for people without previous travel experience, but it’s important to be realistic about what you’re taking on.

Loving travel is obviously helpful, but running a successful travel business requires much more than enjoying holidays.

You’re building customer relationships. You’re finding and attracting customers. You’re learning how to market yourself. You’re developing commercial knowledge. And you’re looking after people who may be trusting you with one of the most important purchases they make that year.

That’s why training and ongoing support matter so much.

When somebody speaks to us, we look at their background, skills and circumstances and help them understand the most appropriate route into Travel Counsellors.

We’re interested in the person and their potential, not simply whether they’ve previously had “travel agent” on their CV.

There isn’t one personality type or one particular background.

But there are some characteristics I see repeatedly.

Successful Travel Counsellors tend to care about people. They’re curious. They build strong relationships. They’re prepared to work hard. And they take ownership of their business. I also think mindset is incredibly important, you have to be prepared to learn and be comfortable putting yourself out there.

You need resilience because, as with any business, not every day will go exactly as planned.

And you need to recognise that flexibility and freedom don’t mean success happens by itself.

The people who really embrace being a business owner tend to be the people who get the most from the opportunity.

We have a sense of community here at Travel Counsellors that I haven't experienced anywhere else. We spend so much of our time getting to know our Travel Counsellors, colleagues, and supplier partners to build strong and lasting relationships.