The kind of advisers that the new host agency is betting on are called hobby advisers.
It shows that there is a gap wanting to be filled.
Fora, a New York-based host agency, is looking for part-timers with experience booking personal travel who are looking for either a side hustle or to start a new career.
"'Hobbyist,' to me, feels a little bit disrespectful and is the kind of person that we want to open up to," said one of Fora's three co- founders. We need to train them and give them the tools.
Why are there 3 million real estate license holders in America, the majority of which are part time, yet only 100,000 travel agents, especially when being a travel agent is something that is much more compatible, in our view, to a side hustle?– Fora co-founder Evan Frank
500 travel advisers are currently hosted by Fora, and another 30,000 are on a waiting list. Almost all of the people have never sold travel.
Evan Frank thinks 30,000 is just the start of something. The desire to become a travel agent is much different than the number of people who are today travel agents.
Jake Peters, who has worked with a number of companies combining product and technology over the years, is one of the founding partners of Fora.
After working at Town and Country Travel magazine, she left to work for Indagare. She started her own high-end, family-focused agency, Passported, after becoming an advisor at Indagare.
She wanted to change the agency space to be more inclusive.
The reason why this industry lacks diversity is because of this idea of exclusion. We don't want to allow new people in. There is an attitude that there isn't enough business to go around and a lot of it is going to the online travel agencies. It's better for suppliers if it's handled by an advisor.
The goal of Fora is to increase the number of travel advisers. In the travel industry, side hustles are rare, according to Frank.
He asked, "Why are there 3 million real estate license holders in America, the majority of which are part time, yet only 100,000 travel agents, especially when being a travel agent is something that is more compatible, in our view, to a side hustle?"
Robert Joselyn is the CEO of Joselyn consulting group.
He said that some people are very serious about their hobbies. "That doesn't mean that someone isn't serious about what they're doing."
Although most independent contractors take their business seriously, others just look for discounts for personal travel, which is a problem for the industry as a whole.
"If they don't do serious training for these people, then it gives a bad black eye to the profession of travel advising." I have mixed feelings. If they do it right, I think it's a good idea.
According to Peters, Fora offers training on the travel industry, the ins and outs of being an advisor and on destinations. The company encourages its advisers to work with each other.
We're building this robust library of information about the world that advisors can use to understand what it's actually like to be at a specific hotel, or what the differences are between two properties that might be right next to each other in a popular destination. There is a long way to go in terms of fleshing out the content, but the early foundations are there and the proof is in the pudding.
Some people take their hobbies very, very seriously. "So 'hobbyist' doesn't mean that somebody's not serious about what they're doing.– Travel agency consultant Robert Joselyn
Peters said that Fora received $13.5 million in funding to further develop its advisor-facing platform and to welcome more agents into the fold.
Frank said that Fora is giving out 50 to 100 new advisers a month. Anyone who wants to join before next summer will be onboard, according to the host.
Frank said that a "nominal" fee is planned for the coming months. Some of Fora's costs will be offset by that.
Peters said that the host doesn't care if the advisors continue working part time or eventually transition to a full time career in travel.
The goal of Fora is to strengthen the industry.
The attitude that disruption means trying to do away with an industry is common. "I think what's important here is that we love this industry, and actually what we're trying to do is try to build it up in a bigger way, not take away from what everyone is currently doing."
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