Hotels that prioritise influencers over advisors are making a “massive mistake”, warns luxury travel expert Duncan Greenfield-Turk. 

Having worked in both sides of the business over the course of his 30-year-long career, the Global Travel Moments founder says “more education” is needed on the importance of the trade to luxury suppliers. 

His thoughts come following recent research by TTG Luxury, which found 74% of agents feel like they’re competing with social media influencers for fam trips. 

Greenfield-Turk, whose inclusive luxury travel agency belongs to Global Travel Collection, believes much of this ‘undervaluing’ of travel agents is caused by miscommunication around the job itself. 

“Many hotels don’t understand the purpose of travel advisors,” he tells TTG Luxury. “An advisor is an extension of your sales team – not traditional marketing or PR. As a hotel, you need to factor advisors into your sales budget.”

Followers are not clients

Greenfield-Turk says this confusion leads hotels to measure agents’ value by the same metrics as influencers, despite the two being completely different roles. 

“The person who has one million followers is not necessarily your audience,” he says. “If Kim Kardashian posts on Instagram about staying at your hotel, it is not a guarantee you will get direct bookings.” 

What matters, Greenfield-Turk explains, is the demographics of an agent’s following; for example, micro-influencers who have less than 100,000 followers are often far more engaged with their audience.

“If Kim Kardashian posts on Instagram about staying at your hotel, it is not a guarantee you will get direct bookings” 

Hotels should look for accounts that are regularly interacting with fans, posting content consistently and demonstrating ethos that aligns with their own brand. 

Even if an agent has no social media presence whatsoever, this should not be equated with a lack of clientele, Greenfield-Turk adds. For example, many elite travel advisors choose to forgo social media altogether, restricting their internet presence to a referral-only website as part of their exclusive service. 

In these cases, there are many other ways to demonstrate value, including showing data from previous bookings. 

Greenfield-Turk adds it is harmful for luxury suppliers in particular to neglect relationships with agents, who are likely to bring far more sustained business than one-off direct bookings. 

“If you look at luxury advisors specifically, like those in Global Travel Collection, the data is evident: our clients spend more, book higher room categories, and spend on other services at the hotel,” he says. “If you look at customers going to Booking.com or Expedia for example, they book the cheapest room, they eat out and they don’t spend money in the hotel.” 

Fam trip expectations 

The influencer vs travel agent ‘fam trip’ debate has been unfolding for some time now, and from the trade side, it can be tempting to place all blame on the hotels. 

Agents, however, are not entirely without fault. Greenfield-Turk believes many advisors, especially those who have recently become ICs (independent contractors), have unrealistic expectations from hotels. 

“The advisor community feels undervalued when it comes to being offered fam trips, and I tend to agree,” he says. “However, it is also up to the advisor to show the hotel a business strategy and plan for ROI if they’re expecting a complimentary stay.”

Greenfield-Turk also argues agents need to be selective in accepting fam trips and ensure the product is relevant to their clientele, rather than attending one for the sake of a ‘free holiday’. 

“It is also up to the advisor to show the hotel a business strategy and plan for ROI if they’re expecting a complimentary stay”

He also argues while many new independent advisors may have travel experience, they may not have the necessary experience to oversee their own business. 

In response to this, Global Travel Moments has invested in training its own independents on how to run a successful company, from maximising revenue streams to effective marketing. It’s an intensive course, but one that Greenfield-Turk believes is integral to longterm success – and of course, helping agents get themselves onto fam trips.

“As an independent you need to wear three hats; advisor, chief executive officer and general dogsbody,” he says. “You can’t just expect a fam trip because you’re an experienced advisor. That’s not how business works.”