North American travel consortia, Ensemble Travel Group, announced plans to open a regional office in Australia and welcome new local travel agency members as early as January 2015, as part of global expansion plans.

Ensemble co-president, Lindsay Pearlman said the expansion to Australia/New Zealand was a “natural next step” for the growing travel group, which currently comprises of 850 independent travel agencies across the US and Canada, with offices in New York, Montreal and Toronto.

“Ensemble is a nimble and dynamic group, and our agent- and partner-focused model is right for today’s thriving Australia/New Zealand market.”

Travel Today spoke with newly appointed senior vice president and general manager, Trish Shepherd, who will oversee operations from an office in Sydney, has plans to assemble top agency groups and independent owners in ANZ that are “forward thinkers” looking for “real value” in their investment.

“For travel agency owners, that means transparency, business development consultancy, and marketing know-how and support, with a focus on the individual agency’s brand,” Shepard said.

“There is an incredible opportunity within the Australian/New Zealand market to create a new program for travel professionals, one which put the needs of its members first.

Travel Today: How many agents do you anticipate to sign on within the first 6 months of operations in ANZ?

Trish Shepherd: We don’t have a specific number in mind, but we are very clear about the quality and ethos of the members that we want to attract. 

We are positioning Ensemble Australia to meet the needs of travel agencies that are market leaders.  We have found that those agents that are hungry to take full advantage of the current market opportunity are also looking for more transparency, and more support to grow their own business than they are getting today. 

We have an extensive list of agents with whom we are already in negotiations, and more that have expressed interest. We expect to start signing agents for a 1 January contract start date. 

Over the past months, we’ve been preparing for this launch so that our new members can start to benefit from their relationship with us from day one. 

We will gain momentum early and expect that we will bring on enough new members to gain buying power in a short time. Within 6 months, we hope to make a considerable dent in the prospect base.

Travel Today: How many will be on your team in ANZ?

Trish Shepherd: We are starting with a core team of three leaders and a small support squadron – and we will add to that team as we need increased account management support. 

We want to stay close to the customer as we start to grow this network, and provide direct access between our new members and our leadership team. Paul, Walter and I bring decades of travel industry experience to the table and we believe that the trust we’ve earned individually in our careers will bring incremental value to the Ensemble membership, particularly at this early stage. 

We also know that the Ensemble partnership is wholly invested in making this program an early success, so we have access to our colleagues in North America and a commitment to invest the necessary resources to scale our team and meet the needs of our prospects and customers.

Travel Today: Are you specifically targeting agents/agencies currently signed to any particular group?

Trish Shepherd: We are targeting travel agents who are like-minded in their ambition to grow their business, those who are looking for an added level of sophisticated consultative business support, and expect their needs to be at the centre of every decision that we make. Ensemble built its business and its reputation on providing transparency and partnership with its members. 

I think that what we are offering will appeal across several segments – current members of large groups who may be frustrated with their current offering, as well as those who’ve remained independent because there was no consortia group that met their needs. Now, with Ensemble in the mix, those independents may choose to affiliate for the first time.

We started this process by first understanding the needs of travel agents in Australia and the gaps that exist in the market. And we found that Ensemble is the right organization to help fill those gaps.  Plus, Ensemble has given us the room we need to develop a custom offering, designed specifically with the Australia and New Zealand travel agent in mind. I am confident that the agency community will be keen to experience what we have to offer.