“Think of PTMs as your doctor”: Barry Mayo

“Think of PTMs as your doctor”: Barry Mayo

As Travel Weekly tries to make sense of the changing face of agents, we asked for some help from people in the know.

The latest person on our hit list? Chairman of TravelManagers and Director of House of Travel Barry Mayo.

And for Mayo, the future is personal travel managers (PTMs).

“Our PTMs are home-based mobile travel consultants and we see this as an entirely different client offering to traditional travel agents.”

“We truly believe PTMs are the way of the future – further highlighted in a number of yesterday’s press reports that all four finalists at this year’s Avis Travel Agents Scholarship of Excellence are home-based mobile consultants,” he added.

According to Mayo, clients should think of a PTM as they would a doctor, personal trainer or investment advisor, “they each offer expertise in their field”, he said.

“A PTM can save their clients time and money.”

“PTMs add value by offering superior service, personalised advice and will analyse all the different product offerings to create bespoke travel arrangements to suit individual requirements, all backed up with a high level of after sales support.”

He also added that the best recommendations often come from personal experience, with TravelManagers’ PTMs boasting an average of 21 years of industry experience.

“PTMs will visit clients at a time that best suits them – at home, work or even at a café!”

“A PTM is their clients’ advocate intervening with suppliers on their clients’ behalf and if something unexpected happens before or while travelling, PTMs are fully operational 24/7 and are equipped to handle an emergency at anytime from anywhere in the world.”

As well as this, Mayo touts PTMs’ ability to deliver clients enriched and tailor made experiences.

They are designed around the needs and interests of each individual client, highlighting unique and off-the-beaten-track experiences that cannot be simply accessed, let alone booked, online.

For Mayo, in the past, “many travel agents were perceived as representatives for travel suppliers whereas today a PTM is the architect of travel experiences who offers their clients much more than simply being a booking service for flights, accommodation and tours.

Looking forward, Mayo said, “Buying travel is a unique purchase, because travellers are buying both a product and a service. The future is developing personal relationships focused on providing value, personalised service and customisation.”

“As people become more time poor and the multitude of product and product categories expand, discerning travellers’ reliance for professional advice will increase and with it the value of travellers having their very ‘own’ PTM.”

“Going above and beyond, delivering exceptional personal service and adding value to client’s experiences will ensure clients for life.

“The home-based PTM model, with its blend of online presence and personal service, is the future of the travel industry,” he added.

His comments follow a previous conversation TW had with Mayo after Flight Centre acquired Travel Partners, where he promised TravelManagers would remain a home-based agency leader.

“The home-based model is a rapidly growing market segment and with Flight Centre’s recent acquisition of the Travel Managers Group in New Zealand (which is not associated in any way with Australia’s TravelManagers home-based personal travel manager network), it’s of little surprise that Flight Centre has now entered this arena in the Australian market with its purchase of Travel Partners,” he said at the time.

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