10 Years of conversations, interactions, peer learning opportunities
September 11th, 2018 – As independent travel agents continue to soar, the Travel Professional Community has established its role as the online venue for resourcing almost any topic through the growing network of vetted peers. Last week the group welcomed its 15,000thmember. Founded in 2008, the community has hosted more than over half a million searchable discussions among travel professional peers.
“We are so humbled by the gifts of knowledge and willingness of the community to share with one another,” said co-founder Joanie Ogg. “We are so grateful to all of our members for helping to make this the place where agents go to share and learn.”
This online community is for the sharing of information and experiences among travel professionals. It is free to join and participate in this community and it is open to all professional travel agents. Suppliers are not accepted to the community and agents are vetted before being given access to the discussion boards.
“What the Oggs have built is a multi-faceted travel agent community providing a full blueprint of how to become a successful travel agent and the fact that the 15,000 members of the community are supporting and rooting for the success of every other member. It truly has become a family to me and I have developed a number of long term friendships within the community,” said Geoff Millar, active member and co-owner of Ultimate All-Inclusive Travel.
Sandy Elson, owner of Your Cruise Concierge LLC, was member number three back in 2008 and she continues to use the community as a valuable daily resource. “The Travel Professional Community is a vibrant, dynamic collection of travel professionals who are always very generous with their time, experience and expertise. It allows us to ask questions and share information about every conceivable topic. I have never seen a question go unanswered, no matter how obscure the subject. Someone in the Community knows the answer to every question. We all share and all learn, all the time! I have been a travel agent for almost 35 years, and I still learn something almost every day through the experience and generosity of our members,” she said.
Elson, like so many of today’s successful travel professionals, made the transition to a home based environment several years ago. This community helped ease that transition. “Having worked in both a brick and mortar agency and now being home based for 15 years, the thing I notice the most is the isolation. In a brick and mortar agency, I could turn to the other agents and ask for help with various issues in the travel world. Now I can still do that, but to an audience of over 15,000 agents instead of the four who used to sit in the brick and mortar agency.The Community is a great networking opportunity and a place to have fun connecting with fellow travel advisors across the country and around the world. It truly embraces the best parts of being in a globally connected industry.”
The global nature of the community is evident in the variety of conversations currently underway. Today, the top discussions highlight destinations including Mexico, Caribbean, Egypt, Israel, Cuba, Costa Rica, Greece, US cities including Fort Lauderdale and New York.
Beyond destinations, the agents share so many issues. For Millar it is the exchange of ideas that is so incredibly valuable. “The board is monitored and participants are vetted so they are participants that are serious about selling travel. There are no suppliers allowed on the board so agents can speak freely. There is a great mix of newer and more experienced agents which creates some great learning experiences and discussions. I feel a fantastic philosophy has developed within the group that there is enough business for everyone so let’s support and help every agent within the community.”
In addition to the extremely active chat board, the community hostsprivate discussion groups, Tuesday Afternoon Chats, video and picture libraries, extensive member profiles, training programs, webinars and more.
“The webinars and chats that are put on by the Oggs are invaluable as both educational opportunities and a formal platform for participants to exchange ideas. The community even has a library of forms that are available for use by all members. Another very popular part of the community is the specialty section where members can start specialty groups, from product specialties to various market specialties and every specialty in-between, and have discussions with other members interested in that particular specialty,” Millar said.
As the travel agency community continues to grow and change and evolve its variety of business models, the Travel Professional Community will naturally evolve with them. “The members of TravelProfessionalCommunity.com continue to be an inspiration to me as they not only share a common goal of becoming a better Travel Professional, but a passion for Travel that is simply unrivaled. Thank you to all of our Community members for making the Community what it is today!” said Andy Ogg, Marketing and Sales Director, Ogg Marketing Group..
About TravelProfessionalCommunity.com
TravelProfessionalCommunity.com has served as the social space for vetted Travel Professionals since 2008. Currently with over 15,000 members, the Community continues to connect and empower Travel Professionals by facilitating a home for open communication. The TravelProfessionalCommunity.com is one of the many tools provided by the Ogg family to assist, empower and educate Travel Professionals. Others include www.FindaHostTravelAgency.com,www.HomeBasedTravelAgent.comand www.TravelProfessionalNEWS.com.