(From L to R) Canan Tozduman, Fez Travel; Marta Aizpurua, Haman Scandinavia; Vanessa Wallace Kaplan, V Travel Network; Ekrem Usta, Fez Travel; Michelle Smith, Haman Scandinavia
The third event in a five-city roadshow rolled into Sydney last night as agents learned more about the V Travel Network and two of their key travel partners.
Traveltalk was invited along to the Surry Hills function where representatives from Haman Scandinavia and Fez Travel gave product updates to a select group of advisors.
Founded 12 years ago, the V Travel Network is a B2B wholesaler that works solely with agents, providing crafted itineraries for independent travellers. The company has grown 350 per cent in the last two years as FIT travellers focus on ticking off their bucket-list destinations.
“I think post-pandemic people understand the benefit of independent travel that can be pre-arranged by your travel agent,” said Vanessa Wallace Kaplan, General Manager, V Travel Network.
“We work with hundreds of suppliers on bespoke, tailor-made itineraries around the world. Most of them are small, independent, family-run companies that have some unique experience or something a little bit different that we can package together.
“The whole focus of what we do is to make life easy for travel agents. They can potentially put bits and pieces of a trip together but it takes them a lot of time. They can come to us and we’ll pull it all together for them.”
Ms Wallace Kaplan told Traveltalk that the average age of the independent traveller her network caters for is now between 40 and 60.
“Twenty years ago they were backpacking but now they don’t want to stay in hostels, they much prefer four- to five-star hotels. They want to get in as much as possible in a short period of time because life is busy.
“I think FIT and that style of tailored, independent travel is only going to get bigger. For us it’s just about agents knowing more about the destinations and having the confidence to sell our products knowing that their clients are going to be looked after.”
Canan Tozduman, the Marketing & Product Manager for Fez Travel, told Traveltalk that 60 per cent of their business comes from Australasia.
“We are very well connected in Australia. We understand what you are seeking as a holiday and we make sure that we maximize your experience in Turkey.”
It was announced recently that Ynot Concepts will serve as Fez Travel’s representative in Australia, providing comprehensive marketing and PR services.
The V Travel Network began in Perth and Adelaide and now moves to Melbourne and Brisbane.
vtravelnetwork.com; feztravel.com
