{"id":14808,"date":"2024-08-22T17:16:53","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T07:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/?p=14808"},"modified":"2024-08-22T17:16:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T07:16:53","slug":"theres-room-for-everyone-in-the-travel-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/theres-room-for-everyone-in-the-travel-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;There&#8217;s room for everyone in the travel industry&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"article-headline p-[10px] sm:p-5 font-gt\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-5 gap-[20px] gap-y-0\">\n<div class=\"col-span-5 lg:col-span-3 grid-line lg-only\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-6\">\n<div class=\"short-description\">\n<div class=\"article-excerpt font-primary\">\n<p>MTA &#8211; Mobile Travel Agents CEO Don Beattie is an easy interview. Query him on MTA or the travel agency sector and he\u2019ll go on and on (in a good way, of course).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"article-content article-content-3063356 p-[10px] sm:p-5\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-5 gap-[20px] gap-y-0\">\n<div class=\"lg:col-span-1 grid-line hidden lg:block\">\n<div class=\"a-wrap h-full flex flex-col\">\n<div class=\"share share_sticky border-t-4 border-pink pt-2.5 hidden T1 T2 sticky\">\n<div class=\"text-[#aaa] mb-2\"><span style=\"color: #555555;\">He has reason to wax lyrical about MTA, a group that right now is growing \u2013 in membership and revenue.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-span-5 lg:col-span-3 grid-line lg-only\">\n<div class=\"content selected-font-gt\">\n<p>A big part of Mobile Travel Agents\u2019 success simply comes down to the flexibility it offers its members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want everybody that we come in contact with to feel what MTA is. We don\u2019t restrict anybody from doing anything,\u201d Beattie tells<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Karryon<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>in an interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think one thing that MTA does exceptionally is that we manage what we call \u2018stage in life\u2019. During life, there are births, deaths and marriages and everything in between.\u00a0So sometimes business is not the most important thing in life. Our model supports that completely. I think it ties people to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That commitment to providing an environment in which a healthy work-life balance can thrive mightn\u2019t come as a shock to those who know the origin of Mobile Travel Agents.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Family-focused foundation<\/h4>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/Roy.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Roy Merricks (left) with Karen Merricks.\" class=\"wp-image-3050297\" title=\"Interview: CEO Don Beattie on MTA\u2019s special origin &amp; how they went from &quot;hobbyists&quot; to heroes 1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/Roy.jpg.webp 1000w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/Roy-300x225.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/Roy-768x576.jpg.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mobile Travel Agents founders Roy Merricks (left) and Karen Merricks. (Image Mark Harada)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\u201c<\/strong>So Karen and Roy Merrick started MTA 24 years ago. They are phenomenal. Karen started this business to predominantly give women who had children the opportunity to own their own business and come back into travel\u2026 and she\u2019s carried that philosophy through all the way,\u201d Beattie explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMTA is heavily family-focused. But that does not mean that we\u2019re not professional in what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This balance essentially means members can work at their own pace, and adapt the business model to suit their particular needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t magically aim at a target and hit it,\u201d Beattie says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to support our advisors to grow their business at the speed and to the level they want. There are no sales targets in MTA. There are no sales targets for our staff in relation to recruiting at all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want the focus to be on the people, not on the target. And does it work for us? I think we\u2019re doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Record revenue<\/h4>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"665\" data-src=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-1024x665.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Aerial shot of MTA \u2013 Mobile Travel Agents group on beach for Fiji conference welcome with &quot;Bula MTA&quot; spelt out in sand.\" class=\"wp-image-3046320 lazyloaded\" title=\"Interview: CEO Don Beattie on MTA\u2019s special origin &amp; how they went from &quot;hobbyists&quot; to heroes 2\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-1024x665.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-300x195.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-768x499.jpg.webp 768w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-1536x998.jpg.webp 1536w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-2048x1331.jpg.webp 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-1024x665.jpg.webp\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-1024x665.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-300x195.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-768x499.jpg.webp 768w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-1536x998.jpg.webp 1536w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/05\/MTA-Travel-Fiji-Conference-2024-2048x1331.jpg.webp 2048w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">MTA \u2013 Mobile Travel Agents group in Fiji.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That\u2019s putting it mildly. At the time of the interview, FY24 was on target to<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/community\/mta-mobile-travel-agents-summit-learn\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Opens in a new window\" rel=\"noopener\">smash any previous year<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>in terms of overall revenue for the group.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a record year last year and this year is even higher than last year,\u201d the Mobile Travel Agents boss says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the best time in recent years for people [in travel] to have a really good chance of being successful. And if you\u2019re not busy at this point in time, I think you\u2019d really have to investigate your way of operating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Overall, Beattie expects growth to continue for the group in the next few years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it might not be as high a percentage of growth but it will absolutely grow. Of course, the larger the growth is, even in percentage terms, the larger dollar returns there are. So two per cent growth of $100 million is different from 10 per cent growth of $10. So you\u2019re going to see massive returns still,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think for the expert travel advisors, it\u2019s almost got to the stage at this point in time, that there\u2019s more custom than there is the ability to service that custom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s the opposite of where the industry was during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo it\u2019s a wonderful place to be, but it\u2019s created an opposite stress of the work-life balance. So COVID probably drove us more towards the leisure side of things. And now we\u2019re at the exact opposite end of that pendulum where we\u2019re at capacity. And now we have to almost get to the stage of saying, do I need to choose the customers with whom I wish to work? It\u2019s a beautiful place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Room for everyone<\/h4>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/MTA1000.jpg.webp\" alt=\"MTA head office staff.\" class=\"wp-image-3046532 lazyloaded\" title=\"Interview: CEO Don Beattie on MTA\u2019s special origin &amp; how they went from &quot;hobbyists&quot; to heroes 3\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/MTA1000.jpg.webp 1000w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/MTA1000-300x195.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/MTA1000-768x499.jpg.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" src=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/MTA1000.jpg.webp\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/MTA1000.jpg.webp 1000w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/MTA1000-300x195.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/06\/MTA1000-768x499.jpg.webp 768w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">MTA \u2013 Mobile Travel Agents head office staff. (Image Mark Harada)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s perhaps because of this, that Beattie says he isn\u2019t concerned by the growth in competitiveness of the travel agency sector: from physical stores to online travel agents and indeed home-based advisors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is room for everybody. I think what will happen is the slices of the pie are just going to change,\u201d he remarks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think what we see is somewhat of a shrinking of the shopfront retail and an explosion of perhaps the mobile style.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, if an MTA member wanted to open a shopfront, they could, nothing is stopping them. What we would say is, you\u2019re now introducing a new level of cost to your business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beattie states that MTA doesn\u2019t specifically aim to be the biggest mobile\/home-based agency group, but its membership has risen to a robust 450 agents or so. And within the membership base, \u201cthe spectrum is massive\u201d. While the group normally only welcomes travel advisors with a minimum of five years of face-to-face consulting experience, he still calls Mobile Travel Agents \u201ca bit of a melting pot\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe get people coming from all walks of life. In the sense of travel life. And they have different attributes. And I think the hardest thing when they come into our environment is their choice\u2026 they have choice,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not dictate what they must sell. The decision is made by the advisor and the customer. Our preferred partners are there because they\u2019re great supporters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t force targets\u2026 we don\u2019t force product to targets. And for some people who have lived in a very constrained environment, having choice becomes difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Hobbyists\u2019 to heroes<\/h4>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"648\" data-src=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/07\/Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg\" class=\"wp-image-3054554 lazyloaded\" title=\"Interview: CEO Don Beattie on MTA\u2019s special origin &amp; how they went from &quot;hobbyists&quot; to heroes 4\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/07\/Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg.jpg.webp 1000w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/07\/Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg-300x194.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/07\/Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg-768x498.jpg.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" src=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/07\/Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg.jpg.webp\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/07\/Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg.jpg.webp 1000w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/07\/Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg-300x194.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/karryon.com.au\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2024\/07\/Neil-Robertson_MTA_ILTM-Asia-Pacific-2024jpg-768x498.jpg.webp 768w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mobile Travel Agents members at the recent ILTM Asia Pacific 2024 conference. (Image supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mobile Travel Agents\u2019 current success is a long way from its tough beginnings though.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo when we first started 24 years ago, we were scorned\u2026 \u2018hobbyists\u2019, was I think the most common term\u2026 \u2018part-timers\u2019,\u201d Beattie says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I did a presentation to a large supplier group\u2026 and I brought in this slide and the second slide was a woman in a pink dressing gown, hair in curls, cigarette hanging out her mouth, toes parted with cotton \u2013 I said this is how you picture us. On the next slide, I told them what the average commission earned was by these people, and all of a sudden, I had 40 people listening to me intently. So the perception did not match the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the industry and consumers are listening now.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on MTA \u2013 Mobile Travel Agents, click<span>\u00a0<\/span><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Opens in a new window\">here<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MTA &#8211; Mobile Travel Agents CEO Don Beattie is an easy interview. Query him on MTA or the travel agency sector and he\u2019ll go on and on (in a good way, of course). He has reason to wax lyrical about MTA, a group that right now is growing \u2013 in membership and revenue.\u00a0 A big<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":14811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162,158,57,160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-holidays","category-home-page-news","category-luxury"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-01-17 23:55:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14812,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14808\/revisions\/14812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtatravel.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}