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TravelManagers has consigned the pandemic slump to history and is doing so well that 2023 will likely be its best-ever sales year.

Chief executive Joe Araullo delivered the inspiring news to delegates at TravelManagers annual national conference in Ōtautahi Christchurch yesterday.

“2019 was our best sales year ever and we always thought, ‘How are we going to top that, especially after the pandemic?’” Araullo said.

“But for 2023, for the first six months, we’re 29% up on our sales. Better yet, commission is up 31%.

“Given that margins tend to be squeezed, particularly with airline commission reductions, we’ve actually been able to increase those margins.”

Araullo said the first six months of 2023 had been record months for sales, and July and August were also going to be record months. TravelManagers will close in on an all-time record year if the trend continues through September and October.

Even if higher airfares contributed somewhat, the bounceback adds to other impressive TravelManagers achievements, such as retaining 95% of its National Partnership Office (NPO) team and 70% of its Personal Travel Managers (PCM) network. At the same time, the pandemic decimated much of the industry.

The current TravelManagers conference in Christchurch has attracted about 370 delegates, including 200 PCMs. About 50 of the PCMs have gone on to organise trips and famils around Christchurch and elsewhere in the South Island.

TravelManagers’ executive general manager, Michael Gazal, said it was a “big deal” for the group to hold its national conference in Christchurch. By doing so, TravelManagers could contribute significantly to the city’s tourism revival. Christchurch, devastated in 2011 by a significant earthquake, has undergone a strong resurgence, but much more needs to be done. Reconstruction of the centrepiece Christ Church Cathedral is now well underway.

TravelManagers has strong links with the region. The Australian network is a wholly owned subsidiary of House of Travel, founded in 1987 in Timaru, about 150 kilometres south of Christchurch. House of Travel’s founder and executive chairman, Chris Paulsen, attended the conference yesterday.

Gazal related how House of Travel acquired TravelManagers Australia in 2007 on the advice of former TravelManagers chairman Barry Mayo, who saw a home-based travel agency network as a model offering great untapped potential in Australia.

Mayo’s vision and foresight have been entirely borne out. The business has expanded steadily ever since, surviving the pandemic knockback and emerging from it more vital than ever, with about 435 PCMs and a healthy travel business mix of roughly 50% air and 50% land content.