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Destination Travel Agency
Christmas morning 2001 was a rather special time for Tracie Callaghan….
But not for the obvious reasons. Opening presents and carving the turkey might all be very nice, but Tracie had made a decision that was to affect the rest of her life. She was going to go for it and open her own agency.
So she knew it was important to get everything in place before making the big leap into running her own business. One of those vital factors was the choice of a consortium to provide the backup she needed. “I sort of fell upon Freedom, because they were very new at that point. I went down to meet them and was very impressed with what they were offering compared with other bonding groups”.
Why Freedom Travel Group?
“There is quite a bit of choice in the area, but I had worked in other agencies with other consortia who I didn’t want to go with.” Tracie felt that Freedom’s offering looked fantastic, in fact at first she thought it might be a bit too good to be true, but she decided to go with Freedom, a decision she now describes as “the best move I ever made”.
“Freedom are so supportive – they are on the end of a phone if you need anything. The support has been there from day one; technical support, commercial support, just plain hand-holding – they are there for anything, nothing is a problem”.
ABTA cover
Tracie decribes the requirement of having ABTA cover for clients, as ‘a huge issue’ for her. She very much wanted to have ABTA protection, and the fact that this was available to her as part of the Freedom Travel Group package was a key factor in her decision making process.
My shop, my identity
Similarly she was attracted to the fact that, whilst The Freedom Travel Group Consortium was there when she needed them, they were not going to try and take over the identity of her new business. “With Freedom, it is my shop, my identity, my agency and I run it my way, knowing that they are there if I need their support".
Outstanding commission rates
Commission levels being offered by Freedom were also a telling reason for choosing the group. “The commission rates they have negotiated are far superior to anything I could have obtained elsewhere”.
So was that Christmas Day decision to go it alone and join Freedom a good one? “The support I’ve had from everybody – family, friends, clients, and the people at Freedom – has been fantastic. It’s been an amazing few years, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world – and Freedom – well I’ve got that every which way!”