Travel Gossip - Business Update

As we approach the end of 2023, I wanted to take a moment to provide you with a business update on Travel Gossip.

Today, I was really proud to have all nine team members together at a table at the AWTE Christmas party, which we sponsored.? With everyone working from home around the country, these ‘Gossip gatherings’ are special.

So as we move into the festive period, it's time to reflect on the last three exciting years of growth, which has only been possible because of our amazing team. So where do we stand today?

Travel Gossip exists to support a strong, successful travel industry with travel agents at the heart of everything we do.

Accounts

We’ve just submitted our End-of-Year accounts to Companies House (July 22-June 30) and I’m really proud of them. Top line stats:

• ￡1m million turnover
• ￡150k EBITDA
• ￡170k retained earnings
• Zero loans (100% organic growth)

During that 12-month period, we significantly expanded our team to 9, so emerging with strong profits and healthy cash reserves is a significant achievement. The last 6 months' stats are even more impressive with turnover already ￡1.3m for 2023 and with cash reserves currently up 50% YoY.

It was nice to have our fast growth recognised when we beat GB News to the Best Media Start-up Award in 2023 at the ALF Awards.

Reaching a million in turnover is remarkable. Yes, I know that’s an ego-metric, the key point here is our market share. We operate in a crowded market alongside well-established legacy media brands that have been around for 48, 54, and 70 years.

There's an old Mad Men-era saying... Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. Referring to how buyers like a safe bet and it's hard for new entrants to bring about behavioral change.

We have had to convince many people to buy Travel Gossip, and I’m eternally grateful for the trust and support we have had from a multitude of travel partners for their repeat business.

A big thank you to Jessica Simpson , whose contributions have played a vital role in increasing partner revenue since 2021. Hats off to Anwar Sohawon who joined us early in 2023 and has exceeded expectations by uncovering new revenue streams and provided us with clear strategic focus. Newcomer Mark Frost has also made an impressive start and hit the ground running in recent months.

We aim to be the go-to platform for the UK travel industry, to be the largest and most active community, connecting the travel industry through engaging solutions.

Travel Gossip News has been the driving force behind our growth. What we've accomplished with just two part-time co-editors is incredible. Linsey McNeill and Lisa James have been nothing short of amazing.

We have a fresh, agent-first approach to travel trade news, which has made Travel Gossip News a firm favourite among travel agents.

Travel Gossip has consistently ranked as the second or third most visited trade news site throughout 2023, boasting impressive open rates of 45% or higher from our dedicated audience of over 10,000, all from a standing start in April 2021.

Additionally, we're proud to be the preferred choice for trade news delivery through WhatsApp, with over 1200 subscribers receiving updates via this platform.

Here we grow again. We're currently in the process of recruiting our 10th, 11th and 12th members, two in news, one in sales. Building our team has been a rewarding experience for me, as I believe in delegation and empowering our talented team members to make things happen independently. It’s rare now that things rely on me to move forward.? The biggest 'pinch point' has been the website.

I built the Travel Gossip website during lockdown as a self-taught Wordpress amateur.? It’s been a good servant but it’s creaking.? To address this, we've made a strategic investment in a professional website, set to launch in the coming months. ??I’m going to miss not being able to get into the code to fix stuff but I keep telling myself it's for the best!

Events: We've experienced remarkable growth and are now the UK's leading provider of travel trade events. Next year, we have plans to host a whopping 46 regular Travel Gossip Roadshow events, along with several bespoke gatherings. A special shout-out to Amanda Mogey for her outstanding event management skills over the past year and to Melissa Cuthbert-Imrie for her invaluable support both during events and in our online trade engagement efforts.

I love personally hosting events when I can, it's so good to meet travel agents around the country, it keeps me grounded and in touch with our trade audience. Many thanks to all the agents and suppliers who support our events.

Our mission is to elevate both travel agents and suppliers in our community by providing the knowledge, networks, and opportunities to boost their travel sales.

Marketing: Travel Gossip is largest provider of B2B social media marketing in the travel trade; delivering over 6 million social media advert impressions a year to our trade audience in 2023.?

Our ‘Take 5’ bite-sized videos are hugely popular, with more than 150 live broadcasts delivered to date. ? Huge thanks to Katherine Starkey , Travel Gossip's first employee, for spearheading all our social campaigns and eMarketing initiatives. And a shout-out to Heather Yerlett of Leggy Design House for her incredible graphic design support.

We've also seen significant success with several other innovative ventures, including New to Cruise Bootcamp, New to USA Bootcamp, Homeworker Hub, market research and Big Agent Rewards which won the Travel Trade Engagement award at the 2023 Travel Marketing Awards.

Our Travel Celebration, featuring the Travel Gossip Awards, was a massive hit in 2023, with a sold-out crowd. We re-imagined the traditional trade media big event with more networking, more experiences and more out-of-seat time.

Our 2024 event will be even more spectacular, doubling in size with 450 guests, half of whom will be travel agents. Huge thanks to Ambassador Cruise Line for being our headline sponsor.?

And finally, where it all started...the Travel Gossip Facebook group which was started by Sara Mason-Parker in 2010 and now stands at 26,700 members. It always amazes me that all this came from a Facebook group. The group is now a small part of the business financially but it's very much the heart of our company and we're all very proud of what the group brings to the travel industry via its community support, guidance, inspiration and camaraderie.

The future of Travel Gossip

Previously it was all about brand-building, establishing credibility, disruption and growth.? As we head into 2024, this approach has given way to a more mature, thoughtful approach where are clearer about what we are and where we are going and why.

My amazing team is in agreement that Travel Gossip exists to support a strong, successful travel industry with travel agents at the heart of everything we do.

We aim to be the go-to platform for the UK travel industry, to be the largest and most active community, connecting the travel industry through engaging solutions and our mission is to elevate both travel agents and suppliers in our community by providing the knowledge, networks, and opportunities to boost their travel sales.

Thanks for reading, I hope this has been interesting. Thanks to our freelance FD Mary Turrell for making me post this! I would welcome any comments or suggestions on what we do next. I'm always open to ideas.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and healthy and prosperous 2024!