EF World Journeys, a major tour operator with three main brands, is developing a program to work with travel advisors.
The tour operator, based in Cambridge, Mass., is partnering with advisors to help create the program.
EF declined to make the commercial terms public, but communications vice president Brian Hoyt said the commission rate would be "very competitive."
The company plans to share details once the program is officially underway. Hoyt did not share an official launch date but said that the company would work with advisors across all brands under EF World Journeys: EF Go Ahead Tours (guided tours), EF Adventures (active travel) and EF Ultimate Break (guided tours for guests ages 18 to 35).
Heidi Durflinger
CEO Heidi Durflinger said the program would roll out this fall.
"We see it as a part of the market that we haven't really catered to. So that's why we're trying to build something out in a really thoughtful way," she said. "Because we have the EF ecosystem, a lot of our growth came organically from referrals, word of mouth, former student travelers then traveling with the adult products."
Learning from advisors
EF realizes it has an untapped opportunity to leverage the trade.
"We see travel advisors as a really growing segment," Durflinger said.
EF began what Hoyt described as a "listening tour" in May to learn what advisors need from the operator as their partner. Now in the early phase of the program, EF is recruiting interested travel advisors and agencies and uncovering their needs, including technology and processes.
"Our aim is to be a preferred partner to every travel agency, to offer travel advisors our epic tour experiences popular with travelers and provide the best-in-class traveler support for these tours that travel advisors have told us they've been wanting to book for decades," Hoyt said.