Jamie Biesiada
Last August, MAST Travel Network was in a good place. The travel agency consortium was on solid footing with a growing base of members, strong supplier relationships, technology developments and sales growth, especially in the luxury segment.
For John Werner, MAST's president and COO at the time, the timing seemed right to plan his exit after 25 years with MAST. He started talking to the board about his plans.
John Werner
"I always knew, even before that, that I wouldn't, when the day comes, say I'm retiring," Werner said. "I'm not ever really retiring in the true sense of the word. I still want to be involved. I want to stay involved in the industry, stay involved with ASTA."
Werner left MAST as planned at the end of last year, with Andrew Davis taking the reins as president and COO in January.
Werner has spent the last few months working on his next step in the industry: John Werner Consulting.
Werner is offering business coaching for travel agency owners and advisors, and can dive deep on a number of topics, from legal and financial considerations to marketing to relationships and communication.
"Everything is really meant to be customized or tailored for the needs of the client that I'm going to be working with," he said.
He's leveraging his own experience in the industry, first as a travel advisor, then an agency owner for 13 years, then his 25-year career at MAST.
While Werner said any agency looking for help is a good fit for his consultancy, he is targeting host agencies in particular. They are a big, and still growing, part of the future of the industry, attracting many new entrants, he said.
The new entrants are entrepreneurial and competitive, Werner said, and they will need to fortify marketing, customer relations and communication. Many are well-traveled, but they need to think about translating that into meaningful experiences for others.
"I think that's where I can add value," he said.
He also brings to the table plenty of experience in contracts and negotiations, problem resolution and supplier relationships.
Werner can be reached at [email protected].
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