Have you considered selling travel to small businesses?

Taylor Beckett, the owner of Luxury Corporate Travel in Grand Prairie, Texas, thinks planning travel for small businesses is “the most overlooked opportunity for travel advisors.”

“Like groups, once you have established a relationship with a business owner or someone in charge of company travel, you are given a list of travelers you can make bookings for without having to invest time in connection and retention with each individual traveler to secure their ongoing business,” Beckett wrote in his new book, “Building a Book of Business for Travel Advisors” (Kihei Press, 2025).

Business travelers are usually experienced in being on the road, Beckett said. And while they might not book many cruises or tours, they will book extended-stay trips, company retreats, high-end travel and group gatherings.

Beckett’s book is filled with advice on everything from targeting high-income bookings, to selling and closing, to connection and client retention. It’s the second book for Beckett, who last year wrote “The Professional Travel Advisor Guidebook” (Kihei Press, 2024).

The new book, he said, is aimed at everyone from new advisors to those who want to breathe a little life into their business.

“There’s a lot of different points in there,” he said. “Hopefully just one of them is something that will either, if somebody’s in a rut, can help bring them out of it, or if they’re new, just gives them that spark to get those first couple of bookings so that they can open up to referrals.”

Referrals, by the way, are what Beckett considers one of the best ways to get more business. And, yes, he covers referrals extensively in the book.

In it, he urges advisors to send “a gentle and consistent reminder to your current clients that you would like referrals.” He even offers language for that reminder: “A referral is the highest form of a compliment I can receive. If you know of other travelers who would receive value from my services, please let me know!”

Another topic he wrote about that he particularly liked is forming partnerships with influencers, Beckett said.

“If they’re able to mention your name to 100,000 people, that can be a big change in business for you,” he said.

Beckett’s book is available for sale digitally and in print on Amazon.

I want to hear from you

Travel advisors, do you have any stories about crazy client requests?

Maybe they wanted a short flight between New York and Singapore, or perhaps they asked for a tour of the real Hogwarts during their Scotland trip. Maybe it was something else entirely.

Whatever it is, I want to hear about it — and how you handled it (or didn’t; client breakup stories are fair game, too).

I’m collecting the best stories to be included in an upcoming Travel Weekly report. You can submit yours online via this survey. I can’t wait to read them.