ORLANDO — Michael Batt, founder and chairman of Internova Travel Group, still recalls the moment that he fell in love with the travel industry.
He had been working in consumer goods with the company then known as M&M Mars when he was hired by British Airways in 1987.
“They walked me into an aircraft hangar, and they were explaining the scope of my job and there were five British Airways Concordes lined up,” Batt recalled. “The guy who hired me said, ‘Do you realize this is included in your portfolio, and everything that goes on one of these Concordes is going to be approved by your department?’
“And I looked at these unbelievable machines and thought, ‘What the hell am I doing?'”
Batt shared that story Tuesday morning on stage at CoNexion, Nexion Travel Group’s annual conference at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort here. He was part of a panel of executives from Nexion’s parent company, Internova, moderated by Nexion president Jackie Friedman.
“I would say this about the travel industry: We’re so lucky to work in it,” Batt said.
The origins of Internova
He also reflected on the beginnings of what is today Internova. Batt led the management buyout of Carlson Leisure Group in 2008, forming what was then known as Travel Leaders Group.
“Carlson told us they were selling the business because they believed it had no future,” Batt said, a decision based on an analysis from consultants at McKinsey & Co. He described it as “a real shock to the stomach.”
At the time, the company was home to around 3,000 travel agents. He hired J.D. O’Hara, now Internova’s CEO, and put a team in place that would shape the future of the company.
Batt said there were three important pieces to growing Internova: the end customers, suppliers and advisors. Customers need to be kept happy, suppliers need to be delivered the right customers with the right deals and advisors need to present themselves as true experts who add value.
“You invest in yourself by, honestly, educating yourself. Showing up,” Batt said. “Most people think that’s, like, simple advice. Well, I can tell you, I’m a lot older now. I’ve actually done quite well, and I’ve never believed I would do this well. Ninety-nine percent of my success has been, I went and did things like this. I showed up. I met people. I learned about the products. I learned about the job I was doing.”
That, Batt said, enables advisors to be true experts who add value to their transactions with clients.
The drive to succeed
Angie Licea, president of luxury division Global Travel Collection, offered her advice to advisors on being successful in the industry.
“The first thing is drive,” she said. “As an independent contractor, you are not a travel agent. You are a business owner first.”
Also important is presence, Licea said. Advisors should think about maximizing their online presence to drive traffic to their website and social media accounts. They should also take advantage of tools like Travel Leaders Network’s Agent Profiler, an online lead-generation service.
Like Batt, she also encouraged advisors to show up to industry events.
“Getting people to know you is super important,” she said.
Advisors should know their value as professional service providers, she said, and they should also carefully manage their portfolio of clients.
“If you’ve got a tail who you’re not making money on, how do you grow your portfolio if you’re burdened with the tail driving you down?” Licea asked. “You might have to say goodbye to some customers in order to open up for some customers.”
Batt also identified the top attributes successful entrepreneurs need: Courage and hard work.
“There’s no shortcuts,” he said.
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