Episode 10 - How to Get Found Online as a Travel Agent - with Anna Shannon
Connect and get in touch with HollyDay Travel
People and Links mentioned in this episode:
Travel Agent Finder - Find a travel agent
Find out how Travel Agent Finder works for travel agent marketing
EPISODE SUMMARY
Episode Focus
Topic: Travel Agent Finder Platform - Connecting Travellers with Expert Agents
Host: Holly Velardo from HollyDay Travel (Port Noarlunga, South Australia)
Guest: Anna Shannon - Founder of Travel Agent Finder
Anna Shannon's Background
Travel industry innovator and entrepreneur with 15+ years experience
Former corporate marketing professional for leading brands
Became travel agent, managed agency, developed loyal clientele
Embraced home-based model focused on repeat and referral clients
Returned to marketing during COVID to help small businesses with digital presence
Combined marketing expertise with travel agent understanding to create Travel Agent Finder
Travel Agent Finder Platform Overview
Mission: Connect travellers with right expert agents and empower travel specialists
Current scale: Over 1,000 members (majority travel advisors plus supplier partners)
Features: Thousands of monthly leads, hundreds of agent profiles, traveller reviews
Growth: Evolved from pandemic passion project to thriving business
Community: Travel Trade Connect Hub for industry resources and connections
Platform Inspiration and Development
How the Platform Works
Key Platform Features
For Travel Agents
Two-tier packages: Different support levels available
Profile optimisation: Specialist categories, badges, credibility markers
Blog functionality: Showcase expertise and personal experiences (higher tier)
Review system: Personalised links for client review collection
Marketing resources: Monday Marketing Tips, how-to videos (5–10 minutes)
For Travellers
Search and compare: Filter by destination, travel type, specialisations
Review access: Over 3,500 traveller-submitted reviews
Specialist badges: Certified destination expertise visible
Direct connection: Contact forms straight from agent profiles
Trust building: Real person interaction, not just business logos
Holly's Success Story
Recent bookings: Two bookings worth over $30,000 each in three weeks
Profile optimisation: Used Anna's guides to transform profile effectiveness
ROI: Annual fee paid back "100 times over" with just two bookings
Client preference: Face-to-face meetings, personal connection valued
Review strategy: Welcome home emails with both Google and Travel Agent Finder review links
Platform Development and Features
Anna's Marketing Philosophy
Human connection: Advocating for personal service over automated booking
Strategic planning: Platform designed during pandemic with 80+ hours/week to think
Accessibility: Quick, actionable tips for busy travel agents
Education focus: Step-by-step guides rather than just information
Community building: "Rising tide lifts all boats" mentality
Review System Strategy
Traveller behaviour: 99% check reviews first when comparing agents
Reply importance: Agents should respond to reviews to show they're real people
Trust building: Reviews show independent validation of service quality
Warm leads: Travellers have already researched before making contact
Dual platform: Encourage reviews on both Google and Travel Agent Finder
Industry Trends Observed
Europe strength: Consistently strong search category
Closer destinations: Shift toward domestic/regional travel
Digital marketing evolution: Move from traditional to modern approaches
Specialist focus: Independent and home-based agents most engaged
Technology adoption: Need to embrace AI and digital tools or be left behind
Content Creation Strategy
Platform Success Factors
Advice for Travellers
Specialist value: Working with expert will "amplify your trip"
Platform quality: "Incredible, talented people" with high expertise levels
Search process: Start with destination, then filter by travel type and preferences
No bad choices: Quality control ensures all agents meet high standards
Personal recommendation: Anna "would never travel any other way"
Key Takeaways
Market need: Clear gap existed for agent–traveller connection platform
Digital necessity: Travel agents must embrace modern marketing or be left behind
Community power: Collaborative approach benefits entire industry
Specialisation value: Matching right agent with right traveller creates better outcomes
Personal service: Human connection still valued over automated booking systems
READ THE FULL PODCAST TRANSCRIPT HERE
Hello and welcome to episode 10 of Travel Business Unlocked. I'm Holly and today we have an interview episode with my gorgeous friend, Anna Shannon, from Travel Agent Finder. Welcome, Anna.
Anna: Hi Holly. Thank you so much for having me today.
Holly: It is such a pleasure to have you on and I'm just going to tell everyone a little bit about you. Anna is a travel industry innovator, entrepreneur, and the founder of Travel Agent Finder. This is a platform designed to connect travellers with the right expert agents and empower travel specialists through enhanced digital visibility. After a successful career in corporate marketing for leading brands, she made a bold move to follow her passion for travel by becoming a travel agent over 15 years ago. Quickly rising through the ranks, Anna managed an agency and developed a loyal clientele, then embraced a home-based model focused on repeat and referral clients. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the travel industry and her own business, Anna returned to marketing, helping local small businesses enhance their digital presence. Combining her expertise in marketing with her deep understanding of travel agents' needs, Anna created Travel Agent Finder to boost agent visibility, support travel agent connections and streamline access to supplier resources through the Travel Trade Connect Hub. Today, her platform facilitates thousands of monthly leads for agents, features hundreds of agents’ blogs and experiences for travellers, and supports over a thousand trade members and showcases thousands of traveller-submitted reviews. Anna is known for her advocacy for personal branding in travel, encouraging agents to showcase their expertise and passion to attract ideal clients. Yes, you are. You're amazing Anna. And what you have done to create Travel Agent Finder is incredible. So I'm so happy to have you here today to talk about it. Welcome again and tell us a little bit more in detail about your inspiration for Travel Agent Finder.
Anna's Inspiration for Travel Agent Finder
Anna: Good. It's a really good question because when I was a home-based agent, you know, just before the pandemic hit, it's something I really thought I'd be doing forever because I loved it. I never ever imagined, you know, in any other universe that I was doing something else. But obviously faced with a difficult decision of no jobs being available in the industry at the time, it sort of comes down to that. You know, you mentioned in my intro about going back to the old marketing career. So I was working with small businesses in outside of the industry and what I noticed was quite different to where I'd left my marketing career in the corporate days. And that was that when you work with small business owners, you really see how quickly you're helping them and things that appear to be maybe quite simple for somebody with that marketing background are not so simple for people who have their own zone of brilliance elsewhere, but maybe, you know, don't understand how digital marketing works.
So I realised very quickly that I could help those small business owners again, that this was in the other industries. And I looked at how I could apply that same principle to the travel industry, which, you know, was struggling so much at the time. So something I actually talk about in a lot of my marketing things with agents as well is really looking at where is that intersection of, you know, your skills, your experience and your passion. And for me, that's really how Travel Agent Finder came about because it was, you know, my skills and experience in marketing, but also having been an agent myself, including a home-based agent, and I was really passionate about both travel and marketing.
Holly: You’re doing an incredible job.
Anna: So.. oh, thank you. I guess at the time as well there was that, you know, I had the firsthand understanding of what it's like to be a home-based agent, but noticing that with everything that was going on that people were having a lot of challenges in how they would be found or discovered online. There was a lot of old information. Digital marketing really was, you know, quite new to a lot of people. And on the other side we had this realisation that travellers were struggling to find the right travel experts or travel agents that they could trust. So there wasn't really any one platform or anywhere online that they could compare and connect with travel professionals, you know, find traveller submitted reviews, understand what it's like to work, work with people. There wasn't really any one platform that did that.
So Travel Agent Finder came about to really support both those sides: help agents with their digital marketing and also help travellers find the right person. And I think we also saw that shift in consumer behaviour as well, the increased demand for, for like personalised, customised travel planning. So it's, it was just a gap in the market really. And I'm so pleased that I'm able to help a lot of people by creating the platform.
Holly: Yeah, yeah. I'm so pleased that you started it. I mean, we know coming out of COVID, you were an agent before and the experiences, but so many people had also been burnt through that period. You know, they'd lost a lot of money from online agencies. There wasn't the support that was there. So there was so many more people coming out looking for travel agents and they were scared, they were worried about where to find them. So what you created was incredible by able putting these reviews online, having these real stories from other travellers made such a difference. And you know, I was one of the first people, well, maybe not the first, but pretty in the beginning, one of those first to join and I knew how incredible it was. I've seen Travel Agent Finder grow so much since it first started. Like, where are you at now with the platform and what are the features you're most excited about?
Current State of Travel Agent Finder
Anna: Great question. So, yeah, I guess, you know, if I'm honest, it went from being my passion project during the pandemic to becoming my business and it exploded very quickly. And you know, hand on heart, I'm not sure I was completely prepared for that at the time. But I've been playing catch up ever since and it's going really well. You know, we've now got over a thousand members basically, which is of course majority travel advisors, but also including our supplier partners, inside Travel Trade Connect, and also some agents that maybe don't necessarily want to be on the frontend, public facing, but they're enjoying like the community aspect and the trade resources that are in the backend.
So, you know, it has gone from that simple kind of connection piece to becoming a bit of a platform that really helps, you know, travellers find an expert, but also our wonderful travel advisor networks to be able to find industry contacts, resources, events in the backend inside their account too. So that's been, you know, a huge kind of development and a lot of work going into that as a resource for agents as well. But of course, you know, the main priority, of course is getting advisors featured for, you know, what they specialise in. So we're always looking at new ways to do that. We've had a number of different developments over the last couple of years as well. We've got our great destination pages where we're talking about, you know, travel advice and essential info for travellers coming to our website. But then we're directing them to be able to connect straight with a specialist off the page. And we use our specialist badge programme as well.
So, you know, for example, if the destination page is Switzerland, we talk about how wonderful it is. We've got videos and pictures on the page and then we're connecting with, you know, certified Swiss travel specialists straight off the page. So to help, you know, to help those agents get more visibility, but of course also to help travellers going to Switzerland connect with the right person. So, you know, it's really that connection piece that we're all about.
Holly: There is so much information on there, Anna. So much information for us agents as well, but not only the agents, like you're saying, for the traveller trying to find that, but I think what you've created, I mean, looking in there, we can look at, you know, all of that destination info. It doesn't matter where you are at in your career, there's always going to be something more we need to learn about. So, you know, the destination info is there. You link to destination webinars or all sorts of things going on in our industry, which is extremely helpful for us. And also what you're creating now is also the calendar with all of the industry events because there's so many and us trying to find them and work them out and you know, not having things clash. You know, there's so much more to the platform than just connecting the travellers with the agents. And I know that's your main priority. And myself and the success that I've had with your platform, I mean, just in the last couple of weeks I've sent you some very exciting emails. I'm like, yay, got a new booking.
And you know, so it's been two bookings in probably the last three weeks and each of those bookings has been over $30,000 and they're still building. And you know, the connection, people really want that connection. And you know, the way I work is I still see clients, even though I'm home based, I still see them. These people wanted to physically come and see me, they didn't want to do that online. And you know, that's where being able to optimise my profile and have that as a reason within there is incredible.
So can you tell everyone a little bit about, I guess back to the beginning, how it works, how travel agents connect, what they need to provide and you know, and the opportunities for them of what they can put on with the blogs and you know, all of that type of thing as well.
How Travel Agent Finder Works
Anna: Yeah, sure. So it's really a search and comparison tool for travellers to find you. So, you know, I do joke about this, but I feel like people get it when I say this, so I'm just going to say it. It's like Tinder, but for travel agents, right? You can search and filter. So, you know, if a traveller is looking for a Canada specialist, they can search by destination “Canada”, but not only that—because they're going to get a lot of results for Canada, that's why I picked that example—they can then further search and filter. So they might be looking specifically for family holidays, adventure holidays, you know, they might want to do a cruise, Alaska cruise, and combine that with parts of Canada. We can search and filter all those things and it just helps them narrow down to exactly the right person. And what that means for the travel agent is that, you know, they're getting increased visibility for the things that they excel at and for the things that they love to book. And I really think that everyone wins in that way because the traveller gets a better experience. And, you know, you as an agent are booking the things that you know and love. And, you know, our suppliers and our destination partners also win because the right client is getting matched with the right product and destination, right? So, yes, an agent can apply to join. There is, of course, a quite a strict verification process to go through to make sure that they are an agent before that they are accepted and then they choose their specialist categories that they're going to list under. And I do provide kind of a checklist and a guideline of different ways that they can optimise their profile to really increase their, you know, visibility online, their credibility as a specialist. And of course, ultimately, lead generation.
Holly: I used your guide, I changed it up because originally I just put my own information in there and thought, yeah, this is great. And then I went through your checklist, went through your guide, chatted to a couple of other agents who had also done it and went, okay, I'm going to optimise this. And that's when the bookings and the connections started. So it's so important, I think as well take that 10 minutes, it didn't take me long to change it and really use your guides and all that information you've got in there. And you know, your fees are so low for what you provide. And, you know, we'll put a link in here in the show notes so people can get in touch with you about the fees and things like that involved. But it's so low. I mean, those two bookings would pay a hundred times over or more than what my annual fee is. It is so incredibly worth it and the different levels and you know, I've uploaded blogs on there as well, which have got some great feedback. So, you know, talk about what people can, if you can explain a little bit about what they can put on there, that'd be great.
Anna: Yeah. So from an agent point of view, what they can put on their profile,
Holly: Yeah, to help travellers find them.
Anna: we've got a number of different kind of marketing features and inclusions in the packages. But we do offer two different packages because we know people need that different level of support. So, for example, blogs is on the higher tier option and that is a really great way to showcase your expertise because people can, you know, understand your style by reading your travel blog, they can understand and see the experiences that either you yourself have had or that you're talking about that you've sent clients away and that helps them understand if you're the right person for them.
And you know, I've had, I've got a piece of software that I can put over the top of my side and actually watch how people use it and watch how they compare. And it's so interesting to me because 99% of the time it follows the same formula, right? They do their search, they filter, the first thing they check is reviews. So we make reviews, we make building reviews really easy for you as an agent. You receive a personalised link where you can send that to your clients. I do give lots of tips around this within the marketing tips as well to try and make it easy for you.
So those people, they're looking at reviews, they're checking you out, basically checking you out to see if they trust you.
Holly: Absolutely.
And then you know, we've got things like specialist badges. So if they can see there that there's, you know, a certified destination badge from the tourism operator on your page, I think that adds a lot of trust and credibility as well. And then like the blogs like you mentioned too, it's really a great way to showcase your own personal experience and your tips and why, you know, it benefits them to work with a travel professional. So again, if they're comparing a few agents and the reviews are there, they're gold, they're awesome. And then all of a sudden they a read a blog that you've written about the exact type of trip that they want to do, it’s a no brainer. They are contacting, you know, on the form, straight off the page. It works. It's awesome.
Holly: Yeah, it's unbelievable. And one thing about you, Anna, is your knowledge, your expertise and everything that you have, it always blows my mind. And then for you to get yourself out there, get on camera, you're always shy, you don't love it, it's not your favourite thing to do. But all of the information that you've got in there, like from your Monday Marketing Tips that you put on your post there, you know, there's so many famil opportunities and the client reviews going back to that, like what I do is we send a Welcome Home email and we have two links on there: we have the Google reviews and we have your reviews. So clients will often put it on both. And so, you know, it's so incredible that when you get that review that goes through, obviously you send us an email and everything as well because we don't know if the clients do it. But I think that has been such a big tip. And then you also, one of your hints and tips that you gave was replying to those reviews. The importance of actually spending that time to reply and talk us through that. Talk us about that, please.
Anna: Yeah, that's a great, that's a great one actually, because I think so much of what I do at Travel Agent Finder is really advocating for, for those people who speak to a human. Right? So we can book travel. Travel is a product. We can book any way and anywhere. You know, you can even book a holiday at Aldi, right? But there are… [Holly, inaudible] I know you gotta laugh. There, there are, you know, a lot of people and that's fine for me, that's fine. But there are a lot of people who want to talk to a human being and they want to talk to someone who can tailor something rather than just booker, off-the-shelf kind of package. And this is where, I’m coming back to your point even though it seems like I've got a bit off topic, this is what I love about the reviews in general because it shows an independent.
So these reviews are submitted by the travellers to our website. So we've got over 3,500 reviews now. These are submitted from the travellers. So a) there’s an option for people to see, you know, what it's like to experience working with you before they make that call. But b) when they see that you've replied to those emails, those reviews, you're a real person and, you know, they can see that there's, it's not just a business hiding behind, you know, a logo or a profile picture online. You are a real person who is thanking that person for leaving a review, who is replying. And I think that that really says a lot because, you know, ultimately, when people needed a new service provider and they jump online and they're Googling and they're trying to find someone, they're there to check you out. They're not making a phone call first, they're checking. You know, that's a warm lead really, because, you know, they've chosen you and they've already checked you out. Does that make sense?
Holly: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, that's something that I, I was always replying to my Google reviews, but I wasn't jumping into your platform and then when I saw that and that hints and tips, I was like, this is so important because other people are reading that and they're looking at what you're responding with, you know, so take some time to be genuine sound like you, you know, make it that you really are appreciative for that review. I think that's an incredible tip, Anna.
And you know, there's so many things that you provide for not only us agents, but the travellers and also now the suppliers as well. Having them on there, you know, I've jumped in and going “I need someone for this area…” and I can go in there and have a look and connect with them. You've got their contact details in there. It's so valuable in so many ways.
But you always seem to be ahead of the market. You always seem to know what people want and you're giving us this information before we even know we need it. So talk to me a little bit about how you come up with these hints and tips. Are you getting asked these questions or are you just thinking about things you think people need to be provided with? Like, how do you provide all of this to us?
Anna: It's a really great question. There's probably two sides to this. So the first one is, you know, if I take you back, what is it, four or five years now? I went from working 80 hours a week as a travel agent to nothing. Right? When I lost my business like so many of us did, I had a lot of time to think. So when I was planning this platform, I designed it specifically, strategically thinking through all the things that ideally are marketing features that would help a small business owner who is trying to wear all the hats where I could really take that overwhelm away from them. So I had a lot of time to think about these things. So my marketing tips are often based around the structure of what my platform already does.
But it's just explaining it, right, because as I mentioned before, you know, travel advisors, they're wonderful at what they do. They've got their own zone of brilliance. But not all of them have a business or a marketing background like I do. And for those that do, wonderful. But there's so many more that don't. So I started giving these tips on, you know, how to optimise your profile page similar to what you mentioned before, Holly. And it's great for me to just say all these things, but you guys are really busy too, so I've tried to make it extra easy by, you know, my marketing Monday tips. For example, I often do they're either a tip or I often do a how-to video. And I try to make it basically something that you can do within five or 10 minutes on a Monday and by actually on my screen showing you exactly how to do it because, again, you're really busy.
So part of the, you know, part of those tips come from that really long time that I had to strategically plan out how I wanted the platform to work for you. But again, like, you raised a really good point before, sometimes they're just based on feedback or questions that I get. So when I notice that I'm getting a lot of the same question, I know it's time to do, you know, a video about that to help people out.
Holly: Absolutely. And you know, this is exactly one thing that I think is missing within our industry is how-to and this is one of the reasons that I started the podcast is there's so much information out there, but people don't know how to connect with people or who to connect with or how to actually do things. There's no step-by-step guides. There's a lot of information about what you can do and that's where your market marketing tips are so helpful. We've only got a few minutes, you’re right, we’re rushing in between things. We've got client meetings, whatever it is we've got, we are very busy. And so I love it. I know I can jump on literally in 10 minutes, look at it and remember. But because they're quick and they're straight to the point and they're so helpful, I think we retain it better than if you're going to be there talking about things for 20, 30, 40 minutes, which we just don't have the time to watch.
So I think you've nailed that and done incredibly well with that. So thank you, Anna. And then I just wanted to see ask you a bit of a question here. What sort of trends are you seeing in the travel industry? Like, is there anything that you're really, really noticing and you're having to adapt travel agent finder to them? Is it changing constantly?
Anna: Yeah, I mean, it's been interesting to watch the different search categories in terms of, you know, how many people are searching for different things and that's obviously really, you know, it's probably not going to be a surprise to us within the industry because everyone's seeing it in their business. But just, you know, Europe, of course is always strong. But just watching like the shift to more kind of closer to home destinations as well, given everything that's going on at the moment.
So in terms of the insights I see through the search and also the types of things I see in the inquiries like that is always, you know, really interesting to me. And I do, I try and share those but, you know, I'll be honest, just capacity wise, it's been difficult for me to do that as much as I'd like, but I will get there. But also, you know, from the marketing side, it's really great to see people having light bulb moments, especially you know, independent travel agents, home-based and mobile travel agents because that tends to be the type of advisor who is more interested in what I offer because they usually do need to look after their own marketing.
And watching the shift from kind of the traditional old school marketing which so much of our industry even to this day still does, I find it quite frustrating. But again, I have to remind myself not everyone knows how to do everything. That's why we have specialists, that's why we have specialist travel agents too. You know, anyone can book a holiday but how much better is it when you use a specialist? So, you know, I'm watching the people really step up and take my advice on things and really, you know, come out of their shell, change the way that even their blogs are written based on my feedback and advice and I love that and I feel like, you know, as a whole, as a collective, you know, the rising tide lifts all boats. We, we really need to embrace digital marketing. We need to embrace what AI is going to do to change the industry. And you know, if we don't, we're already decades behind the game in some areas, you know, when it comes to technology and everything. So, you know, watching these shifts and really seeing the people who are most engaged with my platform, they're the ones that I see kind of taking on board, you know, tips and the different features that they can use and running with it. And also coincidentally not they're the ones getting the results right. So I know that it works.
Holly: Yeah, yeah. Oh, it absolutely does. And I agree with you. There's so many people who are set in their ways in travel and, you know, it's been an industry that there has been so much change. I mean, in the last few years since I've come, you know, since Covid's over and we've really had to move, my business has changed incredibly. Everything's moved to online. We have apps now for travel. You know, AI is a huge part in everything we do. And you're right, if you're not keeping up with those tips and hints and following along and using platforms like yours and creating yourselves, putting yourselves in these communities where you can get this information and advice, you will be left behind. And I feel so incredibly grateful to be part of your community and what you've created here at Travel Agent Finder. And I have one final question for you. What is your number one advice that you would give travellers who are like, looking to find the perfect agent on your site? What is your advice to them?
Anna: You won't regret it. Working with a specialist is going to amplify your trip. And in terms of how the website works, start on the homepage search, choose you know the destination you want to go. When you get to the next page, you can then cross filter and compare some of the most amazing, incredible, talented people in this country. You can read their reviews, you can see their own experiences and, and you're not going to make a bad choice. The level of expertise on this platform is absolutely incredible. And I just, I would never, ever travel any other way.
Holly: You're amazing, Anna. What you've created for us and for travellers, we absolutely love it. I can't wait to see where you're going to take this in the future. I know you've got some big plans for it. I know what you're trying to do. And with this platform, anyone out there who wants to know more, all the information will be in the show notes. We'll link to Anna's details in there as well. You can get in touch if you have any questions. But my advice to you is absolutely get on board and become part of Travel Agent Finder. Thank you, Anna, for coming on and taking the time to be here today.
Anna: Thank you so much for having me, Holly. You've always been like such a wonderful advocate for Travel Agent Finder and I see you doing some amazing things in the space of helping agents as well. And I'm really grateful for your time today. It's been fabulous to chat. Thank you.
Holly: Thank you.
