Introducing our Academy Scholarship class of 2024

The search is over! We recently invited our strongest Academy Scholarship candidates to our Support Hub in Manchester to pitch their travel business ideas to our expert panel – and it’s safe to say we were absolutely blown away by their ideas and the amount of thought they’d put into their business plans.

We’re excited to announce that this year, we’ve offered three incredibly talented and promising young travel entrepreneurs a place on our Travel Academy – strengthening our community of go-getting business owners who have a genuine passion for travel and dedication to going above and beyond for customers.

We’re so proud to introduce our next generation of franchisees:

Penny Cartledge

The travel industry runs in Penny’s blood, with her parents owning and running a hotel in her hometown of Blackpool. She’s also had a short career as cabin crew. Due to uncertainties of the pandemic, Penny made the decision to go to university to brush up her business skills, while still managing to continue in her cabin crew role during the summer months when travel could resume.

As a recent graduate, becoming a Travel Counsellor was the perfect next step for Penny – who had no desire to go into a traditional 9-5 role.

Penny plans to develop niches in festival travel and cruise, as well as dipping her toes into exploration and adventure travel.

Yasmin Waters

Yasmin joins us as a journalism graduate, most recently working for a publishing and events company which has allowed her to build up a strong network of both personal and professional contacts.

She has a huge passion for travel, having visited 19 countries so far – with an ambition to add many more to that list. She’s looking forward to using our flexible ways of working to run her business from different locations around the world, so she can experience destinations first-hand while building up her franchise.

Yasmin aims to capitalise her network and passion for travel by specialising in group travel across corporate and leisure bookings.

Adam Gordon

Adam graduated with a marketing degree in 2023 and has since worked for another travel company (as well as doing stints at Camp America). He enjoys putting together complex itineraries and is looking forward to getting to grips with our world-class booking system, Phenix. Most of all, he’s looking forward to being in charge of his own destiny and being there for his customers without being restricted to office hours.

Adam plans to put his marketing skills to good use, leveraging social media platforms and influencers to reach new customers.

He’s looking to target those seeking luxury getaways, providing unrivalled service that leads to repeat bookings and those all-important referrals.

To secure their scholarship, candidates went through a rigorous recruitment process which included submitting a detailed business plan (something we ask all prospective joiners to submit), attending a virtual interview, and a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch. They also had the opportunity to join one of our Discovery Days or watch one of our vlogs.

Our three successful candidates have been gifted a free place on our Academy Scholarship as part of our commitment to nurturing the next generation of travel talent. It’s a programme that we run annually, and applications for 2025 will be open towards the end of the year.

Our newbies will start their training over the coming months, and we’ll be following their journeys as they launch their businesses and beyond.

As with all new joiners, they will not only benefit from our 360-degree wraparound support, but also the guidance of their personal mentor who will assist them throughout the first six months.

We’re looking forward to welcoming our successful scholarship candidates onto our induction programmes and can’t wait to see their businesses launch and go from strength to strength.

We’re always looking to grow our community of business owners, so if you want to join a franchise where your only focus is you and your customers, look no further than Travel Counsellors. If you’ve got a passion for travel and the drive to succeed, just like our scholarship candidates, get in touch with us today!