Less paperwork, more exceptional journeys

Connecting enquiries, itinerary proposals, supplier communications and booking administration could give a bespoke travel business more time to understand its clients and secure bookings. For an eight-person team, the opportunity could look like this:

28 staff hours potentially saved each week

50% less time on selected routine admin

12% potential increase in annual revenue

Where the time savings could come from

Enquiries and follow-up - 6 hours weekly

Record enquiries in the CRM, collect destinations, budgets and travel preferences, and assign each opportunity to a consultant. AI could draft personal acknowledgements for review, while reminders help the team follow up before interest fades.

Itinerary proposals and revisions - 9 hours weekly

Use approved destination information and supplier quotations to prepare draft itineraries and proposals. Consultants would check availability, routing, prices and suitability, spending less time copying details between documents.

Supplier coordination and booking paperwork - 8 hours weekly

Bring supplier confirmations, outstanding requests and payment deadlines into one shared record. Prepare draft booking agreements from approved terms for staff review, with clear ownership of each outstanding action.

Client updates, payments and reporting - 5 hours weekly

Prepare travel-document packs from confirmed booking details, schedule pre-departure messages and trigger payment reminders. Shared reporting could show booking progress, expected revenue and enquiries needing attention without manually compiling spreadsheets.

Reducing these selected tasks from 56 to 28 staff hours per week would release 28 hours - a 50% reduction. That time could support more detailed client conversations, thoughtful recommendations and personal service throughout each booking.

How revenue could increase by 12%

With 400 qualified enquiries annually, increasing conversion from 25% to 28% would mean 112 bookings instead of 100. Faster proposals, consistent follow-up and clearer next steps could support this three-percentage-point improvement.

Assuming average retained commission and planning-fee revenue of £6,000 per booking, the additional 12 bookings would generate £72,000, increasing annual revenue from £600,000 to £672,000 - a 12% increase.

This calculation uses the travel business’s own commission and fees, excluding VAT and amounts passed to hotels, airlines and other suppliers. It assumes the average revenue per booking remains unchanged and the additional booking revenue is recognised within the year.

The opportunity would depend on sufficient consultant capacity and supplier availability. Released hours would provide capacity rather than automatic payroll savings, while setup, software and additional service costs would affect the eventual profit benefit.