TORONTO — Henley Vazquez, co-founder and CEO of Fora Travel, walks the walk and talks the talk when it comes to maximizing support for travel advisors. After all, sheʻs been a travel agent since 2008.
When starting Fora with the host agencyʻs two other co-founders, Chief Product & Technology Officer, Jake Peters, and President, Evan Frank, itʻs no surprise then that Vazquez put great technology at the top of the companyʻs priority list.
“No one was investing in really good technology. The tech we were seeing, the tech that was out there, it was piecemeal, it’s not full stack,” says Vazquez.
The trio also wanted to attract more new-to-industry travel advisors, “and empower them to build their own businesses.”
With those two must-haves in mind, Fora got its start in 2021, in New York City. Since then Fora advisors have booked upwards of US$500 million in travel.
Now Fora has come to Ontario, with plans to expand across Canada. First announced earlier this month, Foraʻs official launch in this market took place last night at 1 Hotel Toronto.
In the U.S. Fora has advisors in every state, plus from 92 countries. “We started seeing more and more Canadians join, so it just made sense,” to launch Canada as Foraʻs first international market, said Vazquez in an interview.
Plenty of Foraʻs Canadian advisors were on hand last night to celebrate along with Vazquez and her team, which includes Natalie Lum-Tai, Canada Lead and General Counsel & International Business Ops and Ross Thomason, Head of Training & Development. “We’ve seen really quick growth in Canada,” said Vazquez.
“We don’t have official office space yet in Toronto. It’s been very organic,” she added. “We’ve completed the TICO registration process and weʻre looking at how to expand further. Our registration process to operate in B.C. is already in progress. We’re very serious about doing this right.”
Fora is looking at the UK and Mexico next.
While Fora isnʻt alone in rolling out the red carpet to new-to-industry members, it does want to stand out with its offering. “Iʻm big on small businesses, and weʻre empowering Canadians to build their own businesses,” said Vazquez.
The annual membership fee to join Fora is Cdn$399. Agents get access to Fora’s Advisor Portal, training programs, content and marketing tools, commission payments and an online forum.
“We are quite strict about access to travel agent rates, fam rates. You have to earn your way in,” said Vazquez.
The host agency will also soon offer a free prep program to “streamline the process” of completing TICOʻs Education Standards Exam.
One of Foraʻs internal goals is maximizing its tech to help travel advisors be 10x more efficient. As part of its growing tech portfolio, Fora plans to launch a new itinerary tool in June.
Key for the companyʻs growth is this question: “How do you scale in a way that feels right?” asks Vazquez. “The sky’s the limit. Our goal is to bring people in and give them the tech so they can do their jobs.”
While Fora has strong messaging for new-to-industry agents, the host agency welcomes experienced travel advisors too. Asked about agents who might be thinking of switching, Vazquez says: “We don’t recruit anyone. People come to us because they want a better platform.”
She added: “We have advisors who hit $1 million in their first year, and others who tiptoe into their first bookings. Application for membership is through ForaTravel.com. A lot of people apply, but not everyone gets in. We look for opinions about travel and great communication skills.”
Asked about coming into the Canadian market in these trade war times, Vazquez had this to say: “I think it’s really important that people who want to book with us, and book specifically with a Canadian travel advisor, can do that. People will always travel. They might just change their destinations.”
