TORONTO — You can’t be all things to all people – that’s profitable wisdom for any business, and especially travel agencies that go the specialty route.

It’s a lesson Faith Sproule has learned well in her years as owner of the aptly-named Niche Travel Group. The Dartmouth, NS-based agency was honoured at the recent Affluent Traveler Collection (ATC) symposium in Miami, winning the Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Sales Achievement.

As reported earlier this week, only four agencies out of more than 300 members in the U.S. and Canada took home awards at the luxury travel event. Not only that, but Niche Travel Group was the only Canadian agency in that group of four.

Nicole Mazza, Chief Marketing Officer for The Affluent Traveler Collection, singled out Niche Travel Group for its innovative offerings, customer service and creative marketing.

Naturally, Travelweek wanted to know more, so we asked Sproule to share her thoughts on what makes Niche Travel Group a winner – and how specializing with a selection of unique core products reaps benefits

Faith Sproule, owner, Niche Travel Group (centre) with Kathryn Mazza-Burney, CSO, The Affluent Traveler Collection (left) and Nicole Mazza, CMO, The Affluent Traveler Collection (right)

Travelweek: What does it mean to you, as the owner of Niche Travel Group, and to your team, to win this award?

Sproule: “It was an incredible honour and a complete surprise for the Niche Travel Group team to win this amazing award. It validates the path that we’ve been on for the last decade, focusing on specialized ‘niche travel’, and not attempting to be a full-service agency that books everything for everyone. We built a team first, anticipating the growing demand for experienced advisors who can offer advice based on personal experiences traveling with these luxury brands. Just as important, we turned down travel that didn’t fit our business model, with a clear vision in mind of what the future could look like if we could focus on what makes money in the long term.
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Travelweek: ATC noted that Niche Travel Group was honored in part for its innovative offerings, customer service, and creative marketing. Can you provide us with some examples?

Sproule: “Our innovative offerings are twofold. First we offer advisor-escorted groups to destinations like Tuscany, Ireland, Morocco, France, etc. Our advisors truly get to know the clients during the booking process, so that by the time we embark on these large group journeys, everyone feels like they are traveling with their best friend. We also have hosted Music River Cruise Groups with AmaWaterways.“Many advisors provide exceptional customer service to our clients. By focusing on luxury travel and turning away air-only bookings, our advisors have more time to send out ticket wallets, luggage tags, bon voyage and welcome home emails. We’ve also started using Zoom and Google Meets when a face-to-face meeting is necessary, including when clients are in a destination experiencing a travel emergency.

“As for creative marketing, advertising can sometimes be a black hole that swallows profits, so we primarily use social media and a weekly newsletter that I write. I am not a travel writer, and they may not be perfect, but they have an opening rate of over 50%. It’s a case of ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ – remember, over-analysis leads to paralysis!”
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Travelweek: You mentioned that Delta has added twice-daily direct flights out of Halifax to LaGuardia starting in June 2024, and Icelandair is on its way back starting in May 2024. More lift, which is great! Are there any gaps in lift out of YHZ that you’d still like to see filled, and can you tell us what’s selling especially well for your agency in 2024?

Sproule: “The Delta flight to New York is fabulous, but I have noticed that they don’t offer connectivity from LaGuardia to Europe, Hawaii, or South America. It will be excellent for trips to New York or other U.S. cities and great for Nova Scotia Tourism, but won’t help us get clients to Europe or exotic destinations. The Icelandair flight will be fabulous for most of northern Europe.

“We are all hoping that WestJet brings back our direct flight to Dublin, Glasgow or Paris. What I feel we are missing is a direct flight to Portugal, Spain, Greece or Italy. I think the easiest option would be a direct flight to Lisbon, given the favourable flying time from Halifax.

“If Air Transat could offer a Montreal – Halifax – Lisbon flight that would be perfect!

“Our river cruise groups with AmaWaterways are selling very well, and many of our advisors now have a loyal following of clients who want to go on a new group journey with them every year. Our escorted groups fill up quickly, but it took years to build that loyalty. Not all advisors make great escorts and hosts; you need the right personality and skill set.”