Travel Counsellors België

What Travel Counsellors België does

Travel Counsellors België is the Belgian franchise operation of Travel Counsellors Ltd., a UK-headquartered travel franchise network founded in 1994 and recognized as the UK's longest-standing travel franchise. The Belgian entity, established in 2014 and based in Antwerp, operates as a recruitment and market presence for the broader Travel Counsellors franchise model, serving both leisure travellers seeking personalised holiday planning and corporate clients requiring managed business travel services. Travel Counsellors België is part of a network spanning seven countries (UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, UAE, and North America) with 2,000+ independent Travel Counsellors booking approximately 140,000 itineraries annually.

The company operates a proprietary technology stack built around the Phenix in-house booking system, TC Co-Pilot AI-powered digital assistant (embraced in Belgium and Netherlands), MyTC client-facing mobile application, TC World community platform, and TC Journeys interactive itinerary design tool. These technologies support franchisees with booking management, customer service, itinerary planning, and peer collaboration. The company has invested in technology through acquisitions including Planisto (a specialist travel tech platform) in 2024 and has been recognized with the King's Award for Enterprise 2026 in Innovation.

Travel Counsellors België earns revenue through a franchise model: franchisees pay for initial training and ongoing platform access, and the parent company retains a share of commission on bookings (franchisees earn 60% of profit with no sales targets). Distribution occurs through home-based franchisees serving consumers and SMBs, with a dedicated corporate travel arm recognized as a Top 20 Travel Management Company and BTA member. The Belgian entity has a small local headcount of 1-10 employees, functioning primarily as a recruitment, marketing, and market development presence within the broader global franchise network.

Name

Travel Counsellors België

Legal name

Travel Counsellors Ltd.

Website

https://people.travelcounsellors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Travel Counsellors België is the Belgian franchise operation of Travel Counsellors Ltd., the UK's longest-standing travel franchise network, recruiting home-based travel entrepreneurs who earn commissions on bookings through proprietary technology including AI tools and an in-house booking platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Agency and Franchise Services

NAICS

Travel Agencies (56151), Travel Agencies (561510)

akta.pro primary industry

Online/Hybrid Corporate Travel Agencies (Self-Booking + Support) (THAKACAB)

Keywords

• Travel franchise
• Leisure travel booking
• Corporate travel management
• Home-based travel agency
• Travel booking platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Antwerp, Flemish Region

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Commission on Travel Bookings: Travel Counsellors earn commissions on all travel bookings made through their business. Franchisees receive 60% of the profit from bookings with complete control over their own margins. Commission is earned on flights, hotels, cruise, packages, and other travel services.
2. Franchise Fees: Franchisees pay for initial training and ongoing access to the platform, tools, and support. The business model supports above-industry average earnings of £32,000 per year for average performers, with six-figure potential for top performers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Travel Counsellors België operates a home-based travel franchise model in which independent Travel Counsellors deliver personalised leisure and corporate travel booking services to consumers and businesses across Belgium and internationally. Franchisees are equipped with proprietary in-house technology (Phenix booking system, TC Co-Pilot AI assistant, MyTC app, TC World community, TC Journeys), comprehensive training, supplier partnerships, and back-office support in exchange for a share of booking commissions and ongoing platform fees. The company recruits aspiring travel entrepreneurs through multiple onboarding pathways tailored to prior experience.

Product overview

Travel Counsellors België operates as part of the Travel Counsellors franchise network, offering travel franchise opportunities with comprehensive training programs including Travel Academy, Corporate, Leisure, and Return to Travel tracks. The technology ecosystem includes Phenix (in-house booking system), TC Co-Pilot (AI assistant), MyTC client platform, and TC World community platform. The company focuses on empowering entrepreneurial travel professionals with tools and support to build their own travel businesses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TC Co-Pilot: AI-powered digital assistant launched globally to support Travel Counsellors' business operations.
• Phenix
• MyTC
• TC World
• TC Journeys

Products and services

• Leisure Travel Booking Services Personalised leisure travel booking service for individual consumers, covering luxury holidays, cruise bookings, package vacations and bespoke itineraries, delivered through home-based Travel Counsellors in Belgium and globally.
• Corporate Travel Management Services Managed business travel service for companies, covering business trips, meetings and events, duty of care and travel risk management, delivered through dedicated Corporate Travel Counsellors.
• Travel Counsellors Franchise Programme Franchise opportunity for aspiring travel entrepreneurs to operate their own home-based travel business under the Travel Counsellors brand, with comprehensive training, proprietary technology (Phenix, TC Co-Pilot AI, MyTC, TC World, TC Journeys), supplier relationships and ongoing personal and business support, in exchange for a 60% profit share.

Quantifiable outcome

• 97% of Travel Counsellors rate job satisfaction as high or very high
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• KLM Royal Dutch AirlinescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPreferred partnership agreement between Travel Counsellors Netherlands/Belgium and KLM. Promotes bahia and other quality destinations for Belgian travellers. Represents strong airline partnership supporting Dutch/Belgian market operations.
• Sunny CarsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership with Sunny Cars for car rental services. Supports Travel Counsellors Netherlands/Belgium operations with vehicle rental offerings for travellers.
• AvilaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAvila and Travel Counsellors expanded international partnership, providing travel services and destination expertise.
• Virgin VoyagesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTravel Counsellors visited Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady ship as part of supplier relationship and cruise product familiarisation.
• British Travel Association (BTA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTravel Counsellors is a proud BTA member and Top 20 Travel Management Company, providing credibility and industry recognition for corporate travel services.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Expedia Group: Multi-brand online travel platform (Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Trivago) competing directly for both consumer and corporate travel budgets. Broad incumbent against which Travel Counsellors must defend its personalised-service positioning.
• Tripadvisor: Travel meta-search and content platform serving as a primary upstream research destination for travellers. Indirect competitor as it shapes the customer journey before any travel agent engagement.
• Flight Centre Travel Group: Global retail travel agency group with thousands of consultants across multiple geographies. Operates a network of storefronts and home-based agents with overlapping leisure and corporate customer base, though at much larger scale.
• American Express Global Business Travel: Major global corporate travel management company competing directly for the corporate segment Travel Counsellors targets. Comparable as a Top-tier TMC offering managed business travel, but at a vastly larger enterprise scale.
• Booking.com: Largest online travel agency globally, dominant in hotel distribution and increasingly expanding into attractions, flights, and ground transport. Represents the primary disintermediation pressure on traditional travel agents.

Emerging players

• Travelzoo: Travel deals publisher and membership-based travel club offering curated travel offers. Overlaps with Travel Counsellors' premium leisure positioning through a digital-only, deal-driven model.

Direct peers

• The Personal Travel Agents (Travel Trust Association): UK network of home-based personal travel agents operating under a similar franchise-style support structure. Direct comparison on the homeworking travel agent model in the UK market.
• Not Just Travel: UK-based home-based travel franchise network with a comparable model: independent agents running their own travel businesses from home, supported by a central platform. Most direct comparison to Travel Counsellors' franchise structure.
• Corporate Traveller: Specialist corporate TMC subsidiary of Flight Centre focused on SME business travel. Comparable in targeting the SME corporate travel segment that Travel Counsellors serves via its Corporate Travel Counsellors.
• Hays Travel: Largest independent travel retail agency in the UK, with both high-street branches and homeworking agents. Comparable in serving leisure and corporate travellers across the UK market and offering franchise-style independence to agents.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TravelCounsellors
• Facebookfacebook.com/TCCareers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/travelcounsellorsbelgi%C3%AB
• Instagraminstagram.com/life_at_tc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Travel Counsellors België