Designer Journeys’ itinerary service offering is taking off, with the global network of travel experts becoming an essential part of an agent’s offering to clients, says its ceo Matt McCann.
Designer Journeys has been available in New Zealand since 2019, and McCann says the Kiwi take up of the platform ramped up post-pandemic, and further accelerated over the past two years.
“The demand for tailored travel has exploded over the past two years with Designer Journeys growing by more than 400% per year in enquiries and bookings,” he adds.
Agents using the platform typically save between three-six hours work on each tailored trip, states McCann. An enquiry with the company generally takes around five minutes and itineraries come back in 48 hours. McCann says its travel concierge team do ‘the heavy lifting’ to help an agent get to a booking. Agents will then continue to be supported by the travel concierge team. “They are on the phone whenever an agent needs and act like an agent’s own personal assistant for tailored travel,” says McCann.
This, he adds, turns a potentially loss-making booking into a high yielding offering for agents. The company’s commission model is flexible, with a default 10% commission for agents and the ability to change that rate on the platform.
. . . Awards
Carrie Walsh of The Travel Lounge is among the Kiwi agents using the platform—and she recently won a Tailored Travel Excellence Award at Designer Journeys’ inaugural awards. Walshe was recognised for her ‘extraordinary commitment to crafting bespoke journeys for her clients’, says McCann who adds that she embodies everything the Tailored Travel Excellence Award stands for.
Walshe says she is proud of herself and excited to be embracing more IT. “Designer Journeys brings such agent and tech forward plans to the travel space and I’m so excited to see how this grows in 2026 and beyond.” See more on the product HERE.
