Former Travel Counsellor moves to Integrity Travel Group to ‘re-energise’ business

Former Travel Counsellor Alex Buckle has relaunched his agency under Integrity Travel Group in a bid to “re-energise” his business.

 

Buckle joined Integrity on October 1 after 20 years with Travel Counsellors, officially relaunching his business under the name Experience Travel.

 

Speaking to Aspire, he said: “I loved my time at Travel Counsellors, but the time had come where my business was evolving and I just felt it was time for a move.

 

“The timing felt right to re-energise and start afresh.”

 

As well as offering Buckle the opportunity to create his own brand, something he was “really passionate” about, the move will also allow him to strengthen his supplier relationships.

 

He said: “One of the things that I’m excited about with Integrity is that they’re small and agile, so commercially they’re able to get us contracts and deals with the right people and the right suppliers that we want to work with.”

 

Buckle explained that enhancing his supplier network is something he’s “really interested in” as he previously felt the business was becoming “very internal”.

 

“Now what I’m looking to do is still dynamically package, but when a client is right for a particular partner, then we will work with that [supplier],” he said.

 

Following the move, Buckle also wants to bolster his focus on social media. He currently has about 27,000 followers on Instagram, which has proven to be “a really strong part” of the business and has led him to organise holidays for celebrities such as TV presenters Maya Jama and Roman Kemp.

 

Moving forward, Buckle wants to “really increase” his following on social media to help Experience Travel evolve into “more of a brand, rather than just a sole entity”.

 

Integrity was set up by Travel Counsellors founder David Speakman last year, which has helped Buckle feel “very comfortable” with the move.

 

He said: “I’ve known [David Speakman] for many years, so it feels very familiar. He’s just such a dynamic individual and very entrepreneurial.”

 

He also praised the group’s head office team, emphasising how they’re “very close to the front line and very customer focused”, which was “really important” for Buckle when considering the move.

 

The move follows a busy year so far for Buckle, which has seen Experience Travel secure multiple high-value bookings, including a 50th birthday party hosted at Auberge Collection’s Domaine des Etangs property in Bordeaux, which was worth about £500,000.

 

The agency has also organised a client’s stay at a chalet in Meribel over Christmas in a booking worth £180,000.

 

Buckle has also hired a fourth member of staff, who will be joining the Experience Travel team next month.