For CEO Quentin Desurmont, slow growth of Switzerland-based agency network Serandipians has always been the name of the game, and that includes the tempered increase in the number of North American members.
“It is very important to curate this network very well, to be very focused on the type of suppliers and member agencies that we bring along and to make sure they are really committed,” he said. “And it works.”
At Serandipians’ annual Essence of Luxury Travel event in Marbella, Spain, in March, the network released figures backing up that assertion.
Member revenue grew 26% year over year in 2023, to about $4.8 billion, an 8% increase over 2019 numbers. Its 570 member agencies have an average staff of 10.
“The companies that need most the kind of network that we have are the small companies,” Desurmont said.
Inspired by Virtuoso, Internova and Signature
Desurmont founded Serandipians in 2013 after being inspired by U.S. agency networks like Virtuoso, Internova Travel Group and Signature Travel Network.
“I decided to create something in the same vein, but with a European flair, I would say,” Desurmont said.
His career to that point had spanned fashion, marketing for Disney and starting a luxury travel agency. Serandipians was initially called Traveller Made, but he rebranded it in 2021, saying the name “didn’t feel like a luxury brand.” Serandipians refers to its members being believers in serendipity.
Currently, 39% of Serandipians members are based in Europe and 18% are in North America. The rest are scattered globally.
Ideally, Desurmont would like 33% of membership to be from the Americas (8% are in South America, making a total of 26% of members in the Americas today).
But, he emphasized, “I’m not rushing. I want to have the right people.”
He described the U.S. market of consortia as “packed” with a number of big players. But Serandipians still manages to attract agencies to its offerings.
Farewell Travels in Westport, Conn., founded and owned by Susan Farewell, was one of the first U.S. agencies to join Serandipians in 2015. Farewell, formerly a travel editor with Conde Nast, plans itineraries she describes as “elaborate” (for instance, a family of two doctors and three children studying medicine in college who want to do volunteer clinical work in South Africa before going on safari).
Serandipians appealed to her because the network of small-business owners consists of “sophisticated travelers.” The network, she said, “was really more about travel designers rather than travel agents.” Its global reach and “database of information” also appealed to Farewell.
“If somebody called and they do need something on a destination that we haven’t recently visited, or sent clients to, or have any updated information, I can very quickly access the best information from Serandipians,” she said.
“Anywhere in the world, I can ask them a question, and somebody’s going to have been there, sent a client there. They’re very up to date.”
For Dana White, founder of Lead Explorers in Boston, Serandipians’ global network of DMCs is key, considering her specialty of planning long-term family trips around the world.
“Even though I’ve been to so many of these wonderful places in the world, they’re the ones who know the best hotels, the best restaurants and, most importantly, have access to the best guides, who are really the ones who make an experience magical for a family,” White said.
White, who refers to Serandipians’ DMCs as her “partners,” won the “most thorough designer” of the year award, as voted by DMCs, during Serandipians’ recent conference.