Travel agency succession plans put women and AI in focus

By Grace Kim

At the Travel Centres Conference 2026 in Naas, Travel Centres put female ownership at 40%, calling it one of the industry’s highest rates, while speakers urged agency owners to prepare successors before retirement becomes urgent.

In front of a packed room of agency owners, managers and suppliers, Jo Rzymowska asked: “Have you built a successful business or have you built yourself a very demanding job?”

Rzymowska said people who pour themselves into travel businesses can struggle to imagine life outside them. Owners may excel at sending clients on holiday, yet keep themselves indispensable at every turn, including by the pool. Her test comes when the founder steps back: someone needs the skills, confidence and opportunity to take the agency forward.

That successor may already lead the team, look after loyal customers and make sound daily decisions without expecting their name above the door. Rzymowska asked owners to start those conversations before a crisis makes the choice for them.

What does succession protect for travel sellers?

For sellers, succession planning bears directly on recurring revenue and customer ownership because a departing owner can take relationship knowledge with them. The panel’s logic is sound, but unquantified: the session supplied no bookings, arrivals, revenue, retention, commission or agency-count data.

Travel Centres’ 40% female-ownership figure offers one benchmark, not proof of the wider market gap. The session supplied no filings, network denominator or market-size comparison with which to test that claim.

The panel identified women’s lack of empowerment as a key issue: agencies are largely staffed by women but largely owned and managed by men. For Rzymowska, potential successors already lead teams, look after loyal customers and make daily decisions without imagining their names above the door.

For sellers, the revenue case rests on continuity of advice, bookings and service; the unproved part is how much a timely handover protects, or an abrupt departure endangers. In short, client continuity carries economic value, even though this session did not put a number on it.

Who can take over?

Rzymowska drew on her own path to leadership. Her parents’ stories of survival and her father’s mentoring shaped her career, while male colleagues’ belief in her potential led to promotions she had not pursued.

She once believed she would always be second-in-command. Her rise to vice president and managing director at Celebrity Cruises for India forced her to catch up with her own capability, she said. She urged owners to identify up to three women, inside their business or across the industry, whom they trust to lead, and to tell them directly.

She also argued for early, open conversations and a culture where employees can see leadership as possible and develop confidence, rather than waiting for formal promotion. Her five practical takeaways were:

• Develop the next leaders and examine gender balance honestly.
• Make the agency’s financial value visible.
• Build technology learning into everyday work.
• Find the next generation of customers.
• Put succession on the current agenda.

She set a deadline: choose one action to begin within the next 30 days and write it down. The practical result is simple: succession only works when owners name candidates and give them visible responsibility.

Can AI strengthen independent agencies?

Sandra Corkin, owner of the Oasis network of travel agencies, described a sharper wake-up call. Her brother’s sudden death exposed the risk of having no successor; her son, who had not planned a career in travel, joined during Covid and quickly modernised the business with fresh ideas and AI.

Corkin said: “I was at 64 realising what a disaster it would have been if I hadn’t somebody to take the business forward.” The anecdote shows how a nontraditional successor can introduce technology, but it provides no before-and-after evidence on bookings, costs or margins.

Kevin Kelly, a motivational speaker, argued that owners must recognize and acknowledge strong behavior over the years. He framed recognition as a cultural test: staff believe they could lead tomorrow when the business repeatedly tells them their contribution matters.

Laura Plunkett of the CoADAr artificial intelligence initiative said technology must still serve people, whatever new tools appear. Soft skills, confidence and trust remain irreplaceable, she said, while warning that women risk being left behind on AI unless they experiment freely and the industry creates room for talent.

The panel nevertheless argued that independent agencies remain highly relevant. A customer letter to Corkin said people need a great doctor, a great dentist and a great travel agent; expertise, reassurance and human judgment still distinguish agents from endless online options.

For travel sellers, expertise and reassurance can protect differentiation against online alternatives; however, the panel offered no conversion, retention, commission or productivity data. Its commercial claim remains a pitch, not a measured result. AI may support agents, but trust and people remain the proposed advantage.

What will owners do next?

Moderator Eoghan Corry said succession is not a distant problem for someone else; it starts with one conversation, one act of encouragement and a business designed to thrive beyond its founder.

The immediate test is whether owners can name a potential successor, start a technology experiment and act within Rzymowska’s 30-day window. If not, the next generation may already be in the building without a reason to believe its best work lies ahead.