Luxury Travel Agencies Claim Bragging Rights in VIP Business Travel

While leisure and corporate travel planning require very different mindsets, some travel agencies say their expertise in luxury leisure travel makes them better-equipped to handle business trips for C-suite executives than most travel management companies. Among them is Protravel International, a fast-growing agency with 24 offices in North America and the UK, which started out serving primarily luxury leisure clients, but now has a 50-50 split between leisure and corporate business. The bulk of the agency’s business travel clients are CEOs or other top-level executives who also rely on Protravel for their vacation needs, according to president Becky Powell. “The majority of our corporate travel is for the C-suite level, although we do have some corporate accounts where we handle all of the company’s travel,” she said. “Even in those cases, however, the C-suite travel is handled separately.” What makes C-suite level travel different from other corporate business and why is an agency’s leisure expertise a plus? “A luxury agency is well-equipped to handle the kind of personalized, concierge-style travel that C-suite travelers expect,” Powell said. “We have strong connections with luxury hotels, private car services, private guides and the kind of security detail they may need. We have access to some VIP services a traditional TMC does not.” Powell also noted that many top-level executives prefer to have their travel handled by a different source than the one that handles travel for thei