KHM Travel Group celebrated the days leading up to our company’s 19th anniversary in the best possible way. Together with over 300 of our agents and supplier partners, our 2024 Crystal Conference set sail on Celebrity Reflection for a week of learning and making lasting connections.
Here’s a recap of the Crystal fun and latest information we shared with attendees. View our collection of photos from the week on Flickr.
We kicked off the conference with our Welcome session. During this time, Executive Team members shared how KHM Travel Group is following the conference theme of “Make Your Mark.” Our keynote speaker, Celebrity Cruises’ Senior Vice President of Sales Katina Athanasiou spoke about how travel agents make their mark on their clients, communities, and in the world.
So how is KHM Travel Group making our mark? Here are a few highlights that we shared:
- In 2023, our sales soared to $375 million. In July and August, we had nine straight weeks of paying out over one million dollars in commission to agents!
- We’ve reached a milestone 5,000 agents. Even with this growth, we maintain personal connections and engagement with each of our agents.
- Our award list is always increasing. In 2023, we were named Travel Leaders Network’s Host Agency of the Year, as well as the Host Agency of the Year by our 2024 Crystal host, Celebrity Cruises.
- If you’re not subscribed to our YouTube channel, you’re missing out! Our YouTube channel is now up to over 11,500 subscribers. On our channel, you’ll find KHM Today – we’re live every Wednesday at 3pm ET. Tune in for your weekly resource of industry news and straight up fun. You can also watch our new podcast: Travel Stories Unpacked. It’s a different take on travel, where we talk about all things travel from the silly to the serious and everywhere in between. New episodes premiere every Friday morning.
- We’ve taken our projects beyond the screen too–to the world of travel agent gear. At the KHM Print Shop website, you can find cool travel agent t-shirts and tote bags. You can even customize pieces to promote your brand.
The Agent Journey
Our Agent Journey has become a cornerstone for the way we approach education, events, and providing our agents with the support they need. Different resources come with each Agent Journey level earned. One thing all our agents have in common is that they are all welcome at our Crystal Conference.
To date, our top-producer numbers have skyrocketed…with more than 1,500 agents in our Basecamp and Pinnacle programs. And those are growing every single day. At our Crystal Conference, attendees were the first to hear we’re expanding the Agent Journey to include a new level: Diamond Elite for agents with eligible commissions of $250,000+. We’re excited to roll this out in 2024 and can’t wait to welcome this new level of achievement.
In our industry, we’re blessed to have countless ways to grow and become better travel professionals. Through in-person events like our Crystal Conference, agents can learn and boost their reputation as trusted experts. From one-on-one appointments with suppliers to the fun scavenger hunt around the ship, agents were able to spend time building relationships with our supplier partners. Education sessions, a Q&A with our Executive Team, agent panels, and a formal award ceremony recognizing our top agents of 2023 capped off a great week onboard.
And in all our achievements and events, we stay true to our Core Values. Through every agent interaction, we’re following the mindset of People First and making our mark in the KHM Travel Group community and our industry.