Hays Travel Personal Travel Consultants vs Travel Counsellors
Two of the longest-established homeworking programmes in the country, and the entry prices in our records are almost the same: £295+VAT (experienced) at Hays Travel PTC, from £295+VAT (varies by experience) at Travel Counsellors. The differences are in what you trade under, and in whether anyone hands you enquiries.
In short: Hays Travel PTC suits someone who wants the backing of the UK’s largest independent agency and would consider a leads-supported route or an employed academy place. Travel Counsellors suits someone who wants to run a franchise under a single, well-known homeworking brand.
Side by side
| Hays Travel PTC | Travel Counsellors | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Hybrid | Franchise |
| Cost to join | £295+VAT (experienced) | From £295+VAT (varies by experience) |
| Ongoing fee | £65/mo | £33–£72.50+VAT/mo |
| Other fees | None recorded | None recorded |
| Agent keeps | 60% independent; 30–70% leads-supported | 60% |
| Protection | ABTA · ATOL | ATOL · Trust account |
| Agents in the network | 500+ | 2,000–2,200 |
| Founded | Homeworking for 20+ years | 1994 |
| Parent or owner | Hays Travel | Independent, or not published |
| Accepts newcomers | Yes — via the New to Travel Academy | Yes |
The models are not the same shape
Hays Travel PTC is recorded as a hybrid: 60% independent; 30–70% leads-supported, plus employed academy routes. Travel Counsellors is a franchise with a single published share, 60%. That means the Hays programme can be entered in more than one way, and it is worth being clear which conversation you are having. The models guide explains what each arrangement changes about your position.
Hays Travel PTC sits inside Hays Travel, which also owns Designer Travel and Explorer Travel. Travel Counsellors dates from 1994 and is independent, though private-equity backed, with 2,000–2,200 people in the network against Hays Travel PTC’s 500+.
Costs
Hays Travel PTC: £295+VAT (experienced), then £65/mo. Travel Counsellors: from £295+VAT (varies by experience), then £33–£72.50+VAT/mo. Neither company publishes these itself; both sets come from the Travel Gossip homeworking charts, with the Hays splits corroborated by the company’s own welcome packs. Dates and sources are on each profile.
What you keep — and who finds the customer
The published shares are 60% independent; 30–70% leads-supported and 60%. The Hays range is wide because the lower end applies where the company supplies the enquiry. That is the real trade-off: a smaller share of a booking you did not have to find, against a larger share of one you did.
Work out which you need. If you have no client base, leads at a lower share may earn more in year one than a better share and an empty diary; if you are bringing a following with you, the calculation reverses. The earnings guide sets out the arithmetic with both cases.
Protection
Hays Travel PTC: Hays Travel Ltd’s head-office ABTA numbers 34115 and W7532 confirmed on the official ABTA member search (branches hold further numbers). ATOL 5534 confirmed on the CAA register, where Hays Travel Ltd is also the Accredited Body whose licence covers Designer Travel. Travel Counsellors: Holds ATOL 6751 in its own name (CAA register). No ABTA member record was found for Travel Counsellors on the official ABTA member search — consistent with the Travel Gossip chart listing the protection as “ATOL only”. Operates its own trust arrangement.
Both companies’ ABTA and ATOL details have been checked against the official ABTA member search and the CAA’s ATOL register. In both cases the cover sits at company level rather than with you personally. What that cover actually does is set out in ABTA, ATOL and trust accounts explained.
The honest differences
The similar entry price hides different products. The two entry figures in our records sit within a whisker of each other — £295+VAT (experienced) and from £295+VAT (varies by experience) — but one buys a franchise and the other buys a place in a homeworking programme with several routes in.
Only one of them offers leads. That is the clearest practical difference on this page, and it is worth more than a few percentage points of share to some people and nothing at all to others.
Scale means different things. Travel Counsellors is far larger as a homeworking network; Hays Travel PTC is smaller as a network but sits inside a much larger retail business with its own tour operator. Ask each what that gets you in supplier rates.
Both are quoted second-hand. As with most of the big names, neither publishes pricing. Treat the figures as the starting point for a conversation, not the contract.
Who each one suits
Hays Travel PTC if you want group scale behind you, are open to a leads-supported start, or would rather be employed than self-employed while you learn.
Travel Counsellors if you want a franchise of your own under an established homeworking brand and expect to generate your own enquiries.
Related: Hays Travel PTC against Designer Travel, two businesses in the same family, and the full comparison table for everything else at this price.
Figures on this page were last reviewed on 2026-09-22 and come from the two profile records, where each one is listed with its source. Both companies’ ABTA and ATOL details have been checked against the official ABTA member search and the CAA’s ATOL register. See the methodology note. Terms change — confirm anything that matters to you with the company before you sign.