At the Travel Centres Conference 2026 in Naas, the most provocative question of the day came from Jo Rzymowska: will your travel agency outlive you? Speaking to a packed room of agency owners, managers and suppliers, she challenged the industry to confront succession planning long before retirement feels urgent.
A panel discussion followed with motivational speaker Kevin Kelly, Laura Plunkett of the CoADAr artificial intelligence initiative, and Sandra Corkin, owner of the Oasis network of travel agencies.
A key issue identified by the panel was the lack of empowerment of women in the travel business, staffed largely by women but owned and managed largely by men. Travel Centres has one of the highest rates of female ownership in the industry at 40pc.
Rzymowska opened by acknowledging how deeply personal the issue is. “We work in travel. We absolutely love what we do. And when you put so much of yourself into your business, it can be very hard to imagine a day when you won’t be doing it,” she shared. Many in the audience, she noted, are excellent at sending clients on holiday yet struggle to take a true break themselves, remaining indispensable even by the pool.
She posed a stark test: “Have you built a successful business or have you built yourself a very demanding job?” The real measure, she argued, comes when an owner steps back. Who will take the agency forward, and will they have the skills, confidence and opportunity? “The person who could make sure it does may very well already be working with you,” Rzymowska shared. “They may be leading your team, looking after your most loyal customers, and making good decisions every single day without ever imagining that one day maybe their name could be above the door.”
Drawing on her own journey, including her parents’ extraordinary stories of survival and her father’s role as mentor, she stressed the power of encouragement. Many of her promotions, she revealed, came because male colleagues saw potential she had not yet claimed for herself. “I will only ever be a number two,” she had once believed. The experience of becoming VP and Managing Director at Celebrity Cruises for India forced her to catch up with her own capability.
Rzymowska urged owners to identify potential leaders, especially women, and to have early, open conversations. “Think of up to three women either in your business or in the industry overall whom you could trust to lead,” she shared. “And I’d like to ask you if you’ve ever told them that.” She called for a culture where confidence is nurtured and where “if you can see it, you can be it.”
Her five practical takeaways were clear: develop next leaders and look honestly at gender balance; make the business’s financial value visible; make learning about technology part of everyday work; find the next generation of customers; and put succession on the agenda now. “Choose one thing that you will begin in the next 30 days,” she shared. “Write it down today.”
In the panel that followed, Sandra Corkin, Jo Rzymowska, Kevin Kelly and Laura Plunkett expanded on the theme. Corkin described a personal wake-up call after her brother’s sudden death. Her son, who had not planned a career in travel, joined during Covid and quickly modernised the business with fresh ideas and AI. “I was at 64 realising what a disaster it would have been if I hadn’t somebody to take the business forward,” she shared. “It was an absolute wake-up call.”
Kevin Kelly zeroed in on recognition. “Have you actually told them that? Have you actually acknowledged great behaviours that they have done over the years?” he shared. Championing people, he argued, is a cultural challenge that determines whether staff believe they could lead tomorrow.
Laura Plunkett reinforced that technology must serve people. “Whatever toys and trinkets and whatever is out there from AI, it’s always back to the person,” she shared. Soft skills, confidence and the human ability to build trust remain irreplaceable. She warned that women risk being left behind on AI if they do not experiment freely, and urged the industry to create space for talent to grow.
The panel agreed that independent agencies remain highly relevant. A customer letter to Corkin put it simply: people need a great doctor, a great dentist and a great travel agent. Expertise, reassurance and human judgement still set agents apart in an age of endless online options.
As the session closed, moderator Eoghan Corry asked for the key messagingt. Succession is not a distant problem for someone else. It begins with one conversation, one act of encouragement, and the decision to build a business that can thrive beyond its founder. The next generation of travel leaders, Rzymowska reminded the room, is already in the building. The only question is whether the industry will give them every reason to believe their best work still lies ahead.
Jo Rzymowska sparing at the Travel Centres conference in Naas.
