A former chartered surveyor who switched to become a full-time InteleTravel agent during the pandemic has bagged a deal with a Dubai-based agency to sell VIP tickets to sporting events around the world.
Leah Lockett, founder of Manchester-based The Jetset Lifestyle Group, says she’s taken two group bookings for the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi next month after agreeing a deal with ZK Sports and Entertainment.
Flights and accommodation were put together by Major Travel, one of InteleTravel’s long-haul suppliers, she said, while the sale of VIP tickets to the Grand Prix was handled directly by ZK.
“We are offering experiential travel to our clients – experiences that you are not going to be able to just buy on the internet,” said Leah.
“We’ve grown this company and negotiated exclusive agreements during lockdown, which shows that if you focus on something you can achieve your goals, despite restrictions.”
When InteleTravel has its own ATOL, Leah says she’ll be able to package her own trips to sporting events worldwide.
InteleTravel UK Director Tricia Handley-Hughes said: “The Jetset Lifestyle Group are building an impressive business and this is a reward for months and months hard work.
“We have a growing number of agents with upmarket clients who trust them to deliver the holidays they desire. It’s a tribute to the professionalism of those agents.”
Leah set up her travel business ‘as a hobby’ in 2019 while she was working as a chartered surveyor.
“I turned selling travel into a nice side-hustle, but during the lockdown I spent time creating the brand and building my client base, and seven months ago I left my job to do this full time,” she said.
However, Leah also has a property business, Taylor Made Real Estate, and she’s signed up to PlanNet Marketing to recruit other agents for InteleTravel, from which she expects to earn ‘six figures annually’, according to a post on her Instagram account in March.
She’s also teamed up with Essex-based Paul Kelbie, who joined InteleTravel as an agent around 18 months ago, to create Elite Travel Management offering private jet charters. Paul’s wife and sister-in-law are also involved in the business, she said.
