Small group tour specialist Tripsmiths has revealed plans to sell through the trade for the first time.
The operator was founded in 2017 and specialises in exclusive, expert-led tours such as exploring Tuscany with members of the Bocelli family and food-focused trips with chefs including James Martin.
The company has previously solely sold through revenue share media partnerships with brands such as Hearst magazines, The Telegraph and the Wall Street Journal but is now seeking to expand its distribution and sell via the trade.
Speaking to Aspire, Tripsmiths’ founder and chief executive Charlie Starmer-Smith said 2025 was “the year” to engage with trade partners.
“We’ve got the infrastructure in place to do it, and now it’s just about developing those relationships,” he said.
Tripsmiths recently promoted its head of sales, marketing and distribution partnerships, Katie Panagou, to managing director to support its new direction. Panagou joined the company in 2021 after four years with National Geographic Expeditions.
Tripsmiths’ Sophie Moodie, who was recently promoted to sales and marketing executive, will become the main point of contact for the trade.
Starmer-Smith said the company was going through an “exciting” period, with “strong growth” for its in-house trips.
Tripsmiths has historically worked with third-party companies to operate its itineraries but has increasingly been utilising its in-house product team to create exclusive trips for clients.
“In terms of these types of trips, we’re 30% up year on year,” said Starmer-Smith, adding that creating and fulfilling the trips themselves had “opened up the opportunity of working with the trade”.
He said the operator had already received requests from trade partners who had customers keen to book a Tripsmiths package.
“I think, for the trade, the exciting thing we can offer is genuinely something that’s different,” he said. “Our trips aren’t about being the cheapest. They’re about being really amazing experiences, and I’d like to think, for the right trade partners, we would offer something that would be different for their customers.”
Starmer-Smith praised the role of agents and how they “really know their own customers”, adding: “They [agents] will know that person who’s interested in food and who loves Italy, and, rather than going with a generic offering, is going with something really different.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Tripsmiths plans to launch more itineraries, particularly new trips for the autumn season and those centred around food, drink and history.
It also hopes to increase the number of departure dates it offers per itinerary. Currently, each trip only has one departure available, but Starmer-Smith hopes that the support of the trade will allow the company to increase to “two or three departures per expert” to increase breadth while not “losing the uniqueness of those trips”.
