If you have a passion for travel, Vikki Coffey is a good example of how you can still switch careers and earn incredible money doing something you love with the right support and training.

Coffey previously worked in pubs, as a petrol station manager and driving instructor but a few years ago she decided to take a leap of faith and become a personal travel consultant by investing in The Travel Franchise in 2022.

Despite being a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to computers and never having never booked a holiday in life, she’s just generated over £1 million in sales from selling one cruise which she tailormade.

Now she’s on the crest (literally) of a wave cruising somewhere off the coast of Cork enjoying a one-off Meat Loaf inspired cruise which she created and  sold to 1,700 passengers. 

Vikki’s business idea began when she went to see a musical created by the esteemed musician, Steve Steinman and was blown away by the performance - and the fact that the woman next to her had seen the show five times in two months! 

“I had a lightbulb moment where I thought ‘this would be amazing on a cruise’ as I knew the type of performances that go down really well with people on cruises.”

That night, Vikki messaged Steve Steinman via Facebook and asked him if he had every thought of putting it on a cruise. Steve immediately texted back: “What have you got in mind?” 

Vikki was thrilled yet nervous - she’d never booked a cruise before, let alone helped put on a huge performance for thousands of people! Luckily, Vikki didn’t have to go it alone. 

The Travel Franchise’s customer-facing brand, Not Just Travel, has a cutting edge cruise division and its experts helped her organise every detail, negotiating with one of its key trade cruise partners, MSC.

Vikki soon started selling packages featuring Steve’s show, Anything for Love - the Meat Loaf Story onboard MSC’s Virtuoso ship from just £439pp. 

And on Monday, September 24th, 1,700 of her clients boarded the ship and began a four-night cruise to Cork and Portland with evening performances of the Meat Loaf-inspired show.

Feedback has been incredible with passengers raving about Steve Steinman’s performance and passengers are already asking Vikki to organise another cruise! And as many are first-time cruisers, she’s amassed hundreds of potential repeat customers.

Says Vikki: “I’m overwhelmed. The fans have been amazing and love Steve’s production. And Not Just Travel’s team have been amazing. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them!”

Not Just Travel cruise business development manager Neal Hussey says Vikki’s story is just the beginning. He believes there’s many more budding travel entrepreneurs out there.

“The resources we now have in place means that we can support agents who want to tailor-make all kinds of cruises or indeed charter an entire ship! Our cruise division and the unique relationship we have with Key Trade Partners like MSC makes all this plain sailing. As a result, we’ve created millions of pounds worth of business together.”