ZRA Louise van Kaam: ‘With my sister I can do what I’m really good at.’

After jobs in the hotel industry and at the travel agency, Louise van Kaam felt the urge to start her own business more and more. She joined YourTravel to book travel from home from then on. Now, five years later, Louise works from her own office building in Zevenbergen in a team of three, including her sister Suzanne. Has the travel agency always been in line with expectations? ‘Not quite. After studying tourism, I immediately started working in the sales department of various hotel chains. After a few years, I got a strong feeling that I was missing something. I quit my job and went backpacking on a trip where I saw a lot of the world, such as many countries in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and also America. After that I lived in New Zealand for almost a year and worked at a holiday park there. Back in the Netherlands, it had become clear to me that I really wanted to work in the ‘travel’ part of tourism, instead of dealing with one hotel in one place. After working at a travel agency for several years, I felt more and more the need to be able to do things my own way and I went self-employed in 2019. After looking around, I had a very good feeling about YourTravel. We now work in a nice building in the centre of Zevenbergen.’ You’re talking about ‘we’… ‘That’s right! From the start, I worked alone from home for a long time, but about a year ago it became so busy and I was busy with so many different things that I started looking for help. I was very excited to hire someone for the first time. You want someone who understands you completely and who is really good for the customer. My sister Suzanne, who is also a high school teacher half the time, asked: ‘Shall I come and support you otherwise?’, and that was perfect. Suus has mainly taken care of the administrative tasks. That really saves me a lot of time, I can now focus on what I’m good at; advising the customer when booking a beautiful trip.’ Isn’t it difficult to work with family? “No, not at all. Suzanne knows exactly what I want and how I work. Sometimes I get an email about an assignment and it turns out that she has already picked it up. We have now also hired a third colleague, Ellis. As a result, I can mainly focus on group travel and incentives, while she arranges private travel. She has always had her own travel agency and is, among other things, an America specialist, so she knows exactly how everything works. The three of us make an ideal team. In this way, we all do what we are good at.’

What kind of group tours do you book? ‘It’s very varied. Many incentives, such as companies celebrating an anniversary. Furthermore, they are staff associations that go on a city trip because of their annual outing or companies that go on a workation with the team. I am now working on a company that has been around for 30 years and wants to go to Lisbon. Last month we had a group of 160 people who went to Cologne. The average is around 50 to 60 people, but sometimes there are outliers such as a club of 200 people to Prague. We have been working with the same local partners for a long time that we have a lot of confidence in. I used to regularly go along as a tour guide myself, but now, with more bookings and now as a mother, I have less time for that.’ What’s popular right now? ‘Valencia is very popular. Most trips stay within Europe, but we also have exceptions, for example to Las Vegas, Dubai or Cape Town. That is also very nice to be able to book. In addition, we see that the train is popular because of its sustainability. It depends on the destination how easy that is. We are now working on train journeys to Berlin and Bordeaux, and you can already see a difference in convenience and price. But for some companies, sustainability is really important.’ You have recently become an official training company. How does that work? ‘A while ago, a tourist school approached me and asked if I wanted to take on interns. This is only allowed if you are a recognized training company. It is important that there is enough work and a decent workplace, they can’t just sit somewhere at the kitchen table. But at our office it is very possible. It’s not always easy for students to find a great internship, but there’s a lot to do and learn here. I have just received an application letter from a possible first intern, very nice. I’m looking forward to training someone that way.” Which bookings have really stuck with you? ‘In terms of private travel, these are mainly the trips with a personal touch. I think it’s important to really get to know the customer and know the purpose of the journey. If that’s a personal goal, it’s great to contribute to that. Recently I had a family whose father-in-law was born in Indonesia; they made a trip to his hometown on Java and ended in Bali. I love booking trips like that. As far as group travel is concerned, my very first booked trip was special: 300 people to Disneyland Paris. Another great group trip was to Valencia for a 40th company anniversary. We booked flights, accommodation and a very nice activity programme for 60 participants. It’s nice to get a budget and do something beautiful with it.’

How do you see the future? ‘I don’t have the ambition to grow fast or become a mega-sized company. I like it when it stays as personal as possible. I hope that the three of us can continue in the near future.’ Do you have any advice for starting ZRAs?
‘What I would recommend: really work by appointment. When people request a trip, I always schedule a telephone conversation first to discuss their wishes together. So it is valuable to really speak to the customer before you get started and it also creates a bit of goodwill factor. In addition, I sometimes give a tip that it can be smart to think carefully in advance about how you want to set up everything. In the beginning, I personally delivered the travel documents to each customer in a nicely packaged package. That’s super fun to do and it was always very much appreciated. Only when it gets very busy, you unfortunately don’t have time for that anymore. And that’s a shame. Because I also wanted to work more sustainably, I immediately seized the opportunity to get the travel documents to the customer in a different way. To this end, we now use a personal YourTravel app where customers can find all the information. Before departure we often call to ask if everything is clear and after returning home we also let you hear from you. That’s also a lot of fun to do and in this way we try to keep it very personal.’