Five years ago, Travel Agent Finder launched with nothing but a story.
No followers, no brand awareness and a concept so new to the Australian travel industry that it easily could have gone nowhere.
It was a pandemic passion project, built on a simple belief: that Aussie travellers deserved access to the best specialist advisors and niche travel experts in the country, no matter where they lived.
Anna Shannon, Founder and CEO, knew that challenge from the inside, as a home-based agent herself before launching the business.
“I understood exactly how little time a one-man-band has for keeping up to date with marketing strategies while also managing client trips,” Ms Shannon says.
“Travel Agent Finder was built to solve two problems – helping travellers find the right expert in a few clicks and helping agents be more visible online without adding another 50 marketing tasks to their plate.”
Anna Shannon, Founder of Travel Agent Finder
Five years on, that idea has become solid infrastructure for the industry.
Travel Agent Finder is now home to more than 1,000 industry members, who between them have published over 1,000 travel blogs, albums and special offers to get more eyes on their expertise and earned more than 800 specialist badge accreditations verifying that expertise to travellers.
More than 4,000 advisor reviews have been submitted to the site by travellers – giving those members boosted visibility, strong social proof and valuable marketing content they can use elsewhere in their businesses.
The site itself has climbed to more than eight million page views since launch – with almost a third of that traffic this year alone as growth continues to accelerate.
Behind those numbers sits something a lot more meaningful: thousands of genuine leads facilitated for agents and millions of dollars’ worth of bookings.
With a reported 41% conversion rate in 2025 – 55% of those converted bookings were valued between $10,000 and $50,000 in total transaction value.
That’s not vanity website traffic – it’s real business for specialist agents who might otherwise not been found.
Members told the company early on that discovery was only half the problem
Once agents were running full businesses again, they needed better systems, resources and industry connections to keep growing.
That’s what led Travel Agent Finder to build Travel Trade Connect, its dedicated supplier directory and resource portal, giving advisors one place to find training, upcoming events, and new specialist partners.
As many of the platform’s home-based and mobile advisors have grown from solo operators into busier, more complex businesses, Travel Trade Connect has evolved alongside them – sharing more than 1,600 supplier partner updates since launch, and helping independent agents access better systems, outsourced marketing services, and smarter payment and tech solutions as their businesses scale.
Back in 2022, Ms Shannon told Traveltalk that every traveller needs a go-to person to help them navigate travel in uncertain times and that many who’d never used a travel agent before would come to want one.
Five years on, that’s exactly what’s played out – and the agents on Travel Agent Finder have been there to meet that demand.
Which is why this milestone is a celebration of everyone who helped build it.
This ‘Five Years of Finding the Perfect Match’ promotion invites both advisors and the travellers who found them to share their experience with TAF: the booking, the trip, the moments a specialist amplified the journey.
Every eligible entry goes into the draw for over $12,000 in prizes generously donated by TAF’s partners – including major prize partners Switzerland Tourism and Cuban Adventures, along with 11 other partners helping the industry celebrate this milestone.
Agents and travellers can share their experience and enter at travelagentfinder.com.au/share-your-experience-to-win.
Entries open September 7 and close October 4. Full terms and conditions available at the link above. NSW Authority No: TP/05306 & NTP/17908 | SA Licence No: T26/1490 | ACT Permit No: ACT TP 26/01954
