Imagine a trip planned by someone who knows the places you are going: the right hotel, a welcome waiting on arrival, a cruise if you want one, an itinerary built around you and a little insider access along the way. That is the kind of travel Fora is built around.
Fora, founded in New York in 2021 by Henley Vazquez, Evan Frank and Jake Peters, is a modern travel agency in which the agents run their own firms. It pairs people with technology. Think independent advisors who plan trips under their own brand, wherein Fora gives them the training, tools, industry relationships and community to do it well. Hotels, cruise lines and tour operators work with those advisors, which is why a Fora trip can reach well beyond a room booking.
A Fora advisor plans around how you like to travel, with local know-how and attention to every detail. Advisors can draw on more than 50 preferred partner programmes, including Rosewood Elite, Four Seasons Preferred, Belmond Bellini Club, Rocco Forte Knights and Mandarin Oriental Fan Club, which can mean upgrades, credits and complimentary breakfast. Their direct relationships with hotel managers can mean priority rooms, flexible check-in and a welcome amenity, so you are noticed from the moment you arrive.
For someone who has always wanted to turn a love of travel into work, Fora offers a way in. Advisors can start part-time or full-time, without quitting a job, and run their business under their own name. Fora provides personalised training, a community of thousands of other advisors and in-person events, and it tracks their payments, so more of their time goes into planning trips. Their income comes mainly from commissions paid by hotels, cruise lines and tour operators.
India is a natural next market for a company that sells planning. Outbound travel from the country is growing, demand is moving towards personalised, premium trips, and Fora's brand reached Indian advisors without any marketing. The company is now building training and partnerships around Indian travel styles and booking habits, adding India-based suppliers and experiences, and starting in-person community sessions in major cities and a WhatsApp group for advisors. For travellers, that means curated itineraries in place of random, online-only bookings. For hoteliers, it is a way into a network of thousands of advisors and the guests they plan for.
"India's scale, sophistication, and cultural affinity for large, multi-generational, and group travel make it a natural fit," says Sofia Minvielle, head of international markets at Fora. Success, she adds, would mean "Indian travellers are increasingly turning to Fora Advisors for elevated, personalised travel experiences."
Whether the interest is a better-planned trip, a way into the travel business or a new source of guests, there is now a route in.