About Academy Travel
Nearly 30 Years of Helping Travelers See the World and Travel Advisors Build Their Future
Academy Travel is more than a place to book a vacation and more than a place to become a travel advisor.
For nearly 30 years, we have built our company around two equally important commitments: helping travelers experience extraordinary vacations with knowledgeable professionals they can trust and helping travel advisors build successful businesses with the education, technology, resources and professional support they deserve.
Established in 1996 and officially incorporated in 1999, Academy Travel has grown into a nationally recognized, award winning, full service travel agency supporting thousands of independent travel advisors across the United States.
Disney is at the heart of our history. As a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, Academy Travel has decades of experience helping families experience Disney Destinations and educating the travel professionals who plan those vacations.
Today, our expertise reaches from Disney and Universal to cruises, Europe, luxury travel and destinations around the world through Academy Travel Worldwide.
But what truly sets Academy Travel apart isn’t simply where we can take you.
It’s the people, experience and professional organization behind every journey.
Why Book Your Vacation with Academy Travel?
Your Vacation Deserves More Than a Reservation
Anyone can search for a hotel, cruise or vacation package online.
Planning the right vacation is different.
An Academy Travel advisor takes the time to understand you.
- Your family.
- Your budget.
- Your priorities.
- Your travel style.
- What you’ve loved about previous vacations and what you want this one to feel like.
Then your advisor uses professional knowledge, destination experience and Academy Travel’s resources to help turn those ideas into a vacation designed around you.
Whether you’re planning your family’s first Walt Disney World vacation, sailing with Disney Cruise Line, experiencing Universal, exploring Europe, taking a luxury cruise or planning a once in a lifetime journey around the world, you have a professional helping you navigate the choices and details.
Your Advisor Isn't Working Alone
This is one of the most important reasons to book with Academy Travel.
Your personal travel advisor is your primary relationship.
But behind that advisor is Academy Travel.
A dedicated team of 14 full time employees.
Nearly 30 years of travel industry experience.
- Established supplier relationships.
- Booking and payment support.
- Technology.
- Accounting and operational infrastructure.
- Destination education.
- And a nationwide community of travel knowledge.
You receive the personal attention of your individual travel advisor with the resources of an established national travel agency behind them.
Why Academy Travel for Disney?
Disney Isn't Simply Something We Sell. It's Part of Who We Are.
Academy Travel has specialized in Disney vacation planning since 1996.
We were among the original travel agency participants in Disney Destinations’ EarMarked program and have maintained our EarMarked recognition since the program’s inception.
Today, Academy Travel holds Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner status, the highest current recognition level within Disney’s EarMarked program.
Our advisors help travelers experience Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, and National Geographic Expeditions.
Nearly three decades of Disney experience matters.
Disney vacations have become increasingly complex. Resorts, tickets, dining, transportation, cruises, destinations, special experiences and vacation options continue to evolve.
Your Academy Travel advisor has access to ongoing Disney education and the resources of an agency that has spent decades specializing in these vacations.
For our clients, Diamond recognition isn’t simply a logo on our website.
It’s part of the experience and expertise behind the advisor planning your vacation.
Why Become a Travel Advisor with Academy Travel?
The same professional infrastructure that helps us take better care of travelers also helps Academy Travel advisors build stronger businesses.
Our advisors operate independent travel businesses.
But they don’t have to create the training, technology, supplier relationships, accounting systems, commission processing, marketing resources and support infrastructure entirely on their own.
Academy Travel has spent nearly three decades building that foundation.
You bring your ambition, relationships, professionalism and willingness to learn.
We put Academy Travel behind you.
Professional People Behind Your Business
Academy Travel is supported by a dedicated team of 14 full time employees with responsibilities across travel and hospitality, training and education, supplier relations, accounting and commissions, technology, marketing, operations, booking and payment support, onboarding and advisor development.
We believe the people responsible for operating and supporting a professional travel organization should have expertise in the areas they support.
When you have an accounting question, there should be people who understand accounting.
When you need supplier assistance, there should be people who work with suppliers.
When you need training, there should be professionals focused on education.
When you need technology support, there should be people responsible for technology.
You may be an independent travel advisor.
You have an entire professional organization behind you.
Education That Continues as You Grow
We believe great travel advisors never stop learning.
Academy Travel provides structured onboarding and ongoing professional development through Academy Travel University, Disney and Universal education, supplier training, destination education, live webinars, sales and marketing education, technology instruction, business development, conferences and hundreds of opportunities to continue learning.
And because every advisor’s business is different, education doesn’t have to follow one path.
You may begin with Disney.
Develop expertise in Universal.
Become a cruise specialist.
Expand into luxury travel.
Or eventually build a worldwide travel business.
Your education can grow with your business.
Technology Built for Today's Travel Advisor
Nearly 30 years of experience does not mean 30 year old technology.
Academy Travel continues to invest in technology designed around the way today’s professional travel advisors work.
Our custom Academy Travel Advisor Portal brings together important resources including professional booking tools, itinerary building, AI assistance, training, supplier information, marketing resources, agency communications and business support.
We believe technology should make advisors more efficient and better informed.
But it should never replace the human relationship at the heart of travel planning.
Technology supports our advisors. Our advisors take care of people.
A Private Community. Real Professional Support.
Independent, But Never Alone.
Academy Travel advisors have access to our private Academy Travel Advisor Community, created exclusively for Academy Travel professionals.
This is not a Facebook group or public social media community.
It is a private environment where advisors can ask questions, exchange ideas, share destination and supplier knowledge, discuss marketing strategies and learn from one another’s firsthand experiences.
Combined with our full time employees, Academy Travel University, live training and smaller specialty groups, our community gives advisors multiple places to turn for information, ideas and support.
Big Enough to Give You More. Personal Enough to Know Why It Matters.
Some travel organizations promote scale.
Others promote being small and boutique.
Academy Travel has worked to build the advantages of both.
Our size allows us to employ specialized professionals, invest in technology, provide extensive education, build significant supplier relationships and support thousands of advisors.
Our structure allows us to create smaller groups, specialties and professional communities where relationships and personal support remain important.
That benefits our advisors.
And ultimately, it benefits our travelers.
Because better supported advisors can provide better client experiences.
Our size gives us strength. Our people keep us personal.
Start with Disney. Grow Around the World.
For many travelers and advisors, Academy Travel begins with Disney.
It doesn’t have to end there.
Our advisors also develop expertise in Universal vacations and, through Academy Travel Worldwide, can expand into ocean and river cruises, Europe, luxury travel, all inclusive resorts, guided vacations, National Geographic Expeditions, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Asia and extraordinary destinations around the globe.
For travelers, that means you don’t have to find a new advisor every time your travel interests change.
For advisors, it means you don’t have to find a new agency when your business is ready to grow.
We grow with you.
Nearly 30 Years. Two Important Promises.
To our travelers:
We will continue investing in the people, knowledge and resources behind the vacations you entrust to us.
To our travel advisors:
We will continue investing in the education, technology, professional support and opportunities behind the businesses you entrust to us.
That relationship between travelers, advisors and Academy Travel has been at the heart of our company for nearly three decades.
It’s why families return to Academy Travel as their travel dreams change.
It’s why new advisors choose Academy Travel to begin their careers.
It’s why experienced advisors bring established businesses to Academy Travel.
And it’s why we continue looking toward what’s next while remaining grounded in the personal service and relationships on which Academy Travel was built.
One Academy Travel. Two Ways We Serve.
Planning a Vacation?
Work with a knowledgeable Academy Travel advisor backed by nearly 30 years of experience, Diamond Level Disney recognition and an established national travel organization.
Find an Academy Travel Advisor
Ready to Build a Travel Business?
Discover professional education, technology, community, full time support and opportunities to grow with Academy Travel.
Become a Disney Travel Agent with Academy Travel
Already an Experienced Travel Advisor?
Bring the business you’ve already built and discover what Academy Travel can put behind it.