Partners Sarah Lee and Elizabeth Belcher created Modern Family Travels, providing travel advice and recommendations and specialising in travel for LGBTQ individuals. Using personal experiences from their own travels, the Las Vegas-based couple provide a tailored and personal service.
1. Modern Family Travels
Elizabeth is an interior designer by trade who joined the industry selling travel in 2019, whilst Sarah previously worked in finance before starting a luxury travel company in 2014. The couple began to travel together, and now, they make up Modern Family Travels. The couple both share a love for travel, and between them have travelled to 50 countries and resided in Hong Kong, Seattle, Chicago, New York City, Boston, and Atlanta.
Although the couple is hopeful that society is improving and one day LGBTQ travel will not need to be such a niche market, for now they explore and, enhanced by their own experience as LGBTQ travellers, recommend, the best LGBTQ friendly spots if a client needs that speciality. Their client base is people all over the world, of all age ranges and backgrounds, some LGBTQ travellers some not, some wanting a catered itinerary including checking out LGBTQ spaces, many just wanting a lovely holiday in a friendly place.
2. Future plans
The duo are helping people to find their perfect holiday, and although they consider lesbians t to be generally underrepresented in travel, especially in luxury travel, compared with gay white men, they see this divide lessening going forward and the market continuing to grow.
The agency is also adding some other niche travel advice valuable to some clients: pet-friendly destinations, inspired by their goldendoodle Pintxo, and following the arrival of their first child, family friendly destinations.
During the Covid-19 pandemic Modern Family Travels hasn’t actively encouraged travel among its client base, concerned by the chance of clients getting Covid-19 but also not wanting to overburden healthcare systems in other areas. However, looking to the future after the pandemic and following the birth of baby Eliza Lee in October, they plan on travelling with her as much as possible and are excited to share their experiences of planning family trips with their clients.
