Ships N Trips Travel — The summer doldrums set in | Travel Research Online

Image
Image

Ships N Trips Travel — The summer doldrums set in

Another month has gone by, and the Nashville Predators are sadly not going to be in the Stanley Cup Finals this week, and I’m still in a bit of a slump. On the upside, I do have a cruise group currently sailing, two more groups departing in July, and I’ve also had an uptick in bookings in the past few weeks. But I still feel like I’m in a slump.

So as I continue to work my way out, earlier this month, I had a meeting with the Director of Community Relations for the Predators Foundation. My Royal Caribbean BDM joined me at the meeting, and helped pitch the idea of doing a fan appreciation cruise as a fundraiser for the Foundation. They were intrigued by the idea, especially when they crunched their own numbers, realizing the potential funds that could be raised with such an endeavor. It will likely be a few more months before anything is set in stone, but I feel we are solidly on our way. In the meantime my Royal Caribbean BDM is also going to partner with me at the end of June for a booth at a sports-themed consumer show. It is a one-day show at the convention center, hosted by a local group of radio stations, with 5,000 to 10,000 consumers expected to attend. While we will focus on creating an interest list for a Predators fan appreciation cruise, we are also going to gauge interest in all forms of sports related travel (individual and groups).

My other focus during June will be education and to get re-energized at Travel Weekly’s Cruise World and Home Based Agent Show in Seattle. I always come back from trade shows with a newfound burst of energy and a notebook full of new ideas. I always get new ideas from the workshops, seminars, and general sessions, but the best nuggets are often from interacting with the other agents in attendance. However, my challenge after trade shows seems to be creating a viable action plan to put all of those great ideas to work. This year I plan to approach Cruise World a bit differently, creating the action plan as I go instead of waiting until I return home. Hopefully upon returning home I will be able to hit the ground running, and energize the second half of 2012. Wish me luck!

How are you doing? Any others having the summer doldrums as well?

Susan Schaefer is the owner of Ships N Trips Travel as well as niche operations trading as Kick Butt Vacations, focused on college students; Kick Butt Events focusing on fundraising; and Your Kiwi Specialist specializing in anything New Zealand. You can reach Susan by email at susan@shipsntripstravel.com.

 

  One thought on “Ships N Trips Travel — The summer doldrums set in

  1. We are still busy, hang in there! Summer is generally the slow season.

Share your thoughts on “Ships N Trips Travel — The summer doldrums set in”

You must be a registered user and be logged in to post a comment.