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My DSM Rocks!

Just how many agents can say that about their District Sales Managers? How many agents actually know who the DSM for their preferred suppliers are? Sure if you sell half a million dollars worth of their product they are banging down your door offering support, co-op funds and a brainstorming mind. However, what if you have come across a product that you just know you would be successful selling but don’t have the booking history to garner all that attention? How do you convince your area Reps that you are serious about their product and worth the effort of support? Read the rest of this entry »

Travel Research Online sure knows how to pick ’em.  I just looked at the Travel Agent 30 Under 30 article and who is smiling back at me but none other than our own Nina Van Harn! Read the rest of this entry »

As promised in my previous column, here are the “nuts & bolts” of connecting with your clients electronically. First, let me start by stating that because there are more options with all the new technology out there than there are types of clients, I can not begin to list them all. However, I will tell you what has worked for me and what I have seen others use. Read the rest of this entry »

As a home based agent I do not interact on a face-to-face basis with the majority of my clients. In fact, I probably have met 2% of them in person and only heard their voices 50% of the time. So, how do I keep in touch and connect with them? How do I let them know that I am a real person that really cares about their travel needs? How can I convey the depth of my knowledge and professionalism? These are questions I continually ask myself and I would imagine other agents do as well. How can we reach further than our desks and tap these people on the shoulder and say “I am a real person!” while implementing the use of the wonderful technologies we have today? There is no right answer for everyone, but email is my number one way of communicating with clients. Read the rest of this entry »

In an era where we all need to do more with less, smart travel professionals are increasingly turning to streamline their operations. Integrating tools like IFTTT, Toby the AI from Voyager Content, social media schedulers, and email broadcast software can be a game changer in how travel agencies function Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s world in online! Newsflash- having a strong online presence is crucial for travel professionals and agencies looking to thrive in the competitive travel industry. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by harnessing the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Some simple strategies we can all take can help us climb search engine rankings and attract organic traffic, ultimately boosting our online visibility, and allowing us to complete with any of the big Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). Let’s dive right in! Read the rest of this entry »

WeTravel, a booking and payment platform, has recently released a Where to Go 2024 list outlining hot spots in travel for 2024. They’ve based the suggestions on bookings through the WeTravel platform. London, Ghana, Paris, and more. These recommendations are complete with popular activities from cruises to festivals, and museums to nature. Read the rest of this entry »

In the competitive world of the travel industry, delivering awesome customer service is key to success. By going above and beyond to create unforgettable experiences, travel agencies can make their customers happy and build long-term loyalty. Today, let’s discuss some cool tips for improving customer experience in the travel industry. Read the rest of this entry »

As many travel agents view it, providing airline tickets isn’t a real business—it’s a giveaway. Since domestic tickets don’t pay commissions, they serve as loss leaders for compensation paid by cruise lines, hotels, resorts, and escorted tour providers. Selling Business Class and First-Class air tickets is a different matter due to the huge commissions paid, but they probably account for no more than 10-15 percent of the tickets that pay nothing.

The lack of financial incentives isn’t the only problem. Unless your business is large enough to justify a GDS, you spend much of your work life waiting on “hold” for airline service personnel, or listening to Sally explain why she can’t fly on Saturday or needs a window seat. Read the rest of this entry »

London is a city known for its diverse and vibrant food scene, with a wide range of restaurants offering cuisine from all over the world. From fine dining to casual eateries, there is something to suit every taste and budget. Here are some of the best restaurants in London: Read the rest of this entry »

Perillo Tours, the company that has been known as “synonymous with Italy” for three generations of family ownership, is debuting a new tour program for Greece for 2023, and Steve Perillo, the company president, says the tour is flying off the shelf.

“This was not the big year,” he told me. “Next year is the big year. We’re seeing a gigantic wave. We’re about half sold out. Usually, you start selling in January. Prices are up, and nobody cares.”

I recently saw a post on Facebook that pointed out 1970 is as far from 2022 as it was from 1918. For those of us who were around in 1970, that mathematical exercise is a pretty good way to estimate the vast scale of change that we are now swept up in. Most of it is still incomprehensible, or invisible to us. It’s easy enough to see the changes of the early 20th century because we have historical perspective. It’s not so easy to make sense of what we are currently immersed in. Given that the pace of change has accelerated, we have to presume that the change in the last 50 years is even greater than in the 50 years before that. It gives us plenty of room to imagine how much change has taken place around us that we cannot yet perceive. Read the rest of this entry »

In 1783, in the city of Lyon, a 32-year-old engineer and inventor did something remarkable: He unwittingly gave birth to river cruising as we know it today.

On what was presumably a warm day in mid-July, thousands of Lyonnaise gathered along the banks of the Saône to watch the Frenchman chug upstream in a boat measuring 150 feet long and 16 feet wide. They were witnessing a spectacle never before seen: the world’s first successful voyage by steamboat. Read the rest of this entry »

Fact: owning and operating an agency is tough business. Fact: survival is never guaranteed. Long gone are the days of heading home with red fingers and being a clearinghouse for all things travel. Our role has evolved from a true “agent of the supplier” to a trusted advisor to those who continue to seek our services. But here we are entering into a new decade in about a month. For me, it is a decade that forever seemed so far into the future that I didn’t think I’d ever be around to see it. But here we are on the cusp of 2020 and trying to figure out how to survive and thrive moving forward. I have some thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »

Sky Bird Travel & Tours has been an industry leader in airline consolidation for over 40 years. Starting in a small office building in downtown Detroit, Sky Bird rooted its mission in providing exceptional customer service to travel agents by connecting them with low net fares that weren’t available to the public. Today, Sky Bird has 11 offices throughout the United States along with offices in Canada, India and the Philippines in order to serve their clients on a broader scale. For the last four years, Sky Bird has taken home the Travvy Award for Best Airline Consolidator (silver in 2016 and 2019, gold in 2017 and 2018). Read the rest of this entry »

Sky Bird Travel & Tours has been an industry leader in airline consolidation for over 40 years. Starting in a small office building in downtown Detroit, Sky Bird rooted its mission in providing exceptional customer service to travel agents by connecting them with low net fares that weren’t available to the public. Today, Sky Bird has 11 offices throughout the United States along with offices in Canada, India and the Philippines in order to serve their clients on a broader scale. For the last three years, Sky Bird has been nominated for and taken home the Travvy Award for Best Airline Consolidator (silver in 2016, and gold in 2017 and 2018). Read the rest of this entry »

Did you see the story back in January about the peacock emotional support animal? A woman tried claiming her peacock was an emotional support animal, and she was denied boarding by United Airlines. If you didn’t see the story you can read about it here. It is not a surprise that the peacock incident led to United Airlines changing their policy about emotional support animals. Read the rest of this entry »

Are your clients clamoring to know exactly what their tour with you will look like? Do they ask questions about the experiences, activities, and culinary creations?

What if you had a way to show them exactly what your tours involve and help them experience it online? Wouldn’t that be an amazing way to build stronger relationships and put the human touch into your marketing!

Live streaming video gives you that star quality! Read the rest of this entry »

I feel very fortunate to have visited South Africa many times. Late last year, I was speaking at a couple of travel events there, and added some personal time to explore. It is one of those rare destinations that not only has something for everyone; it excels at making every experience rich and memorable.

There are hipster-gentrified neighborhoods in Johannesburg, teeming with one-of-a-kind shops and galleries; bustling shopping malls and fancy boutiques abound in Pretoria. You’ll find espresso perfection and café culture in Cape Town, along with breathtaking scenery, including the nearby Cape Winelands that easily rival Napa Valley’s best. Read the rest of this entry »

New Zealand: home of the kiwi (bird), lush and unspoiled nature, and the setting for the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies. New Zealand has slowly been stepping into the media limelight for its natural beauty, and that beauty shines brightest in Queenstown. If you love the outdoors and soaking in the tranquil majesty of turquoise lakes and soaring mountain peaks, then Queenstown is your next stop on your itinerary!

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Yvette De Vries grew up and studied in Stellenbosch, South Africa. She spent the first 10 years of her career in public relations in the local wine industry before moving to the United States and settling in Connecticut.  As the senior consultant at African Portfolio since 2001, Yvette’s extensive travels throughout the continent and years of first-hand experience has been of great value to hundreds of travelers for whom she has tailor-made unique and memorable adventures in East- and Southern Africa, Morocco, Egypt, the Seychelles and Mauritius. She is President of the Association for Promotion of Tourism to Africa, or APTA. Read the rest of this entry »