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“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” ~ Winston Churchill

Even at its best, when presented with tact and grace, criticism can be hard to take. When phrased as a complaint, criticism can be even tougher to endure. There is no doubt we have fostered a culture of complaint in our economic, political, and social system.  We have even trained people to complain as a way of getting windfalls in free services and goods.  Complain loudly enough and you get your way, we seem to be saying.

You need a response to criticism, one that demonstrates your company’s no-nonsense ethic.  Here is what I suggest. The next time you are criticized, say this:

“Thank you.” Read the rest of this entry »

“There’s nothing better than launching a new cruise line into a market that has been closed with Covid,” says Francis Riley.

And indeed, adds the chief commercial officer of Margaritaville at Sea, the market is perfect for a three-day cruise out of West Palm Beach that sails year-round —and can be extended to six days, with a stay on Grand Bahama Island, for about $1,000.

The whole idea of getting out on the water is very much in line with Margaritaville’s laid-back luxury charm. While the 658-room Paradise, which set sail this month, is hardly a new ship; it is completely refurbished since its days as Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s Grand Classica.

“Every single cabin has been ripped out and completely overhauled, every single area of the ship is refurbished,” Riley says. And the cruise includes all the things you’d get in a Margaritaville resort—”the elevated room, pillow, mattresses, the food, the 5 O’clock Somewhere Bar, the elevated dining with JWB Prime Steak House, plus of course what you’d expect in terms of entertainment, with a new show written by Jimmy Buffet.” Read the rest of this entry »

It may seem strange to say I go to Africa to meet Americans, but it is one of the good things that happen when I attend Africa’s Travel Indaba, as I did in Durban, South Africa, May 3-5.

One of the many benefits of attending Indaba is being able to meet travel agents from the US who have been hosted by South African Tourism. Throughout the year, the tourism board works the trade show circuit in the US and singles out travel agents who are ripe for opening up business in Africa. Then, every year when Indaba rolls around in May, SAT brings a select few of them to South Africa. On one trip, SAT exposes them to the broad spectrum of the African travel industry at the one-stop trade show of Indaba, and then takes them around to give them a taste of South Africa.

I have met many American travel agents at Indaba, and it has given me a window into a blossoming market of African Americans traveling to Africa Read the rest of this entry »

Your prospect said YES! They are ready to work with you. You’ve successfully turned a lead into a prospect, and that prospect is now a new client. Woo-hoo!

So, what’s next? Now that the customer is excited to work with you and is ready to sign on the dotted line, how do you get them on board and well-positioned to become a loyal, long-term client?

Do you have in place a process to welcome him to your business? After you’ve booked his trip, do you have a way to manage how you communicate with him, to make the most of your time, and to get the most from this new relationship? If you don’t, or if you think your existing process could be improved, coming across this article is, indeed, a lucky find! Read the rest of this entry »

Avalon Waterways is dedicated to preserving the precious environments surrounding the world’s riverbanks with the Lighthouse Project, an initiative created to help travelers come together to reduce their footprint and give generously for the globe’s greater good.

With a mission of nurturing a culture of care and sustainability that extends to guests, the Lighthouse Project is focused on three, give-back categories:

Planet: Conserve and preserve each destination visited. To protect waterways and wildlife and shine a light on organizations that do the same. Read the rest of this entry »

It was 7 pm. As luck would have it, the race was just about to begin when I switched on my TV. I thought I’d missed it since I believed the race was at 5 pm.

There in front of me was a long cage filled with horses with numbers 1-21. I noticed stall #20 was empty and thought to myself that #21 was so far off the rail it was simply a futile attempt. At least the owner, trainer, and jockey could one day say that they were in The Kentucky Derby.

The horse was named Rich Strike and was listed at odds of 80-1. There was no way a horse in that position had a snowball’s chance in hell to win anything. Good luck, Rich Strike. Read the rest of this entry »

In its simplest form, marketing consists of generating new business and keeping old. Any new customer may spend money with you once, but a loyal customer provides a lifetime of business! Read the rest of this entry »

For better or worse, we are all in sales. No one eats unless something is sold—it really is that simple. However, many travel agents don’t see themselves as salespeople. They are purveyors of information, keepers of knowledge, and trusted confidantes. We are a notorious industry for coming up with creative names for ourselves—Dream Maker… Memory Builder… Consultant… you get the drill. But let’s not forget, if we don’t ask for the sale, we aren’t making any dreams or building any memories. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy simply because we follow the sales process to the letter until the very end when we don’t ask for the sale! Read the rest of this entry »

Personal finance website Wallethub has released a report on the best summer travel destinations. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently needed to choose the best Australian cruises for next spring. Australia is opening now, but I will probably take the better part of the year before cruising gets back to normal. Also, there have been some things happening with cruise lines you have to watch out for—even if you’ve been booking Australian cruises for many years.

Itineraries

I was selecting cruises for two couples who were both well-traveled seniors. One couple had never cruised in Australia before, and the other had been on five or six Australian cruises in the past 20 years. Before the pandemic, both couples were booked on the Silversea Silver Muse on a cruise going from Bali to Sidney by way of Komodo Island—home of the endangered dragons whose bites are poisonous and can weigh 200 pounds. Read the rest of this entry »

Trains have been an iconic part of modern history since 1804. They have carried important goods to well-known cities and remote areas. Trains gave a vitality to the journey of travel, shortening trips— letting the traveler enjoy the scenery of vast forests of green and mountains that dominate the landscape. Today, the experience of these journeys are no less relevant. Which is where VIA Rail Canada steps in to keep everything on track.

VIA Rail (or VIA Rail Canada) started up operations on January 12, 1977, in Montreal. Soon after, they introduced a new way of uniting Canadians with many firsts, one being the transcontinental train. They were established as a Crown Corporation, merging the passenger networks of the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways. Later, in 1981 Read the rest of this entry »

The start of my conversation with Doug Colon summed up the theme of the interview in its entirety. When asked about how things are going for him, he answered, “Trying to get this backyard done. My contractor didn’t show up, so I started on my own.” This being our first long-form conversation, I was going off what I’d researched online. He was there when break dancing took off in the early 70s, grooving with prolific DJs known for legendary innovation in hip hop—check. He’s currently the owner of Dancin Doug Travel—check. But now, right at the start, I knew that I was talking to a man who knew how to get up and get it done.

Mentioning the multiple positions Doug has held in different fields, “I kind of stumble and fall places. I’m a stumbler.” This was clearly evident in his path through life so far. Travel started as a break from his profession at the time, Special Agent in Charge Read the rest of this entry »

Countering an earlier rejection by Spirit Airlines of an offer to buy Spirit, JetBlue has launched a hostile takeover bid to motivate shareholders of the low-cost airline to reject a proposed acquisition by Frontier Airlines which has offered $2.9 billion. Read the rest of this entry »

Rochelle Zemke and Stephanie Cavelli are two travel professionals who saw a need common to many, if not all, travel advisors and set out to meet it. The challenges they faced will sound familiar to anyone who has decided to build a web application on their own.

TRO: Rochelle and Stephanie, thanks for the opportunity to speak to you about My Fam Trip. I certainly want to get into the capabilities and functionality of your brainchild, but give me a little bit of background on the two of you. Read the rest of this entry »

While London attracts most visitors with its iconic sights of Big Ben, The London Eye, Harrods, and more, there is a place in South-East London that will offer you the time of your life – literally. It is Greenwich home of the prime meridian line and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Together with other sights, Greenwich is worth taking the train or boat rise to see. Read the rest of this entry »

Being a commonly visited country, Spain often brings up an image of grand churches that inspire faith in the eye of the beholder—perhaps pictures of flamenco dancers, as they seduce an audience into a story of love and passion. These are accurate portrayals of a country that charms the traveler. But, Spain is a diverse destination, one that brings the culture of surrounding nations together in harmony. In the northwest sits Galicia, an ideal look at this cultural harmony. Read the rest of this entry »

The Japan Tourism Agency has determined to conduct a “test tourism” program in May prior to a full opening to travelers. Small group tours will be permitted into the country in May to ascertain how well protocol measures will prevent an increase in Covid-19 cases. Read the rest of this entry »

Small ship cruise line Windstar Cruises has just announced its highest-grossing week of cruise sales since the start of the pandemic and one of the biggest in company history. The cruise line, focusing on smaller yacht-like ships visiting smaller more remote, and less heavily visited ports, waterways, and destinations that larger ships can’t access. Windstar ran a sale May 3-13 with itineraries to the Mediterranean, Tahiti, Northern Europe, Alaska, Asia, Greece, Australia & New Zealand, the Holy Lands among others. Read the rest of this entry »

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared United Airlines for the return of 52 Boeing 777s grounded after an engine failure in February 2021. The planes represent 10% of United’s current capacity. Read the rest of this entry »