Travel Place — dealing with change and progress | Travel Research Online

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Travel Place — dealing with change and progress

We all have heard over and over again that “change is difficult” but I have to say, that while change can be difficult, what I have found change to be is “constant!”  It’s something we have to live with.

This year, our agency left American Express Travel Network and moved to Travel Leaders.  Of course that was a big change and necessitated not only our engagement and learning curve but we had to “train” some of our clients as well.  And while I was afraid we’d lose some of our American Express clientele, we did not.  In fact, I think we’ve had more business from them than we had in the past!

We had to learn some new vendors, and let some go, all while new business was coming in at a pretty fast clip – like, pre-2008!

I started out the year fresh from the International Luxury Travel Market in  Cannes – I came back with great ideas and a number of contacts for fabulous, boutique properties in Europe; though mostly in my favorite, Italy.

Travel Leaders training started right away and this kept us all busy for quite a while.  I am particularly pleased with my Travel Leaders profile, which has driven some business to me; and from which I hope to earn more.  If you Google “Italy Travel Agents Bethesda MD” – it comes up pretty high.  And it comes up relatively high if you replace “Bethesda MD” with “Washington DC.”

I’m enrolled in Travel Leaders “Luxury Travel Specialist” program and this is moving along – it’s a big program!

And halfway through the year, we saw new computers, a new phone system, new email programs, and more.  One would think that wouldn’t be so disruptive, but these really were difficult transitions.

And like all of us – I had my hits and misses.  I’m currently trying to chase down a partial refund from a vendor in Denmark – it’s not going well.  But overall more I think I have more hits than misses.

And as I said above – change is constant it seems.  I’m going to have some very big changes with the New Year, though I’m not ready to share those quite yet!

Mindy Milliron has been a professional travel consultant since 1996 working in suburban Washington, DC. She specializes in personalized vacations and exotic adventures. Mindy has earned her CTA, and is certified as a specialist luxury travel and destination weddings. She has been employed by three agencies and her current agency is in the process of shifting affiliations from American Express to Travel Leaders.

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