Some of You Are Drinking the “Kool-Aid” | Travel Research Online

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Some of You Are Drinking the “Kool-Aid”

Even by my standards, today’s article may sound a bit edgy. Good. If it serves as a whack in the head and gets you off the bench and back in the game, then I am sticking to my guns.

The reference to “drinking the Kool-Aid” stems from the Jim Jones tragedy in Jonestown, Guyana back in 1978. Over 900 cult followers lost their lives after believing the words of the wrong guy. They played “follow the leader” to their demise. And in this case, the leader was less than squared away.

I’m afraid that many of you reading this article, and a great many who are not reading it, are listening to information that is not helping you get back in the game of growing your travel business. I often refer to this as “playing to the wrong audience.” Just because you have hit a few roadblocks recently, you may be beginning to feel frustrated and dejected.

To this, I simply say, “Welcome to the world of competition.”

 

 

After sharing my recent success story in Cancun resulting from a Mastermind Owners Retreat I co-hosted with Stuart Cohen, I heard my personal associates say, “I see there are still a handful of travel agents trying to make it.” Are you kidding me? The belief that travel professionals went the way of the dinosaurs went out of vogue years ago. The demand for experienced travel professionals will soon be overwhelming. This is yet another example of misguided noise.

But, just as a few of your friends may allow their beliefs to be altered based on bogus information, I am afraid that you too are beginning to believe the bad news. You may be drinking the Kool-Aid leading to a not so attractive future.

I am not so sure that you really believe there is a place for you when it comes to vacation planning. I am starting to believe that the lack of activity resulting from Covid-19 has you dusting of your resume and preparing mentally for a job that does not include dream destinations and fascinating parts of the world. I think many of you are entertaining thoughts of “giving up.” I’ll spare you the rah-rah quotes from Thomas Edison, Vince Lombardi, and Henry Ford – and stick with one of my own.

“There are nearly eight billion people in the world and they consist of just two types: Those you can help, and the other kind.”

 

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Bottom Line: I think you may have taken a sip or two of the Kool-Aid dispensed freely from those who are scared to think for themselves, and who pass their time busting other people’s balloons. If you are still reading, I respectfully ask you to read the next two paragraphs careful:

  1. What the world does not need is another travel agent. What the world will soon need, now more than ever before, is a damn good professional travel advisor.
  1. You can take the following sentence to the bank. The services of travel professionals will be needed more than ever in a few more weeks/months.

There. I said it. You read it. Now I’m interested to see if you actual believe it. Or, would you prefer to line up in neat little rows and follow all of others who have helped themselves to the “Kool-Aid” that is being dispensed by those who prefer to screw up their own vacations.

As for me? I prefer an ice-cold Bud.

NOTE: My new book titled 101 Bedtime Stories For Travel Professionals will soon be available. If you want to be notified of my special pre-published pricing, let me know today. mike@mikemarchev.com

 


A headshot of the author, Mike Marchev

Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club. mike@mikemarchev.com.

*** You want more to think about? Check out my weekly podcast (Mike’d Up Marchev) at www.TravMarketMedia.com Also listed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google and iHeartRadio.

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