Ever true, tried and trusty, Longwoods International continues to monitor the changes in demand for travel with its latest survey, COVID-19 Travel Sentiment Study – Wave 46, published last week. The snapshot, taken a year and a half into a grisly pandemic, indicated that consumers have now settled into a “new normal” in regard to travel.

The study was conducted Sept.15. Longwoods surveyed a national sample randomly drawn from a consumer panel of 1,000 adults, ages 18 and over. The sample was tailored to match Census targets for age, gender, and region to make the survey representative of the US population.

About the best thing you could say about the results is that “it could have been worse.” And it certainly could have been. Just recall how it was before the vaccines came on the scene.

But with the recovery we saw gaining strength at the beginning of summer stalled by a resurgence in Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t you love it when someone recognizes your logo?  Their eyes light up, they look up from your business card and say “I know you!”  It’s a great feeling because it means a very important aspect of your marketing is working. Recognition of your company’s “visual system” is an important first step to shortening the entire purchasing cycle.

Your company’s visual system encompasses many separate components: Logo, font, color palette, images, and even white space. Each of these elements must work together harmoniously to instantly identify you to the world.  Read the rest of this entry »

This week I am going to remind you of the well-known phrase, “What goes around, comes around.” Maybe it would be more accurate if I said, “What was old is new again.”

What I am trying to say is that you do not always have to come up with something new to (1) capture attention, (2) become more effective, or (3) to deliver a message worth delivering.

Today, I have decided to turn back the clock and repeat one of my messages from 2015. Here goes:

Regardless of the length, girth or the simplicity (or intricacy) of your business plan, your persistent adherence to the basics is essential if you want to continue to build a business you can be proud of. Read the rest of this entry »

Audio is all the rage. TRO has a whole network of podcasts, and Catherine Heeg just wrote an outstanding article on the newest trend in audio—live audio.  There are a ton of travel podcasts out there and if you are not capitalizing on it within your own specialties, you are essentially leaving money (and clients) on the table.  So how do you start? Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past few months, I’ve written a great deal about some of the English regions you may be familiar with; but this week, I’m sharpening the focus on a destination you may not have come across before.

Welcome to the ancient county of Dorset, a less well-known area of stunning countryside and coastal scenery that can be traced back to the time of the dinosaurs and the Jurassic period. It has inspired great writers like Thomas Hardy and, among many other must-see attractions, is also home to no fewer than four former winners of the prestigious Historic Houses/Christies Garden Of The Year Award.

Located just to the west of Southampton, creative tour planners can bookend a few nights here with a couple in the cathedral city of Salisbury and two more in Winchester, the capital of England in Anglo-Saxon times.

Read on, check out the three videos and begin to experience what the region has to offer. You’ll be very pleasantly surprised.

Read the rest of this entry »

The fifth largest city in Hungary sits at the slope of the Mecsek Mountains. A city settled before the spread of the Roman empire, its cultural history runs almost 2000 years. Though, the city is not alone in this distinguished position. The region around it, spanning 240 sq mi, is appropriately named the Pécs Region. Here, the traveler will find what Hungary is known for and more. Read the rest of this entry »

Sheila Folk is an experienced travel business owner with an impressive history of working in the leisure, travel, and tourism industry. She grew her travel agency to $8M in two years by creating and implementing a broad range of solutions she needed (but that were not available in the marketplace) to make her business a success. Sheila’s new company, Travel Industry Solutions, has now brought her contracts, tools, guides, and scripts to the entire industry.

Throughout her career, Sheila has demonstrated strong professional skills and expertise in management, strategic planning, and business development; new program and product development, branding, budgeting, and positioning; and negotiation, sales, and corporate communications. She has extensive, hands-on experience in all phases of B2B management, from marketing to establishing protocols for start-up firms. Her big-picture vision to establish and achieve corporate goals has led to triple digit growth, year after year. Before starting her own companies, she held such positions as director of business operations at a global branding company and assistant vice president of marketing at an international professional association.

Read the rest of this entry »

I once attended a Home Trade Show and was introduced to a number of entrepreneurs in booths manned by good, hard-working individuals trying to make a living.

Some booth sitters came on stronger than others. Some caught my attention as I passed by. Others actually repelled me away from their booth.

“What was the difference?”, I asked myself as I sauntered down each aisle.

I think you have to refer to it as “chemistry,” or could it be “packaging.” I don’t know how else to explain it—except maybe for the obvious. I recognized the fact that the products I had an interest in had a better chance of capturing my attention.

This brings me to a truth I have always tried to share Read the rest of this entry »

When we were little, we all knew about the two magic words, right? I mean it seemed that if I used them, the world was my oyster, and I could get anything I wanted. That new GI-Joe could be mine if I said “please” and “thank you.” Well, as I grew up, I realized that my hypothesis was false; but it was always a good idea to use them.  But after decades of owning a travel business, I realized there are not just two magic words, but five.  So, what are the other three? Read the rest of this entry »

Bekah Eaton came home from ASTA’s annual conference with new ideas, new relationships, and a case of Covid. She believes she caught it from the woman who sat next to her for two hours. “I felt betrayed and almost angry that she would put me in harms way, and expose me without warning or anything.”

Another travel advisor, who asked to remain anonymous, was on a fam trip to Italy when she thanked the woman sitting next to her, whom she knew was opposed to vaccines, for getting vaccinated before the trip. “She went off on me about how she felt forced to get the vaccine—and that was very alienating in a small group atmosphere.”

Then she saw someone attending a FAM in Europe after being at an ASTA event where there were positive cases. “And I’m thinking, weren’t you in that room at ASTA with people who tested positive? Shouldn’t you be quarantining and not on this AMA cruise in Europe?”

Those experiences changed the way she sees those people. Read the rest of this entry »

I now know what it’s like to be a ping pong ball. Trips booked, then postponed, on again, off again, vaccine freedom, then Delta dread, governments imposing mandatory quarantines, then …

We were all set for our October 4, 2021 Crystal Debussy cruise on the Rhine. Flights booked, hotels booked. Ready. Set. Go. Not so fast. A month before our departure, in early September, the government of the Netherlands imposed new rules that required both vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans to quarantine for 10 days. Crystal and other river cruise operators were left scratching their heads, along with those of us who had booked cruises departing from Amsterdam.

What to do? A 12-hour transit loophole provided a solution, a not-so-great one. The idea was that we would cancel our hotel rooms, reschedule our flights to arrive the day we were to step on Debussy and get the herring out of the Netherlands as quickly as possible – well, at least within 12 hours so as not to violate the quarantine requirement. Read the rest of this entry »

There are many ways to look at Cuba. From a strictly-business point of view, it’s a sad story. There’s never been any question that there has been huge pent-up demand by Americans to travel to Cuba. After more than half a century of being prohibited by their own government from traveling to what used to be considered one of the hottest vacation destinations in the world, of course there is demand. It’s 90 miles from Florida, a heavenly tropical Caribbean destination. But for practical purposes it’s blackened off the tourist map.

There’s never been any situation that compares to it. Americans can travel pretty much anywhere. Americans are not dictated to by their government as to where they can travel. They can travel to America’s Cold War nemeses, Russia and China, even to Vietnam. But not Cuba. Read the rest of this entry »

Listen up! We’ve all heard the phrase “What’s old is new again.”

• Bell bottom = flares
• Midriff tops = crop tops
• Telephone party line = live audio rooms

Live audio is all the rage now. It’s the mash-up of old school and new school. First off the block was Clubhouse, now comes Live Audio Rooms from Facebook.

Tune in for a quick low-down on these 2 popular platforms. Read the rest of this entry »

“All Indications Point Toward a Banner Year For Travel Professionals According to James T. Bigelow”

How do you feel after reading this good news? How do you feel after reading any favorable forecast depicting a promising future?

You don’t know the writer, and he or she doesn’t know you. Yet, I am quite certain that you are feeling better about your travel business knowing a bright light at the end of the tunnel is being forecasted.

Things are looking up, according to some person known as an “authority.” In this case, his name is James T. Bigelow. Read the rest of this entry »

When COVID sprang onto the scene in March of 2020, we had no idea what to do and had so many questions. Mask? Stay inside? Stay outside? Do we wash the groceries before putting them away? How often should we wash our hands? Where the hell did all the toilet paper go? What do you mean there is a beer shortage? And as we come out of COVID (yes, I believe we are…it may not be as fast as anyone wants, but I believe we are), there are more questions and concerns. Read the rest of this entry »

The year is slipping by quickly. The holiday of the autumnal equinox, traditionally called Harvest Home, came to us all in September and traditional Autumn is close behind. Long ago, humanity lived by such agricultural markers. But your clients, and all of the potential clients “out there,” have their own schedules. They travel when they are ready. Their travel plans have nothing to do with your preparations, business plans, or agendas. But someday, Ms. Client will look at Mr. Client and say something like, “Let’s go to Ireland off-season this year.”  Before they next think of price or plans or preparations, will your clients’ thoughts turn to you? Read the rest of this entry »

When AmaWaterways invited me to the Christening of AmaSiena, I said yes immediately. The prospect of going on a river cruise for the first time since the summer of 2019 excited me so much that I agreed to come on the trip without giving any of the details a second thought. But, as my cruise approached, I found myself questioning my decision to cruise during Covid: What happens if I test positive for Covid on board the ship? Do I need to pack anything extra? What do I need to do to be cleared to fly to the Netherlands and, on the way back, to the United States? And, most importantly, how will my cruise experience differ to the cruises I’ve taken in the past?

I realize that many of you are considering river cruises as well but traveling during the pandemic leaves you with similar questions, which I want to share with you how I prepared for my return to Europe. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I want you to think about the word “useful.”

I believe that by just thinking about this word, your contribution to your prospects and clients is bound to improve. By following your thoughts and becoming “more” useful your life will immediately change for the good.

Question: Are you useful? Are there opportunities for you to become more useful?

Think about it. I am certain your performance, and the way you approach prospects and clients, will begin to change once you start addressing these two questions.

How you become more useful is something only you can determine. I can’t possibly know what value you are providing now, so I can’t intelligently recommend Read the rest of this entry »

Michael was born and raised in the south suburbs of Chicago. He attended Northern Illinois University where he received a BS in Biological Sciences. It didn’t take him long to realize the routine of scientific testing work didn’t match with his personality.

Following a 29-year career working for the airlines in increasing sales roles, Michael joined Sky Bird Travel & Tours in 2015 as Sky Bird’s first Business Development Manager. As the sales team grew, Michael took on the role of Director as well as overseeing the Customer Service division. He is often the face of Sky Bird at industry events and the voice of Sky Bird on webinars featuring our WINGS booking engine.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today is Labor Day. It is a National holiday that is to “celebrate the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States.” And while we are not considered “laborers” in one sense, the travel industry has been laboring for the past 18 months and quite frankly, we deserve a break. Read the rest of this entry »

(Caution: there’s some science and math ahead. But Norwegian solves the equation for you—and in so doing, offers a lot of hope for the future of selling cruises during a pandemic.)

Question: Is 100% really that much better than 95%?

Answer: Yes.

It’s a math problem Norwegian Cruise Line has been tackling for months, and the result is a little painful.

When we set sail earlier this month on Norwegian Encore’s first post-Covid cruise to Alaska, many lamented that the strict vaccine mandate meant families with small children could not sail—a big loss for a family-friendly cruise company and its loyal customers and partners. Read the rest of this entry »