This week, Britton is gearing up for her Rhine river cruise on Riviera’s Geoffrey Chaucer. That means arranging for pet-sitters, shopping for new clothes (of course), and finalizing the logistics of her trip. She’s become quite the traveler, something that she began training for early on in life. In fact, she was only approaching her first birthday when she crossed the Atlantic on the venerable Queen Elizabeth 2, the first of many cruises for the now 27-year-old.

Anything that happened before 2020, when COVID-19 knocked the world out of its orbit and made us all start over, is now ancient history.

For Collette, the Pawtucket, R.I.-based operator of guided tours worldwide, 2018 was its centennial year and marked a century since it was founded. Collette holds the title of America’s oldest existing tour operator.

I have found over the years that the most powerful word in the English language is the word love. Tell somebody that you love them, and you are sure to get their attention. The second most powerful word comes close … the word idea.

If you tell somebody that you have an idea, I can virtually guarantee you that their response will not be, “That’s too bad. Can you pass the ketchup?”

Despite what we may think, we do not know it all. But despite what some of our kids think, we do know a little. So, let’s meet in the middle.  How many times have you been working with a client, and they were interested in some specifics of a destination that were just beyond your pay grade?  You know the destination well, but sometimes the minutiae flies under your radar. What do you do? Read on; I may have a solution. Read the rest of this entry »

After years in development, recent whispers of Ritz-Carlton’s inaugural 298-passenger yacht indicate it may finally come to fruition. In late September, fellow luxury hotel brand Four Seasons announced plans to unveil its own yacht product by 2025. Read the rest of this entry »

“Why doesn’t anyone ever try softer?” ~ Lily Tomlin

Last week I received a call from a business associate who was expecting a spreadsheet from me.  With the best of intentions I had promised to have it to him mid-week.  Then suddenly it was Friday and the half-finished project was still, well, half-finished.

If I had to tally the partially complete projects on my desk, I’m afraid the number would point to a revealing fact – I’m easily distracted and try to do too much. It is always tempting to over-commit to any number of personal and professional activities with the result that none of them are done as well as I originally intended. I sometimes manage to convince myself working harder is the best way to achieve my goals.

I hear there is a road somewhere paved with nothing but good intentions. Read the rest of this entry »

We often recommend the Rhine and Danube to first-time river cruisers. These rivers not only the most popular for river cruising, but also offer a large variety of itineraries between the two rivers and their tributaries. Those looking to try something different may decide to venture to the Seine or the Rhone rivers in France, or, if they wish to stay on this side of the pond, even the Mississippi River. However, there are an array of river cruise options “off the beaten path,” with itineraries in South America, Africa and Asia.

We have rounded up five river cruise itineraries for those looking to branch out from traditional river cruise itineraries.

“How’s business?”, I asked travel advisors.

They responded that it’s going quite well, thank you very much. So well, in fact, that many are experimenting with new ideas—from brick and mortar to new employees, from new team models to more marketing—to keep up with the demand.

“I’ve gone from people calling in fear, to people calling out of curiosity, to people calling to book,” says Dorothy Bystrom in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. So, in September she took her first half-step toward brick and mortar by opening a branch of her agency, Exclusive Trips, inside a women’s clothing boutique that specializes in golf wear. Its customers looking for high-end sports and travel wear are a perfect match with hers looking for luxury trips, she says.

With interest in Arctic travel soaring, Hurtigruten has launched four new expedition itineraries on MS Maud for 2023.

The itineraries are:

Ring of Fire and Ice: Circumnavigation of Iceland. 11 days, prices starting at $7,589 per person. Sailing in July 2023 and July 2024, the Maud will circumnavigate Iceland, with nine stops, including Grimsey on the Arctic Circle, home to colonies of Atlantic puffins. Read the rest of this entry »

Small group experts Blue-Roads Touring has today announced the launch of its 2023 ‘Save Your Seat’ sale offering a $175 per person discount on a range of their award-winning trips to the UK and Europe departing in 2023. The discount is available on new bookings made between Read the rest of this entry »

After Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, announced her plan for tax cuts, the value of the country’s currency plunged. Now the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the British pound is outrageously good for American travelers. The dollar is now worth about £.90. That’s almost one for one. Considering that the pound was worth around two dollars as recently as the 2006-2008 period, that means the dollar has more buying power now in Britain than at almost any time in memory.

On October 4, Norwegian Cruise Line became one of the latest major cruise lines to roll back its requirement for passengers to present proof of a COVID-19 vaccination in order to sail. Read the rest of this entry »

The Travel Institute is reporting interest in its new agent training program has surpassed pre-pandemic levels with a 78% increase in attendance for its introductory webinars in 2022 year-to-date over 2019 for the same period. In addition, enrollment in the nonprofit education leader’s TRIPKIT℠ introductory training course continue to climb across all markets including colleges, partner agencies, and individuals, further indicating continued broad interest in travel careers.

“Individuals at all stages and walks of life continue to recognize the opportunity to join the travel industry and to set themselves up for success with the right educational foundation when they do it,” shared Diane Petras, CTIE, president of The Travel Institute. To accommodate increased interest, The Travel Institute increased the number of live webinars available each month while also adding an on-demand option.

Petras also pointed to two recent, non-industry reports that further support the current career opportunity for aspiring new agents:

• US Travel Association’s forecast¹ estimating $1.05 trillion USD will be spent on travel in the United States in 2022, up from $886 billion USD in 2021.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Outlook for travel agents² estimating travel agent employment is likely to grow 20 percent between 2021 – 2031 as the industry replaces thousands of agents who left over the past several years.

“These non-industry reports demonstrate what our travel community has already been experiencing. Travelers are back and they want and need truly professional support. Travel agents able to provide that support are well-positioned for a rewarding and worthwhile career,” Petras asserted.

This fall, The Travel Institute is again dedicating resources and funding to help aspiring new agents who want unbiased, cost-effective guidance in getting their travel career started with TRIPKIT^SM, the industry’s long-standing, gold standard in new travel agent education, along with complimentary coaching webinars, advice on travel career options, and other resources.

The equivalent of one year of college packed into an online, interactive, 19-module course with progress checks, TRIPKIT is self-paced to accommodate varying schedules. The curriculum focuses on real-world agent experiences, industry terminology, and a comprehensive overview of booking air, ground, accommodations, cruises, tours, and packages and numerous booking nuances, as well as interpersonal communications skills, sales and marketing best practices, world geography, and advice for starting a successful independent contractor travel business. TRIPKIT can be purchased directly from The Travel Institute and is also available through colleges and various partner organizations.

“TRIPKIT complements our Flight Centre training materials and ensures new members are up and running quickly with the foundation they need on the schedule they want,” shared Traci Bax, director of membership education and agent growth, Independent by Flight Centre. Bax said The Travel Institute has been “a big help,” creating and maintaining a custom education package to support the host agency’s new-to-the-industry members.

After completing TRIPKIT, students take the Travel Agent Proficiency, or TAP^SM, exam to confirm mastery of travel industry basics. Recent TAP graduates are featured at Hire Me, enabling agency owners and suppliers to easily connect with educated, new talent. According to recent TAP graduates:

• “The materials were current and, with the clout The Travel Institute has, I’m confident starting my new career.” –Matthew Hughes
• “I have been in the travel business off and on for 10 years and didn’t know half of what I learned… I wouldn’t change a thing!” –Robert Staples
• If you want to start a career in travel, this is the best program!” –Juan Herrera
• “I was unsure about not attending a course in-person but I quickly realized TRIPKIT is a robust learning experience with valuable, detailed, well-constructed content. TRIPKIT gave me a good foundation AND confidence to take the next steps.” –Catherine Marucci
• “TRIPKIT is great… well worth the money you invest in yourself.” –Patti Kollar, CTA

While the travel industry does not set standards for agent education, Guida Botelho, CTIE, director of education for The Travel Institute, emphasized the value well-educated agents offer both consumers and colleagues. “Frontline agents are the face of our industry. For the consumer, travel agents facilitate their dream experience OR they don’t. Our singular mission is to advance travel professionals for travelers, for individual agents, and for the industry at large. For industry newcomers, we ensure the broad-based, foundational industry education and confidence they need to be successful from the start,” Botelho explained.

Those exploring a career in travel or seeking a new agent training solution for their team or students can visit The Travel Institute to learn more and are also invited to join a complimentary New to the Industry webinar, which includes a look inside the course, an overview of new agent education, and a roadmap for industry success.

SATA Azores Airlines launches its Winter 22/23 schedule. All flights are operated by the fuel-efficient A321 Neo LR. Schedule, timings, and aircraft refer to a typical winter week. For further information, please consult the GDS or azoresairlines.pt  

 Boston 

SATA Azores Airlines will be flying directly into Ponta Delgada from Boston on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with returning flights on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

 New York

This winter SATA Azores Airlines will also be continuing their service from New York (JFK) to Ponta Delgada and Funchal. The flight from JFK to PDL will be operating on Friday and Saturday, returning on Thursday and Saturday. The flight from JFK to FNC will depart on Thursday and return on Friday 

10% commission promotion. 

Earn 10% Commission on flights from New York to the Azores and Madeira. Flights from New York (JFK) to Ponta Delgada (PDL), Lisbon (LIS), Porto (OPO), Paris (CDG), Praia (RAI), and Funchal (FNC) via the Azores and Madeira qualify. This promotional commission is only valid for sales ticketed between September 26 – October 31, 2022, with travel between October 1 – December 14, 2022.

Details: 

Valid only for JFK Gateway, must be plated and booked on SATA Azores Airlines operated flights, the commission must be taken at the time of ticketing and reported through ARC, agents must apply the commission manually, only valid for Azores Airlines operated flights, and nets not included.

About SATA Group 

Established in the Azores in 1941, and with more than eighty years of History, SATA Group has at its core the depth of the Azorean soul and is committed to overcoming the archipelago’s isolation.
Composed of two airlines (SATA Air Açores and Azores Airlines) and an aerodrome managing body in the Archipelago of the Azores, the SATA Group has affirmed itself as an international airline that embraces the mission of building Atlantic bridges between the Azores and the world. SATA Airlines currently operates a network of regular national and international routes, playing an essential role in the economic and social development of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

Let me set the scene. It was a windy day in late August, and I was sitting on my back porch in upstate New York. I was enjoying a morning cup of coffee with my long-time friend and fraternity brother who was visiting for a few days with his wife. It is so refreshing, but particularly rare these days to maintain relationships for any length of time, no less than fifty years.

Sitting at the foot of the Učka Mountain, the city of Opatija has been a seaside resort since the late 1800s. With the Adriatic Sea shining along an almost 8-mile coast, and Kvarner Bay hosting relaxing beaches. Though there was some decline in the state of the city following the 19^th century golden age, it has returned to a gleaming example of the gems that sit along the coasts of Croatia.

Opatija from the sea is an experience of how stunning the Croatian coasts remain to this day. The sparkle of the sea meets bright villas and, further, a slow-rising mountain of green; creating a scene sought after for the sheer excitement of simply being there. This is one of the reasons that Opatija was officially declared by the imperial government to be a climatic health resort in 1889, making it popular for health and wellness tourism.

Many times, as business owners, we feel we know it all. We have heard every possible client issue, from the mundane and boring to the most bizarre. We have made our share of mistakes and recovered (and hopefully learned) from them. Sometimes it seems as if my travel practice is running on auto-pilot with the phones ringing, email inbox humming, and the cash registers going cha-ching (OK, I know they don’t exist anymore, but stay with me)! It feels good!  But it also scares the heck out of me. I know a train will jump the track when the engineer nods off. Read the rest of this entry »

I spend many of my columns speaking to the importance of positioning and differentiation – setting your travel practice apart from the crowd. From the emails and comments I received, however, it’s clear that it’s not always easy to really BE different.  Where do the ideas arise that will energize your travel practice in such a way that travelers will choose you over another agency or booking on their own?

The most important thing is to lead with your personality. You are the one thing that is truly unique about your travel practice.  You are the one thing not duplicated online, in your office, or at another agency. You are the human element with which people want to engage. Learn to infuse your creative thinking with your own personality. Read the rest of this entry »

If your customers are between 56 and 74 and relatively well-to-do, expect them to travel more and spend more, says a new study from MMGY Travel Intelligence.

That’s no surprise to travel advisors, many of whom already have seen strong sales for the next 12 months. But it’s nice to have hard data nonetheless.

MMGY did not ask about the use of travel advisors in the most recent Portrait of American Travelers survey that came out this week; that question will be included in the Summer edition, they told TRO. But they did share data on past surveys with us. Spending among customers with household incomes over $50,000 is up about 33% from 2021, though still below 2019 levels, they said.

“Looking only at travelers with an annual household income of $50k+ for 2019, 2021, and 2022, here are the apples-to-apples travel spending intentions of those Americans (excluding any consideration of potential seasonal bias in the response data),” MMGY said:

• 2019 – $5,025
• 2021 – $3,304
• 2022 – $4,446

The quarterly Fall Edition of the Portrait of American Travelers survey of more than 4,500 adult travelers found that while 63% of US travelers intend to take a vacation in the next six months –a 10-point decrease from this time last year – Boomers and higher-income households planning to travel for leisure in the next 12 months will spend 37% more than those surveyed last year ($3,785, up from $2,758 in 2021).

“With these factors in mind, we’re predicting that overall leisure travel volume may decrease somewhat in 2023 while prices will likely increase,” said EVP Chris Davidson. “From a hospitality perspective, we expect leisure occupancy to decrease while the average daily rate (ADR) increases modestly. As a result, we’re anticipating a slight increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR) on a year-over-year basis in 2023.”

Other key findings reported in the study are:

• Culinary experiences are in. Six in 10 Gen Zs (56%) and Millennials (61%) are influenced by the quality of the culinary scene when choosing where to stay in a destination. Respondents in these age groups generally value authentic local food and beverage experiences much more so than traditional fine-dining experiences, such as those designated as Michelin-starred restaurants.
• Fewer travelers (18%) are planning Holiday trips this December compared to last year, down from 36% this year vs. 42% in 2021.

Social media continues to play an important role in travel planning, especially among younger generations. Four in 10 Millennials indicate celebrities and digital content creators have a great deal of influence on their travel decisions (38%).

AmaWaterways

AmaWaterways offers guests a free pre- or post-cruise land package on certain itineraries including the Blue Danube, Captivating Rhine, Enticing Douro, Charms of the Mekong, and more.

Offer(s): Free land package with select itineraries