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Brazil is on a roll, and its star city of Rio de Janeiro is the hub of all the action. Already the ninth largest economy in the world, Brazil may well reach the rank of 5th by the time the Olympics make their debut in 2016. Now is a good time to get to know Brazil because the 14.4 billion dollars scheduled to be spent preparing the country to host the Olympics is likely to forever change its face.

Did we mention that Brazil is also hosting the 2014 World Cup? The two sporting events have the nation bursting with pride, the tour operators and hoteliers working overtime and the city struggling to upgrade the nation’s tourism infrastructure. The International Olympic Committee chose Rio over Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, and the Brazilians seem determined not to let the opportunity pass without giving it their best.
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John T. Peters joined Tripology as President and CEO in 2008. Since then, John guided the team at Tripology in hitting critical growth milestones. In early 2010, Tripology processed its 175,000 trip request and has assembled a network of nearly 15,000 Travel Specialists. In March 2010, John sold Tripology.com to Rand McNally. Prior to Tripology, John was Vice President of Business Development & Travel Trade where he led the successful launch of Endless Vacation Rentals® by Wyndham Worldwide.

John is a frequent speaker at trade shows and international meetings including World Travel Market, EyeforTravel, Vacation Home Expo, The New York Times Travel Show, International Cruise-a-thon and others.

TRO: Since joining Tripology, you have been instrumental in meeting multiple milestones within the company. Why do you believe Tripology works so well at meeting the travel industry’s needs?

JP: Tripology is the leading online travel referral service that matches consumers with travel specialists, known as Tripologists, based on their specific vacation request.  The service provides the best of both worlds for travelers and travel professionals.  For travelers, Tripology combines a content-rich online experience with access to travel professionals for the personal attention and service they seek.   For travel specialists, Tripology is a cost-effective way to get qualified travel leads.  It enables agents to harness the immense reach of the Web, then work one-on-one with prospective clients to cultivate a customer for life.

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Brazil is on a roll, and its star city of Rio de Janeiro is the hub of all the action. Already the ninth largest economy in the world, Brazil may well reach the rank of 5th by the time the Olympics make their debut in 2016. Now is a good time to get to know Brazil because the 14.4 billion dollars scheduled to be spent preparing the country to host the Olympics is likely to forever change its face.

Did we mention that Brazil is also hosting the 2014 World Cup? The two sporting events have the nation bursting with pride, the tour operators and hoteliers working overtime and the city struggling to upgrade the nation’s tourism infrastructure. The International Olympic Committee chose Rio over Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, and the Brazilians seem determined not to let the opportunity pass without giving it their best. Read the rest of this entry »

This year has been interesting to put it mildly. Our first large incentive group, new independent agents, revitalized website and first public speaking engagement are all 2010 happenings at my agency. I’ve made quite a few changes in my marketing plan. I have started utilizing social networking more and have been attending trade shows and industry events weekly. All are part of my new agency plan. The agency vibe has been a bit stagnate over the past few years and I felt it was time to put some new game plans into action. I’ve also ramped up my traveling this year in favor of touring as many locations and resorts as possible. My clients want the inside scoop and it’s my job to bring it to them. Read the rest of this entry »

One thing is perfectly clear – travel agents love social media. At any travel trade show, the social media panels are packed. Hold a social media webinar and it’s a record crowd of travel agents that show up. It seems everyone has a Facebook or Twitter account, and a good part of everyday is spent pumping content into the social media funnel.

There are even some great success stories. Last week, travel agent Denyse Turner related her own experiences which include “15 group cruises, 5 individual cruises and more vacation packages than [she] can handle alone“. That is tremendous success and there are many more stories beginning to come in attesting to the power of social media as a marketing tactic.

Here’s the problem. Denyse makes it look easy. Agents are flocking to social media because of her story and others like it, much the same way that people charged across the North American continent in 1849 looking for gold.

Not everyone will get rich.  However, a lot more travel agents could if they Read the rest of this entry »

I’m certainly no expert at marketing my travel practice. However, I have found that using Facebook and other social media networking sites are extremely beneficial to the success of my practice. I started working with facebook around the end of 2008 but didn’t begin to really use it until mid-2009. I started with about 20 friends in about 30 days. When I really thought about what I had, it clicked in 2009 and I “worked” it. Sixteen months, over 1,670 friends and over 300 fans later, I see the success! The trick is you must interact with your friends/fans about topics OTHER than travel on a regular basis. Doing that, they get to know YOU and that’s when you begin to build relationships and trust.

What is my success? Right now for 2011, I have 15 group cruises, 5 individual cruises and more vacation packages than I can handle alone. I also have 2 group cruises Read the rest of this entry »

Now that the summer months are behind us and the fall and winter loom ahead on the horizon, I am feeling a wee bit out of kilter. During the summer months, our phones were ringing and our members were booking trips from Israel to Italy, Ireland and back. Yet as soon as school was back in session, things slowed down considerably. Now I fret because I have too much time on my hands, mixed with a fear that I am not putting any of it to proper use. Read the rest of this entry »

Back when Howard Stern was a relative unknown, there was a statistic floating around that the average Howard Stern fan tuned into the shock jock for 80 minutes a day. The most common reason cited was to hear what he would say next. The average Stern hater tuned in for 150 minutes per day. The most common reason cited was to hear what he would say next.  I am not sure how many listeners he had back in the 80s when he was starting out, but it was significant, and look where it got him. If we scale it back a bit, how would you like to have several hundred thousand fans waiting to hear what you had to say next?  Not likely for most (if not all) agencies, but a piece of cake for the cruise lines.

Someone left a comment on a Travel Weekly article on social networking that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines was “late to the party.” Another commenter said that the cruise lines had no desire to listen to the agencies and to help them market socially. The comments were intriguing. And after a bit of digging, Read the rest of this entry »

We interrupt your regularly scheduled diary to bring you this important update.

Last year, we launched the TRO Travel Agent Diary series which was an extremely popular column for TRO. If you recall, we followed the paths of Laura Frazier (Bliss Honeymoons), Nia Frieson (LK Cruises & Tours), Chuck Flagg (Cruise Holidays), Pat Saizan (Saizan’s Travel), and Mary Stephan (Allons Travel) as they tried to survive the horrors of 2009. Knowing that the travel industry is a fickle creature, we decided to check in and see how they are doing now that we already have a full quarter of 2010 in the books. And I have good news to report! Read the rest of this entry »

It has been almost eight months since we began our foray into the group travel business and we are still struggling to get our events filled. Our trip to Israel in July fell apart; and we realize now that we did not plan it far enough in advance. Local events seem to be doing better, but with those we are finding that some of the people that commit early are slow to commit when it comes time to pay their deposits.

This is stressful as we never know until literally the last minute if we will have enough people to fill the minimum amount we need to keep our rates competitive and still actually make a profit. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in November, I suggested that when it came to social networking, we all should take the advice of Ferris Bueller and just look around a little bit.  That is pretty good advice for almost anything you do. “Be aware of your surroundings” is something we tell our clients all the time. But are you aware of your surroundings? I am not talking about your physical surroundings necessarily, but more

along the lines of the tools in your business arsenal. I learned a lesson last week—I need to look around a bit more. Read the rest of this entry »

I was going to write about the importance of having a niche or specialty versus being a generalist and trying to service everyone.  I truly believe that having a niche or specialty is paramount to success in this business, but as the economy has wavered over the past year, I have found myself taking business where I can.

I would say that up to last October, I was doing quite well with business. I have the privilege of having clients from all over the country and many still were traveling to Europe. My business was quite focused on the destinations of Europe. Many of the clients had already planned for travel and even with the economy, decided to go forward; which carried me through the summer and fall months.

Although Europe is quite diverse and a year round destination, my business started to drop off as these clients returned. Unfortunately, Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, the world ushered in 2010 and kicked 2009 (thankfully) to the curb. On February 14, 2010, the Chinese will celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac.  But what about the travel professional? While we all hope it somehow becomes the “Year of the World Cruise on Crystal For A Group of 200”, more realistically it will be the Year of Adaptation.

Adaptation is nothing new to any travel professional that has been in the industry for any length of time.  From red carbon backed tickets to airline commissions to legitimate AD-75s to a commission-less airline structure—we have seen it all, and adapted. I suspect that 2010 will also be a year that the industry sees great change and in order to thrive in the new normal, we will once again be forced to adapt. The secret is to be prepared, limber, and ready to pounce. Adaptation will be needed in three areas. Read the rest of this entry »

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Does anyone remember that line from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Well, that was 23 years ago and perhaps more now than ever it is applicable to your travel business. For decades, travel professionals were so far ahead of the technology curve. Back in the 1970s, we were one of the first industries to place a computer on a desktop thanks to the generosity of our former partners—the airlines. But this is the 21st century and technology has been moving at blinding speed. Indeed, life is moving pretty fast. Read the rest of this entry »

A long time ago my mom was both an Avon lady and a Tupperware lady.  Sometimes she went door-to-door with the latest smelly skin cream or fancy lettuce keeper.  At other times she hosted parties where cupcakes and Kool-Aid were accompanied by trading gossip and catching up with friends.  Then, at just the right moment, she’d bring out the skin cream and lettuce keepers.  Sales always followed.

It was the ‘60’s and life seemed so simple.  Today, she’d have to deal with gated communities, and security cameras.  The carbo-phobics would shun the cupcakes and the smelly skin cream would have to be organic and fragrance-free.  Yes, things have changed.  But the basic concepts of yesterday are alive and well today. Read the rest of this entry »

When was the last time a client walked into your office and asked you to print a boarding pass? When was the last time you went home with red fingers? When was the last time you printed a paper ticket? When was the last time a cruise company mailed documents in a document jacket to you for your client’s upcoming cruise? When was the last time you mailed a postcard advertising the latest specials in your agency?  If I had to guess, the answer likely is “a long time ago”.

Times have changed. When I closed one of my offices, we discovered a pack of carbon paper behind a counter. My children looked on in awe as if we had discovered the missing link or the Loch Ness Monster. When I opened it up, they were at a loss as to what to do with it. The point I am trying to make is that if you are not changing with the times, you are likely going to wind up like my kids and the carbon paper—mystified and clueless. Read the rest of this entry »

As a business owner, what is your number one goal? Why are you in business? I’m not talking the lovey dovey marketing fluff like “creating dreams for my clients” and “designing memories to last a lifetime.” Give it to me straight, why are you in business? It is a simple answer. There really is only one answer (as far as I am concerned) and it is three words long. It is not even unique to the travel industry—not by a long shot. Come close, let me whisper the answer in your ear…. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since birth, we have been told to do things. Come here. Do this. Get that. Sit down. Shut up. I am sure you remember them all from your childhood. You would think it would stop when we became adults; but it doesn’t. Just look at your own travel business and you will see what I mean.

A decade ago everyone told you that you needed to specialize in cruises. You needed to specialize in the all-inclusive market. Then you had to have a niche destination or type of travel. You needed to get a website, etc. And, it continues today. Did you read Nolan’s article? He says you need to be ignorant (hey he said it). TRO tells you that you need to embrace blogging, tweeting and Facebooking. Agents today are being bombarded with all sorts of marching orders. Is enough, enough? Read the rest of this entry »

We have all heard the cautionary tale about loose lips sinking ships. In this Internet 2.0 age, it is even more important to keep that axiom in mind. Between Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, texting, YouTube, and whatever the next thing to come down the pike may be; we are in a precarious position and if we are not careful, our ship may indeed be sunk! Read the rest of this entry »

Two weeks ago…were you listening? There were some pretty powerful messages coming out of Travel Research Online and hopefully you heard them. If not, you likely have lost out on some revenue. And be honest, who doesn’t need some additional revenue right about now? As a direct result of the messages from TRO, I was able to earn $1000 for about 30 seconds of effort. Heck, that’s better than joining a MLM! So what were the two messages and how did I make the money? Facebook and Twitter! Read the rest of this entry »

Everybody’s talking about it and, if you believe the hype, everybody’s doing it. Marketing gurus from all corners of the virtual world are captivated by the potential of social marketing. But what is it exactly and does it really hold the potential that all of the buzz promises? The 365 Guide this week will look at social marketing from a travel agency point of view and see where the enterprising travel planner could possibly find some tangible benefit in participation in the media darlings of Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter, and other social media marketing opportunities.

Firstly, a confession. All those marketing gurus, including me, are guessing. There are certainly some success stories from all of the various social media formats, but the real value to any given business is at best, uncertain. The venues are new, the actual return on investment Read the rest of this entry »