Travel Research Online | The voice of the travel agency community

Your clients will mislead you. Most often, they will do so unintentionally, but they will give you bad intelligence and expect you to work with it. If you are not careful, you find yourself sending clients off to enjoy themselves in the wrong country. It can happen.

Clients do not always know what they want. They say they do. The truth, however, is clients are influenced by advertising, word of mouth, friends, and other resources that do not take into consideration the real needs of this particular individual. Read the rest of this entry »

Talk about a distribution channel. Thanks to 300,000 leads that came into the Travel Leaders Network website, the consortium’s Agent Profiler system delivered three-quarters of a billion dollars’ worth of new revenue—68,750 bookings at an average of about $10,000, for a total of $733 million—to its 6,000 travel agency members in 2024, at a close rate of almost 1:4.

That was the best of several great numbers Travel Leaders president John Lovell shared at the group’s annual press conference at the Ritz Carlton Nomad in New York last week. A few more: 2024 was its best year ever, with revenue up 17% over 2023 and overall sales up more than $1 billion. Land sales grew 9.7% from 2023 to 2024 and cruise sales by a whopping 25.1%, 66% more than the cruise industry as a whole, proving “the consumer is coming back in droves to the travel advisor distribution channel. It’s the golden age of travel advisors that we talked about last year,” Lovell said. “And where it stops, nobody knows.” Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a shift taking place in the travel industry, categories are being redefined as traveler preferences evolve. Rental Escapes, one of the up-and-coming villa rental companies, is not a hotel company or a tour operator but covers the functions of both.

Historically hotels and tour operators have been separate businesses offering different but complementary services. Now we are seeing robust growth in villa rentals, and some villa rental companies are developing the business of destination management.

Villa rentals are nowhere near taking the place of hotels, but they are providing an alternative, and for many the alternative is preferable to Airbnb.

If your travel plans include venturing across state borders or collecting passport stamps, it’s essential to know what your health insurance will cover while you’re far from home. Facing an illness or injury abroad can be more than just unpleasant—it could lead to hefty out-of-pocket costs, even if you’re enrolled in Medicare. Many standard health insurance policies also do not cover international travel. Read the rest of this entry »

When traveling internationally, cellular data is important for many of us, whether we’re using our smart phones keeping in touch with friends and family back home or taking care of others matters such as banking or travel reservations. For example, when I land in Amsterdam tomorrow morning, I’ll want to book a train ticket to the city center, which I can do using the NS app. Why pay 40 euros or more to for a taxi to take me from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal when I can do it for less than 6 euros, particularly when my hotel, Doubletree Centraal, is next door to the train station? Read the rest of this entry »

This is the third sales mistake in the series of ten.

You must give the communication skill called “listening” more than just lip service. You have to actually hear what the other person is saying and make every effort to understand what is being said.

Not listening to what others are saying, and not saying, is a mistake. Nobody cares what you want or think… unless it ties directly to what your customer is interested in. I don’t know how to make this complicated or drawn out. Once you get the customer speaking freely and comfortably about their ideas, wants, needs and desires, you are bound to witness a sale unfold before your very eyes. You’ll become a Read the rest of this entry »

KHM Travel Group began their journey as a host agency in the travel industry with a small, family-owned business. Now, they have a team of over 70 in a multi-office complex. These days they work to support over 5,000 independent home-based travel agents with unlimited support, one-on-one coaching, educational events, group travel support, and the in-house client management system called myTravelCRM. They have also offered marketing advice to Advisors mostly including boot camps and group camp events, basic marketing essentials, and regular updates via newsletters and blogs. Now, in a recent press release, they have announced an increase in what they offer in regards to marketing a travel agency. Read the rest of this entry »

The myths and legends of Scotland are fitting of the storyteller culture it is. The tales call forth the natural surroundings of foggy coasts and cliffs. With more than 790 islands along its coast and hills as far as the eye can see, Scotland has plenty of true wilderness to explore. Its cities are reminiscent of the Middle Ages that coexist with the growing modern world. Add hospitable and down-to-earth people – you have an amazing destination for the traveler all around. Read the rest of this entry »

Most visitors to Mexico head straight to the country’s stunning beaches, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. However, there is an abundance of delights in store for those who venture beyond the beaches to Mexico’s beguiling magic towns. The Mexican tourist board has selected 132 pueblos to be included on a list of so-called ‘magic towns’. The towns are chosen for a combination of characteristics, including culture, architecture, natural beauty, cuisine, and indigenous history. Read the rest of this entry »

Our last article showcasing Costa Rica Dream Adventures included the thrill of walking along suspended bridges over the jungle forest below. And for the more adventurous there was ziplining through those jungle canopies, as well as how their safety standards for this experience are top tier.

CRDA’s customized Costa Rica trips are a traveler’s dream. But what about the support the traveler gets while indulging in the best this country has to offer? What about the travel advisor?

My first interview with Lisa Watson went great. She was easy-going and her dedication of work to the creation of FyndTravel was obvious. However, a dead computer on my end took all text and recordings with it to the scrapyard. Chaos happens, I suppose.

We tried again and, as expected, I found the conversation just as enjoyable and informative.

Lisa started our conversation by pulling up a screen share Read the rest of this entry »

In a bold stride to strengthen its dedication to advisor education and training, American Marketing Group (AMG) has grown its professional development team, focusing on delivering the exclusive benefits of its innovative programs to a broader audience. With the recent appointment of Diana Hnatov and Clare Burke, advisors affiliated with AMG’s renowned travel agency networks—TRAVELSAVERS, NEST, and The Affluent Traveler Collection—can expect significant advancements in their professional development journeys. Read the rest of this entry »

Bill Coyle has become an essential travel industry resource with over 30 years of experience leading his own brick and mortar travel agency, serving on several agent advisory boards, and advocating for travel advisors on a national level with the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA). His experience empowers and educates KHM Travel Group’s agents as the Vice President of Agent Engagement. As KHM Travel Group’s first-ever Limelight Award recipient for going above and beyond, Bill brings a spirited passion for travel in all his professional endeavors and continues to book travel for his longtime clients. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s difficult to imagine Abu Dhabi before oil was discovered in the 1960s. Once a small community known for fishing and pearl diving, Abu Dhabi now sprouts from the deserts and stretches to the sky with heights previously unrecorded by humans. The extreme wealth of this city has also brought luxury beyond the standard. Let’s dive into Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and UNESCO City of Music.

Perched dramatically on a mountainside in Italy’s Liguria region, the medieval village of Triora, known as the “Salem of Italy,” has embraced a haunting history of dramatic, infamous witch trials. The town’s strategic position at 780 meters above sea level made it a crucial defensive outpost during medieval times. The village’s name derives from “Tria Ora,” meaning three mouths, referring to the three gates that once protected this fortress town. Its robust walls and commanding position earned it the nickname “Keys to the Alps,” as it controlled important trade routes between the Ligurian coast and Piedmont. Read the rest of this entry »

Central Holidays has been a leader in creating remarkable travel experiences since 1972. Together with their parent company, SGI, Central Holidays has been at the forefront of delivering travel programs, value, and service across Italy, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Africa, West Asia, and Latin America. Specializing in bespoke group and individual travel, their itineraries are comprised of luxury, ultra-customization, experiential journeys, and cultural adventures that bring destinations to life in unforgettable ways.

Slow travel is a grassroots approach that emphasizes sustainability, intentionality, and quality over speed and mass tourism. Slow travelers prioritize taking their time to get to know a place in its entirety – not just the main points of interest but also the culture, people, and everyday life. Unlike traditional mass tourism, slow travel emphasizes spending more time in each destination, experiencing local culture face-to-face. Rather than an effort to “tick off” as many places as possible, the slow traveler instead focuses on getting to know one place deeply Read the rest of this entry »

GUILFORD, CT—February 19, 2025, American Cruise Lines is pleased to announce that American Legend, the newest small ship in the company’s innovative Project Blue series, was officially christened in Key West, Florida last week. The celebration took place while the ship was docked at Mallory Square, just steps from the City’s vibrant town center. American Legend was visiting Key West along one of the company’s popular 8-Day Florida Gulf Coast & Keys cruises, which sail roundtrip from St. Petersburg, Florida. American’s new Florida itineraries are the only cruises exploring the Sunshine State that offer guests the exclusive opportunity to sail the region while remaining fully domestic, similar to the Line’s U.S. River cruises. Read the rest of this entry »

Romance Travel Forum, an exclusive B2B event focused on destination weddings, honeymoons, and other romantic occasions celebrated with travel, recently concluded with outstanding reviews, and strong optimism for increased business amongst participants.  Produced by Travel Show Marketing Group (TravelSMG), an independent event organizer catering to the Travel Advisor market, this exclusive event was held at the Secrets Moxché Playa Del Carmen resort in Mexico from June  25 – 29.  The sold-out 2023 edition was Read the rest of this entry »