Like so many travel advisors, Mitch Krayton has been working hard for years as a travel advisor—and especially so since Covid. But this year, he swears, he’s going to take a little time for himself. “I’m focusing on small groups, under 15,” he says. “I’m going to the places on my personal bucket list—to Patagonia and Greece—and saying, ‘Hey, come along with me.’  I’m not the tour leader, I’m just there to be with my friends, and have my bucket list checked off when I get back.”

He is surely not alone. Across the industry—but especially among those who have been in the business for a long time—the travel bug is biting Read the rest of this entry »

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico — The mornings are cool and the afternoons are hot. The beach is empty and beautiful and free of seaweed. The signature bougainvillea is coming into fiery bloom against the poinsettia and the Christmas tree. And the food is nothing like you would expect at an all-inclusive in Mexico.

In short, there’s no better time to be in Puerto Vallarta in general, and at a Grand Velas resort in particular, than the weeks after Thanksgiving and before the Christmas rush. At just about 30% capacity and perfect 82-degree temperatures, the three properties here are friendlier than ever, their surf more inviting, their pricing more reasonable.

“Out of successful partnerships come wonderful friendships,” says AmaWaterways EVP Kristin Karst—and many travel advisors would agree that their relationships with her go a step beyond just business. So when I sat down to chat with Karst about how travel advisors might build relationships with her and the river cruise company she co-founded, neither of us was surprised when Mara Hargarther stopped by to give her a hug. Soon she joined us in a three-way conversation about how travel advisors and suppliers can best work together. Read the rest of this entry »

It was a travel writer’s dream: sailing with 800 Dream Vacations franchisees and a slew of top travel executives. And while I have lots of great stories to tell about the travel advisors, I’m going to first share some advice on selling travel from four amazing women who spent the week with us: our hostess, Celebrity’s Katina Athanasiou; Vicki Freed, of sister company Royal Caribbean; Princess’s Carmen Roig, who will host the conference next year; and Debbie Fiorino of Dream Vacation/Dream Vacations parent World Travel Holdings

Rather than waste space and your time, I’ll just share some of what each one told me.

We in the travel industry know better than anyone that storm clouds often bring happy endings—and this year is full of them. From ships large and small, mega and charter, to all-inclusive resorts and ultra-luxury destinations of every ilk, at home and abroad and in places customers never before ventured, 2024 really has been that year we all dreamed of during The Long Pause. And indeed, at the annual conferences of Signature Travel Network in Las Vegas and Dream Vacations/Cruise One on Celebrity Ascent, I heard story after story of how that break gave travel advisors and suppliers a little respite that many used to improve their knowledge base, to plan for the future, and to build a foundation that served them well when the industry finally caught the ball and ran with it. (More on those stories in a future column.)

I am bumping the column I had written for this week because I just can’t wait to share this one.

I was just about to upload an interesting one, I think, about the Dream Vacations/CruiseOne annual conference held on Celebrity Ascent the week before Thanksgiving. It’s all ready to go, and I’m on deadline today. But just as I was about to enter it into the TRO system, I listened to a noon webinar by Kha Ly, the AI guru who caused such a stir at the Signature conference in Las Vegas just the week before Dream Vacations.

And I had to write that up and file it right this minute. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve always loved learning something new. So for me, the best part of my job is attending different annual conferences, hearing many different smart executives and interesting guest speakers, and chatting with travel advisors who are following their passion with an amazing assortment of unique business models. This month, with back-to-back Signature Travel Network at the Venetian in Vegas and Dream Vacations/Cruise One on Celebrity Ascent in the Caribbean, I have so many stories to tell that I honestly don’t know where to start.

There’s no better gift than the gift of travel; give me a ticket to anywhere and I’m in. But if your budget doesn’t quite stretch that far, here are a few suggestions for holiday gifts that incorporate a vision of faraway places.

I love a good idea for growing your travel business—and this week I came across two. I was doing what I like to do best, talking to smart travel advisors, this time at the Signature annual conference in Las Vegas. I’m working on a story about what advisors are planning to do differently in 2025, so I’ve been asking attendees here what they’re up to.

I’ll include a few of those stories in a future column. But the one I heard from Amy Westerman and Dave Hoffman, of The Curated Travel Collection, was so good it deserves a story all its own. And the tips on growing your Facebook ranking made me want to marry AI guru Kha Ly so I could have his tech support 24 x 7.

Like all the best stories, Amy and Dave’s begins in a bar, where Amy got to chatting and “swapping stories” with another customer, as travel advisors are wont to do Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve never met a cruise I didn’t like. On a yacht that holds 35 or a megaship with 6,000, shaking across the Drake to Antarctica or drifting through the Caribbean, I’m happy to eat chicken and salad if the pickings are slim, or sit by the pool with a book if there’s nothing to do. As long as there’s sea air, a balcony and a cup of coffee, I’m in.

I was fine with ignoring the mixed reviews I’ve heard and read about MSC, which range from five-star raves to absolute pans, from both travel advisors I trust and posts on social media. I wanted to give MSC a try and see for myself. So we booked a quick five-night Caribbean trip out of Port Canaveral and brought along a couple of friends for a long weekend in the sun.

(Of course, we know there are two sides to every story. This is the “con” side. For the many reasons some travel advisors do choose to sell air, see “Earning an Extra $50K: Travel Advisors Who Sell Air Say It’s Worth the Effort | Travel Research Online.”)

Liability issues. Time wasted. Late night calls. And the new DOT ruling about refunds that takes effect this week just adds one more reason to the litany of why many travel advisors hate to sell airline tickets.

“Selling air? Don’t.” That’s the succinct advice from Rich Greenway, owner of Greenway Travel Group-Dream Vacations. And he is not alone. Read the rest of this entry »

Even in an AI world, competition for really smart, knowledgeable and experienced travel advisors is stiffer than ever—not just among high-end customers but apparently among host agencies as well. At its annual conference last week, Avoya Travel Network announced upgrades to the commissions it will be paying its independent advisors (IAs)—and a $5,000 sign-on bonus to newcomers bringing in a book of business of their own.

Avoya traditionally has paid its advisors 30% of the commission on bookings obtained through its Avoya Live lead program, or 80% on bookings of their personal customers. Last year, it began testing an Elite 100 program that raised commissions with preferred suppliers to 100% on bookings of personal clients. Read the rest of this entry »

Fall is the best season for travel writers, filled with events featuring travel advisors and suppliers offering up great ideas for the new year. I’ve been to a few in the past couple of weeks, in person and online, at beautiful resorts and high-end Manhattan restaurants, with hurricanes blowing or bright fall colors shining in the sunshine. Here’s some of what I learned.

The simplest to attend was Rita Perez’s insightful “Prep for Wave Week” podcast, offering up insider tips on running a travel business. I listened to two.

Be they husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, or sisters and brothers, more and more travel advisors are finding there’s no better new hire than a member of your very own family. When you need a helping hand or a travel buddy—and when you consider a succession plan—many say home is the best place to start looking.

(Heads up: Of course we know there are two sides to every story. This is the “pro” side. Stay tuned next week for the “con.”)

When your niche is entertainment travel and your clients are ultra-high-net-worth, there’s no option but to sell air, says Ted Bradpiece. And he doesn’t really mind. It’s just another call or two a month he has to take late at night or on the weekend—and it pays as much as many travel advisors earn in a year.

Smart travel advisors know which questions to ask, and who to ask them to. But even smarter ones, it seems, attend the kinds of events that teach you answers to questions you didn’t even know you should be asking.

That’s just the kind of conference that Nexion Travel Network hosted this month in New Orleans. It’s possible that the hurricane winds outside brought people closer together but, honestly, I think it’s just the Nexion ethos that had so many smart travel advisors offering so many great tips at CoNexion 2024. Read the rest of this entry »

“A travel advisor who doesn’t travel is like a chef who doesn’t eat,” they say—and the same goes for a travel writer. So despite a family of nervous moms and four kids, every August we schlep our kids and grandkids on a family vacation. We love to have the whole clan together, and it’s always revealing to see things through the perspective of first-timers.

A story on Forbes.com has travel advisors abuzz over an old rule in Mexico travel that many never knew existed: Inbound travelers may bring in one electronic device—but pay a heavy tax if they are caught bringing in two. So if you need a MacBook Pro for work, forget the iPad for watching movies. You could end up coughing up 3,690 Mexican pesos, or about US$190.

Mexico allows tourists to bring in “two cameras or camcorders and camera gear; three cellphones or other wireless devices; one GPS; one electronic organizer; one laptop, notebook, omnibook, or other portable computing device; one portable copier or printer; one CD burner and one portable overhead projector and its accessories duty-free (What objects can I bring in my luggage to Mexico? (sre.gob.mx), but visitors must declare—and pay tax—on items above the limit. Read the rest of this entry »

Third in a series about how travel advisors are planning for the future. For more, see A Tale of Three Succession Plans | Travel Research Online and Succession Planning Has Agency Owners Dreaming of a Different Kind of Life | Travel Research Online

Even after 32 years in the business, Vickie Everhart is not yet ready to retire. But after her father succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease and her mom had a stroke, she got to thinking about what would happen to her business—and her customers—if she should fall ill.

Revelry travel and legacy travel. Silver bullet wellness and mood boarding. XZ beta travel, F-It Lists and Coolcations.

Are you keeping up with the new vocabulary of travel? The voice of luxury is awash in new buzzwords, it seems. And they all are pointing to the same good news. Luxury travel advisors are having a moment; luxury sales are soaring; and the most well-known global luxury consortia, Virtuoso, is feeling the love.

(Second in a three-part series on smart succession plans. For part one, see A Tale of Three Succession Plans | Travel Research Online. Stay tuned for Part 3.)

When you’ve been in the travel business all your life and you’re getting tired of the 60-hour weeks, it’s tempting to just throw up your hands, sell your client list to a friend and say “enough.” But many travel advisors are hoping to do more than that—to keep some cash flow coming in, to leave a legacy for their children Read the rest of this entry »