Amsterdam — It’s always fun to usher in springtime with a Tulip Time cruise to Europe. And there’s something extra special about being on the very first sailing of river cruise season, as my husband and I were, with a group of top travel advisors aboard the Avalon Panorama in Amsterdam.

Off a red-eye that landed at 6 a.m., we arrived in time to watch the Panorama glide up the river and into the harbor in the early morning light. We were the first couple onboard the newly refurbished ship, a charter by Oasis Travel Network for its annual Member Appreciation Cruise. Instead of having to wait for the previous group cruisers to disembark, we boarded at 9:30. By 10:00, we were sound asleep in our stateroom Read the rest of this entry »

Sailing for a week with 500 or so travel advisors and partners for the KHM Group Crystal Awards Cruise, I heard a lot of presentations onboard Celebrity Reflection last month. And a surprising number of them shared the same advice for travel advisors in 2024. Whether you are a new advisor or a Crystal Award winner or even a supplier, I heard over and over again, the key to success in this busiest of years is to zero in on your top customers Read the rest of this entry »

Second in a series on the influx of new travel advisors in the industry. Check out part one here.

Justin Hinkle has spent more than a decade dreaming of owning his own business. Despite having an MBA, a Master of Science in Systems Engineering and a corporate job as a systems engineer for a ballistic missile defense system, he was searching for something more meaningful, something that put him in charge of his own destiny, something that better fit his personality. And something that incorporates his absolute favorite thing to do, travel Read the rest of this entry »

First in a series on the influx of untrained newcomers to the industry

“I am looking to join a host agency and feeling a bit overwhelmed,” reads a recent Facebook post. “I am looking for a smaller agency that is personable, honest, and helps you reach your goals. That is either low-cost or free. Sells cruise lines as well as Disney, all-inclusives, and more. Offers CLIA. High commission split and no requirements on how much you sell.” Signed, Anonymous.

We’ve all seen posts like that and cringed. And last week, Angela Hughes addressed it in an open letter to the industry—and to those looking to enter it—that I thought was worth sharing Read the rest of this entry »

New York, NY. “We’re in the renaissance of the travel advisor in the distribution channel, driven by the general public,” Travel Leaders Group president John Lovell told a group of trade reporters last week.

Sure, sure, you are so busy that you just have no time to even think about marketing. Yet, marketing is the foundation on which all businesses rely. Smart travel advisors with whom we spoke are blocking out time on their schedules to do some outreach, finding new ways to connect, and turning to SEO algorithms and Pinterest to “meet clients where they are.” Read the rest of this entry »

(Part 2 of 2. For two more great ideas, see Nine Great Ideas for 2024: Travel Advisors Share New Agendas for the New Year | Travel Research Online. I know that’s 10 in all, I’ve added one more since last week!)

It’s going to be a busy year, travel advisors say. While for some the focus is on building their client base, making it more profitable, or marketing to new customers, others say their biggest challenge in 2024 is time management.

At Cruise Planners-The Zeneri Team, Melissa Shanks is looking more to grow her high-end customer base through a luxury travel club she is organizing with two of her associates Read the rest of this entry »

We got so many great stories, we’ve divided this article into two! Read part 1 here.

You know it’s going to be a great year when a story about what’s new ends up being about how to cope with all the business coming our way.

On the drawing board for 2024, many travel advisors report, are strategies to focus on high-end clients; hire assistants; host more groups; charge fees—or raise them. Some are taking a step into new technologies; others are building new kinds of road maps and vision boards to keep track of where they are Read the rest of this entry »

Scott Austin had been with his host agency for only six months when things started to go wrong. A former hospital CFO, he signed up with Pinnacle Travel in 2022, and immediately immersed himself in learning about the industry first-hand. He traveled extensively with Pinnacle owner Annaliza Proctor to places like Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, and quickly came to consider her a “very, very good friend.”

When his first commission check failed to appear, he let it be. The second time, though, he called the supplier—and was told they had sent the money to Pinnacle 45 days earlier Read the rest of this entry »

It was a Latin-style celebration in Miami last week, as travel partners, travel press and the greater Norwegian Cruise Line family—including Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. president and CEO Harry Sommer, NCL CEO David Herrera and new SVP of North America Sales John Chernesky, who joined the team in April—gathered for the official christening of Norwegian Viva.

‘Tis the season to give thanks for family, friends and clients—and to show our appreciation by sending them a gift. So we’ve put together some suggestions of some the favorite things of our own staff and our travel advisor readers.

Happy gifting, happy getting, and happy traveling to all.

I’ll start with my personal favorite this past month, as I flew three times from 90-degree weather in the Caribbean to the 50s in New York: a soft, storable and eco-friendly jacket. My Jack Wolfskin Pack and Go jacket, specifically designed for travelers, is made of waterproof, windproof and 100% recycled polyester Read the rest of this entry »

Brad Tolkin is a guy who watches the cycles in the travel industry, always on the lookout for those seismic moments that may rock the boat of success for his company and the travel advisors affiliated with it. His take on 2024 for travel advisors? “Buckle up and go get ‘em,” he says. “It’s going to be a busy year.”

Indeed, Tolkin told the 1,000 attendees at the Dream Vacations/CruiseOne annual conference last week, “today we are witnessing another tremendous seismic moment,” the result of “the tailwind the pandemic has left us, plus the ability to work from anywhere, and the acceptance of this from employers. And this genie is never going back into the bottle.” Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a record-breaking year in the travel industry—but as 2023 nears an end, travel advisors who sell the Middle East are wondering about the possible fallout of the Israel/Hamas War. Some already are feeling the pinch as suppliers shift itineraries, customers try unsuccessfully to cancel—and travel advisors and their commissions are caught in the middle. Again.

“I have been fighting with Regent since they announced my clients would not be going to Israel and Egypt—which was the whole reason for their trip—and put Greece in its place,” says Samantha Hamilton at Ultimate Vacations. “My clients have already been to Greece and have no desire to go back Read the rest of this entry »

It’s got mountains and oceans, coral reefs and rain forests, mud baths and sulphur springs, and a drive-in volcano. There are affordable hotels with amazing views and well-known hospitality names like Sandals and Zoetry that hug the mountains and rest in the rainforests. While the weather is hot and the towns a little crowded, visitors will find an awful lot to love here—including “the most beautiful hotel room” and “the most beautiful spa” in the world. It’s easy to see why the French and the British fought over this island 14 times. Whether you are looking for the ultimate in privacy and luxury or an affordable, beautiful, romantic and flower-filled Caribbean getaway, you likely can find it on St. Lucia.

If you’ve been reading my column for any amount of time, I trust you know my goal is always to help the travel industry in general—and travel advisors in particular. To that end, I always try my very hardest to never say anything negative about a travel advisor. But on very rare occasions, the interests of a single TA and those of the industry conflict, and I have to make the hard choice to call them out.

This is one of those times. Read the rest of this entry »

In one of the most beautiful venues I’ve been to recently for a travel event, the Los Cabos Tourism Board last week launched a new promotion designed to “reinvent itself as a holistic wellness-forward destination and Mexico’s top destination for luxury wellness travel.”

On the 38th floor of the new Virgin Hotels in Manhattan, with a glorious sunset as a backdrop, the event emphasized the “personal fulfillment and overall wellness” that is possible in Los Cabos, thanks to its spas, gastronomy, sustainability, culture, community and hospitality.

With almost $2 million in sales within the first year of his travel business, Rick Ables feels like he “has the Avoya system down”—and he’s ready to move on.

His career in travel started when he was sitting in the hospital with a child on chemo. During that time he talked with a nurse about travel, and then about selling travel, and then about how the nurse was selling travel on the side through Avoya Travel. He was hooked.

For the past year, the proud owner of Nimble Travel LLC in Lindon, Utah, has been building his business almost entirely through four key suppliers—AmaWaterways, Oceania, Collette, and Globus/Avalon—and mostly with Avoya leads, on which he earns the standard 30% Avoya commission Read the rest of this entry »

What’s a cruise line executive to do when sales are soaring, ships are full, and there’s just not much capacity left on existing itineraries? Well, if you’re Rudi Schreiner, AmaWaterways’ co-founder and godfather of river cruising, you just draw on your 50 years of experience and create new destinations and make your seasons longer.

Indeed, river cruising is hotter than ever—even in colder weather, the AmaWaterways co-owner believes. To keep up with the demand, AmaWaterways is extending a number of itineraries into new dates and new seasons—beginning on the Danube and Rhine rivers in February, 2024.

I’m on a press trip on the AmaSonata, sailing the beautiful (but not blue) Danube. But Jim Augerinos told me he’s at the Signature Travel Network Owners Meeting, and would love to do an interview about Maui, from Maui, I said, let’s do it next week.

Jim said the need is immediate, and the people of Maui can’t wait another week. So I asked him if he would write something up and send it along. Here’s Jimmy’s moving reply: Read the rest of this entry »

A good politician is a listener, a networker, an organizer—and doesn’t that sound just like a good travel advisor? So perhaps it’s no surprise that, as an election year nears, some travel advisors are throwing their hats in the ring and putting their names on the ballot. From Jay Ellenby, who got his political experience at ASTA, to Nikki Miller in the small town of Portage, MI, to Mayor Magda Byrne of Lansdowne, PA, travel professionals are thinking their skills just might translate into this new arena. Read the rest of this entry »

On the Rochester Common in New Hampshire last week, 700 kids turned out for National Night Out, an event designed to build safer communities by “enhancing the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement.” They picked up new backpacks filled with school supplies and books to read, grabbed some barbecue for dinner, and watched a movie under the stars.

Perfectly in keeping with the nature of the event, the Rochester Night Out is a cooperative effort between two travel advisors—a former juvenile delinquent and the police officer who arrested him for petty thievery and drugs when he was 15 years old. Read the rest of this entry »