In honor of National Travel Advisor Day, Wednesday, May 4, 2022, and National Travel Advisor Month, independent travel specialist Avanti Destinations is offering a $25 gift card for each FIT land booking of $5,000 or more made between May 1 and May 31, 2022 for travel any time before December 31, 2022 and paid with at least a deposit on land arrangements by the end of the May. Bookings may be made either online at  https://book.avantidestinations.com or by calling Avanti’s reservation center.

“Our travel advisor partners are the cornerstone of Avanti’s success,” said Paul Barry, Avanti’s chairman. “We want them to know how much we appreciate their hard work.” This offer applies to each booking over the minimum qualifying value. There is no limit to the number of gift cards a travel advisor can earn.

The Portland, Oregon-based wholesale tour operator creates and sells custom-built independent and group travel 365 days a year in Europe, Asia, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America exclusively through travel advisors.

For more details on the National Travel Advisor Day offer, log onto the travel advisor portal https://book.avantidestinations.com or call 1-800-422-5053 to speak with an expert travel specialist.

Since 1981, Avanti Destinations has been selling independent travel products and custom-crafted vacations in Europe, Central and South America, Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The Portland, Oregon-based wholesale tour operator offers a wide range of FIT components to travel advisors only, including air, rail, rental cars, hotels, sightseeing/attractions, transfers and hard-to-find experiential travel options.  Avanti specializes in hand-picked, locally-owned hotels in both large and small cities and in connecting all the pieces of complex, multi-destination itineraries. The company also creates complete packages for custom groups of 15-100 passengers. For more information: https://book.avantidestinations.com.

“Guerrilla Marketing” is all about being smart with your marketing budget by using a lot of elbow grease to make each dollar go farther. If $150 is what you have to work with, you will want to find marketing venues that are tightly focused around your target demographic and then put in the requisite face-time with the prospective clients. The combination of a little bit of money and a whole lot of personality and physical effort will pay off for the travel agent willing to go the extra mile. Read the rest of this entry »

This week, TRO SMITH is paying homage to Jay Conrad Levinson’s “Guerrilla Marketing“, a manual for street-level marketing focused on achieving the maximum impact for the least capital expenditure. With the slim margins of travel consulting, guerilla marketing is particularly well suited for many travel agents. With that said, however, here is a warning about letting your marketing become a “shoestring noose.” Read the rest of this entry »