It’s a great big world out there. As a traveler, can you rely on yourself to
adequately research a new or slightly known destination or way to travel for
you on your own? The internet you
say? It’s a great big internet out there
as well. Do you think the average travel
agent knows everything about everywhere and every way of getting around? If you thought NO, you are absolutely
correct!!!
~ AS POTENTIAL TRAVELERS CONTINUE TO BE OVERWHELMED WITH AN
ABUNDANCE OF INFORMATION ONLINE, THERE’S BEEN A STEADY INCREASE IN TRAVELERS
TURNING TO TRAVEL AGENTS WHO CAN HELP THEM WADE THROUGH EVERYTHING AND ACT AS A
TRUSTED AND EXPERT ADVISOR, AGENTS WHO SPECIALIZE IN SPECIFIC KINDS OF TRAVEL
~ Excerpt from a recent
Travel Weekly article
As is the case in many professions, specialization makes
sense. Doctors, Lawyers, Architects,
Chefs, Artists, Contractors, etc. etc., your viewpoint towards specialization
should also apply to your travel planning; selecting a travel professional that
truly is a specialized professional and knows
the type of travel that you are interested in. Luxury vs. Budget, Cruising vs. Camping,
European vs. African, etc.
Travel agents are able to look into any type of travel you
desire, to any destination in the world, as the resources they utilize tap into
many ways to do so. Travel vendors
(Cruise Lines, Tour Operators, Resort Chains, Tourism Bureaus, etc) provide
easily accessible links for agents to book travel within their organization,
providing concise information to quickly educate an agent who may not be
familiar with their product / service / destination. This is serving the vendor’s best interest,
and those of the travel agent which is to make a sale and generate
revenue. Revenue from you of
course.
Most travel agents do a fair to good job of gathering enough
data to be informative and helpful enough to assist you with your decision
making, and subsequently with some decent advice on how to best enjoy your
vacation. As a consumer, you do have a
choice. Just as you would take your
children to a Pediatrician instead of a General Practitioner more than likely,
wouldn’t you want to have a knowledgeable professional who specializes in the
type of vacation you are planning assist you?
~ "SPECIALIZATION IS GOING TO BECOME MORE IMPORTANT
EVERY DAY, EVERY YEAR, EVERY WEEK BECAUSE THE CONSUMER DOESN'T BELIEVE YOU CAN
BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. PEOPLE ARE
PREPARED TO PAY PREMIUMS FOR THOSE AGENTS WHO GET THEIR ARMS AROUND VERY, VERY
SPECIFIC TOPICS." ~ Recent quote from Larry Pimentel, President
& CEO, Azamara Club Cruises
It certainly makes perfect sense, which will help to ensure
that the thousands of dollars you are spending on a vacation will get you what
you are looking for. A knowledgeable
travel professional who specializes in the type of vacation you desire is
increasingly important, especially
given the vast amount of information available to consumers on the internet.
A story to share; a lady come into my agency who said she
and several friends decided to go on a “girls vacation” somewhere for about a
week. They all met at her place with
their laptops, opened them up around the table and started to dig in. About 4 hours later they were no closer to
any kind of decision and were actually a bit dazed by all the choices they
needed to wade through to see if their parameters and desires would be
met. She made the decision to bring
their parameters to an experienced agent and ask for advice and
assistance. As a long-time professional
agent I assessed their needs and thought of several options that I was already very familiar with which
would meet all of their desires, looked into pricing and availability, checked
with some good contacts at the vendors I was suggesting and presented my
findings the next day. These ladies were
overjoyed, loved my suggestions, and after going on their trip thanked me
profusely for setting them up with a trip that they “never would have been able
to do on their own”…
Score: Travel
Professional 1 Uninformed Consumer 0
~ WE FULLY BELIEVE THE INTERNET IS AN EXCELLENT SOURCE FOR PRELIMINARY
INFORMATION, IDEA GATHERING AND LEARNING ABOUT DESTINATIONS OR MODES OF
TRAVELING THERE. WE SUGGEST YOU DO SO
AND THEN TAKE YOUR IDEAS TO AN EXPERIENCED TRAVEL PROFESSIONAL WHO SPECIALIZES
IN THAT AREA OR TYPE OF TRAVEL TO FURTHER FINE-TUNE YOUR VACATION PLANNING WITH
KNOWLEDGEABLE, PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE THAT HAS BEEN LEARNED OVER MANY YEARS
WHICH IS A VALUABLE BENEFIT TO YOU, DOING WONDERS TO ENSURE YOUR FULL ENJOYMENT
~
It is not always so straightforward to determine the
legitimacy of an agent’s credentials. Reputable
agencies may have new, inexperienced agents recently placed, especially large
ones. I saw this a couple times as I was
learning the industry. Once, working at
a very large cruise-only agency, over half of my training class of 15 new hires
had not yet even been on a cruise. I
understand and respect that one needs to start somewhere. I already had about 2 dozen past cruises by
then and cringed when I heard how these new agents discussed cruises. One would hope
that they would be honest with a client if asked about their experience,
instead of telling them what they would want to hear in order to make the
sale. Another time, at a large travel
organization I worked alongside a new International Agent who had been a
domestic agent for over ten years.
Virtually no additional training, and here she was next to me faking it. When a client asked about something she
didn’t know, she would get loud, use hand gestures and provide vague ambiguous
answers such as “it’s spiffy” and “you’re going to love it”. Be careful, if you see this behavior,
run! After making an international
flight reservation from Chicago to Charlotte NC and on to Turks & Caicos,
she asked me; “they have to do that customs stuff when they land in Charlotte,
right?” Uggh….
~ SOCIAL MEDIA MIGHT PRESENT A “PICTURE” OF THE AGENT THAT
THEY WISH TO PRESENT TO CLIENTS. I
SUGGEST LOOKING UP THE LINKEDIN PROFILE OF ANY PROFESSIONAL (TRAVEL OR
OTHERWISE) WHEN YOU ARE ABOUT TO DO BUSINESS WITH THAT PERSON AND ENTRUST
THOUSANDS OF YOUR HARD-EARNED DOLLARS AND YOUR DREAMS & DESIRES. LINKEDIN PROFILES ARE TYPICALLY
CHRONOLOGICALLY AMASSED OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, A PROFESSIONAL REFERENCE
THAT CAN BE CHECKED AND VERIFIED, RARELY SOMETHING THAT IS FABRICATED. ~
GO Enterprises believes in specialization, and with decades
of experience the owner along with a handful of trusted assistants with their
own specialization focus, we promise to provide our clients with knowledgeable,
dependable and informative service.
To find out more check out: www.GO-Enterprises.International
To find out more check out: www.GO-Enterprises.International
Happy travels!