Dear Travel Agents,

I know you are a travel lover, for sure. You love life and believe in enjoying every minute of it. We definitely have that in common, and I admire you!

Let me share something else about myself. I love wine. I developed this love in my late 40s and my husband and I started to learn as much as we could about wine. We are not wine snobs, but we now appreciate good wine. We live in Los Angeles and belong to 4 winery clubs in Paso Robles and Napa Valley. As much as I love to travel, I also love going to those wineries, and to other ones for wine tastings. Honestly, I get tipsy very easily, so I buy more than I drink, LOL!

Why am I sharing this information? I am not trying to sell you wine, nor impress you with our wine collection, because it is not very big. We don’t save our wines for the future; we bring them out and share with friends and family. In the same way that we enjoy our lives by actively traveling, even our wine is not for the distant future. Life itself is meant to be lived to the fullest every day.

We open each and every bottle of wine, even the more expensive ones, and enjoy them now. Tomorrow is another day. Today is a blessing, why not celebrate it?

Cheers to you my friend!

Follow me at:
Facebook @travelwithrosana
Instagram @travelwithrosana
Blogs @www.travelwithrosana.com

Dear Travel Agents,

I love traveling the world and count every new country, that is what I live for.

Truth be told, I am not a beach person.

I was born in Brazil and everyone believes that as a Brazilian, I love dancing samba and laying on the beach. As a little girl, my skin went from freckles to blisters, making me hate going to the beach. Meanwhile, my mom basted me with suntan lotion, and asked me to go in the water and stay in the sun as much as we could for Vitamin D.

This December my husband and I decided to spend Christmas and New Year’s on a cruise to the Caribbean. It was the best decision we’ve made! We visited 7 islands and had so much fun; from hiking, to visiting the islands, to learning the history, seeing the sights and most important parts of the islands, visiting the waterfalls, and most importantly, meeting the friendly people of the Caribbean.

Tourism is their principal industry and unfortunately, some islands have been severely damaged by hurricanes.

I went also to some beautiful beaches, after slathering myself with tons of 110% sun block and making sure I was under an umbrella. I tried going to the water, it’s so clean, but the water was still on the cool side for me (or maybe, because of my bad traumas as a little girl, LOL!) I was happy with a pina colada and reading a book.

I met wonderful people in this cruise, apparently they’ve been coming to the Caribbean at the same time for years and know each other. There is a party every night, and awesome shows. We came back feeling so relaxed, feeling good for helping the industry, and for giving a little towards rebuilding some of the islands that need it.

We’ve signed up again for next year! Come meet us for Christmas and New Year’s on Celebrity Silhouette for an incredible tour to the Caribbean islands. You will love it!

Follow me at:
Facebook @travelwithrosana
Instagram @travelwithrosana
Blogs @www.travelwithrosana.com

 

 

Dear Travel Agent,

It is the beginning of another year and people are already talking about stress and anxiety. They have New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking or stop enjoying certain kinds of foods. They want to exercise more; but they are all creating more stress instead of relaxing and enjoying the promise of the new year.

Then, they hear about the hormone Cortisol, which is sometimes called the “stress hormone.” That’s because levels of cortisol in the body spike during times of high stress.

Did you know that being in AWE helps decrease this hormone?

It is true! Just admiring a beautiful sunset or sunrise, seeing one of the 7 Wonders of the World, listening to the ocean, feeling the breezes on a sunny beach, being in contact with animals during a safari, admiring a painting at The Louvre, watching the migration in Kenya or Tanzania, being splashed by some water from a waterfall and discovering amazing destinations around the world put us in AWE. This causes our cortisol levels to go down, our tensions relax and we feel better.

I am not a doctor, nor I am trying to give any medical advice. Call your doctor and ask about the “stress hormone” and confirm whether he/she recommends that you travel to an incredible destination and be in AWE to reduce your stress level. A good doctor will tell you to go. Then call your Travel Agent, give them your budget and tell him/her what makes you happy and smile, and a great trip will be planned for you!

Promise that this year, instead of rushing to fulfill a New Year’s resolution, you will be nice to yourself, and be a little selfish, and take care of yourself first.

To a trip of a lifetime in 2019, and to celebrating life this year!  You deserve it!  Cheers!

Follow me at:
Instagram @travelwithrosana
Facebook @travelwithrosana
Blogs @www.travelwithrosana.com

 

Dear Travel Agents,

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2019! How is your business doing? How will your business grow this year?

Allow me to give you some guidance. Some ideas on how to promote yourself to your clients, and prospective ones, just in case you aren’t doing that already.

In a world where everything is shopping and consulting online, even travelers think that they will find a better deal through online search engines, instead of spending time talking to a real person with the title of Travel Agent.

Well, let’s make a list of what a search engine or an online program CANNOT do for a client, or a prospective one:

• Search engines DO NOT CARE for anyone
• Search engines DO NOT HAVE empathy
• Search engines DO NOT RELATE to people’s feeling
• Search engines DO NOT UNDERSTAND how people think, dream, make a bucket list, or that they have expectations
• Search engines DO NOT VALUE a client, or potential one
• Search engines DO NOT PROTECT client’s interests once they are traveling
• Search engines DO NOT ANSWER questions about travel (only the ones already programmed!)
• Search engines DO NOT MAKE SURE clients or prospective ones have travel insurance, vaccines and visas
• Search engines DO NOT KNOW how to best work with budgets and desires
• Search engines DO NOT follow up

Working with a Travel Agent, a client gets everything that they can’t get from a search engine. They get a caring, expert, intelligent, understanding person who will turn their dreams into reality. One that considers fears, insecurities and budget.

A travel agent values the person as a client, a prospective client, as well as the future friends and family they will recommend.

They take care of the needs of the client before, during and after the trip.

Travel agents research the destination and make sure it is a safe place, provide information about Visas, travel insurance, vaccines and even shopping.

The value of the work of a Travel Agent, is something one CANNOT get online. Just as you cannot get a good doctor consultation online, have hair color or cut online, have a manicure or pedicure made online.

Now, if a person only values their trip as much as they do buying a non-refundable garment online; that is probably not a person a Travel Agent should care for.

Thoughts?

Follow me at:
Facebook @ travelwithrosana
Instagram @travelwithrosana
Blogs @ http://www.travelwithrosana.com