Dear Travel Agents/Advisors,

I have a question for you. How do you deal with prospective clients who complain about high prices, and when you offer them an affordable trip, they think there is something not kosher about it?

I can see that many behaviors have changed since the internet began. Companies can now hide behind a big and fancy website. Before the internet, big companies were brick and mortar and had employees with many years in the business. After dot coms came to be, any company with a very impressive website can “suggest” to prospective clients that they have different departments, many locations, and so forth. Many people have lost money and trips because of these pseudo-scam companies.

Meanwhile, some companies have taken advantage of the tourism industry and invested heavily in advertising. They are not as focused on the product, but more on the final price; cutting the travel agent out and offering the customer a product without service, at the click of a button. There are reputable companies with no customer service and total automation, because after all, people, especially good and well-trained staff, cost money.

Nowadays, more and more travelers want customer service and tour companies are willing to pay commissions without increasing their prices to attract travel advisors/agents to sell their products. Actually, they are even willing to lower their prices to travel agents so they can sell to that market (the clients who come ready and are already prepared and “pampered” by the travel agents.)

Now, I’ll go back to the question at the beginning of this blog. Why do some prospective clients complain about prices and then when a travel agent offers an affordable option, do they feel suspicious?

Go figure!

Cheers!

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Dear Travel Agents/Advisors,

I want to talk a bit more about Napa Valley and the surrounding areas. Napa is a well-known place for excellent California wine, but I want to make sure that people also understand this destination for its other activities and tastes.

First of all, even as a Christmas and New Year’s destination, the weather is in the 60s; this year it got to 68F with only half a day of rain (Sunday the 29^th, after 1pm until very late night).

My family is into exercise and hiking, and this is a perfect place for us. The Westin Verasa Napa has a great location in downtown Napa with a very nice gym including a Peloton (for the aficionados).  For runners, the concierge of the hotel can provide different routes depending on the desired distance.

For hiking, we got incredible options, from the easy to hard, from pavement to rocky, and one very close to our hotel.  Skyline Wilderness Park is only 2.5 miles from downtown Napa and offers different options, with a total of 25 miles of trails. Some are easier and some are very steep. We spent a couple of hours hiking there and worked up a good appetite for lunch at Oxbow Public Market. This is a must-go place for excellent food, fantastic olive oils and balsamic vinegars with different infusions. The Olive Press is my favorite place. I love their fig balsamic vinegar and bought 4 gallons of it for my salads and roasted vegetables. I usually joke that I am allowed to drink this delicious vinegar before 5pm, and after that I reach for my favorite Cabernet, LOL!

For those who enjoy olive oil, I really recommend going to an olive oil tasting – it is very fun. Many places do not offer bread but teach you how to taste it by drinking a small portion. It is a great learning experience, and they don’t card you!

Early in the morning you can see lots of hot-air balloons in the sky. Honestly, I haven’t tried them because I am afraid of balloon rides, but for those brave enough, I bet it is a great experience.

Visit Santa Helena, Sonoma, and Yountville, these are beautiful towns with so much charm. Walk around and enjoy a coffee shop or even a great meal, they even offer Michelin restaurants for all tastes (reservations in advance are a must).

Make sure to visit Napa and Sonoma county as a fun destination. As much as I love traveling abroad, you can catch me there at least 3 times a year!

Cheers!

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Dear Travel Agents/Advisors,

Happy New Year!

I believe that the subject of this blog post is nothing new in our industry, or in any industry, but every time I see or experience a situation like this, I like to emphasize it, to make sure that everyone hears about it, learns from it, and tries to prevent it in their own business.

Those who follow my posts and blogs know how much I love wine and going to California wineries. To celebrate this New Year, like in other years, we spent time in Napa Valley. My husband and I love going to different wineries and learning as much as we can about wine. We are becoming good connoisseurs of wine and like learning about what we enjoy (we’re far from being experts or wine snobs, LOL!) We’ve built a good collection and enjoy drinking it with good friends and family.

When planning our trip to Napa we also plan the wineries we are going to visit. We prefer to go to boutique wineries where they have smaller production, and the people who talk to us are not salespeople, but wine experts. We had an awesome experience at Bremer Family Winery (by appointment only), Shadybrook State Winery (where we were lucky to be invited). We got such a treat from learning so much and the wine was incredibly delicious. It was the highlight of our trip.

We also had a very pleasant surprise with excellent service from bigger wineries like Round Pond, Peju, Caymus and Paraduxx. Because the service by the salespeople was so friendly, we ended up purchasing even more wine than we expected to buy, and look forward to recommending the experience to friends, family and even write about it on my blog.

However, we definitely had a disappointing experience as well. I want to make sure to mention this because it all had to do with service. Maybe their wine is even good. Maybe the owner does not even have a clue. But when I called Quintessa for a tasting, the person who answered their phones had the biggest chip on her shoulder! She told me that a tasting was $150 per person (most places are $45), no sharing tastings (most places don’t have a problem with that; one cup shared between two people, for those who do not want to drink so much, but want to taste a little bit – usually not heavy drinkers), and no discount on the tasting in exchange for purchasing (most wineries comp the price of the tasting after a certain amount of spending on the purchase of wine).

With over 400 wineries in Napa alone, we don’t need this kind of attitude from someone who doesn’t know us at all. We are not into drinking in Napa, we appreciate and collect good wines to share with people we love. We are into buying.

Companies who have bad service don’t care about building clientele. Most survive by volume. I believe in small, boutique service, and companies that surprise prospective clients with excellence in friendliness. How about you?

Cheers to a great 2020!

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