Dear All,

We are ending the year of 2021 with many blessings!

We can count our falls as a way to learn and grow, and for all our victories, we should think how blessed we are.

We’ve had a whole year to get together and celebrate birthdays, even without blowing out the candles on the birthday cake. A whole entire year of going back to some kind of life, where you could go out to eat, travel, get together with people, exercise, do as many things as you did pre-COVID, and feel sort of normal.

Now, for a moment, let’s stop and think what has made us more resilient, what we have learned about ourselves and how much we’ve grown this year.

Can’t we all say that since COVID, the minutiae that used to bother us are now just little annoyances? Can’t we all say that life has much more meaning, so we want to spend more time with people who make us feel good and not waste our time trying to please everyone?

Can’t we all agree that money comes and goes, but kindness is the real deal?

2022 is at our door and we need even more understanding, more kindness, and to care more for each other. Let’s try to judge less and help more. Let’s try to give more and take less. Let’s try to agree to disagree instead of show “who is ‘mas macho.’”  Let’s try to forgive more for our own sakes.

I wish you all a beautiful 2022, where you can feel blessed, happy and safely hugged!

Cheers!

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Dear TA’s,

I am writing this blog from a beautiful beach in Florida where the temperature has reached 80F and the breeze is making the day even nicer. Yes, the sand is warm and looking at the water makes me feel all my stress go away. I ask myself if I could live like this. Why not?

When we arrived from the airport and rented a car to come to this beautiful hotel on the beach, we saw many cruises parked at the port. It has been a little over 2 years since I’ve been on a cruise, and I could feel my body going through bad withdrawals! For the first time, my body and brain both reacted to my cruise lover addiction – and I feel I desperately need to go to one.

We are already booking cruises for 2022. Unfortunately, I have more time than my husband to travel. I love company when I travel, so I will soon post my cruises and invite my FRIENDS (from Facebook and from other places) to join me and party. Let’s celebrate life! Since I haven’t booked all my trips yet, I am welcoming suggestions. I am not soooo picky, but it must be a nice cruise, preferably on the Caribbean side. I am not available April 10, 24; Memorial Day, and June 1-15, and the end of August (all weddings I have already RSVPed for!) Go ahead and use your CLIA knowledge and invite more girls to make it even more fun.

I can’t wait to meet you, especially some of you who I feel I already know so well through Facebook where we’ve already built a friendship. Life is what we build, and it is happier and more enjoyable the more we travel and the more we get together to celebrate it. Life is most beautiful on the Caribbean side!

Cheers to life, travel and friendship!

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Facebook @travelwithrosana

Instagram @travelwithrosana

Blogs @ http://www.travelwithrosana.com

Dear TA’s,

For the last 4 months I have had problems with my left foot. It first started with both feet having serious plantar fasciitis. I went to a podiatrist and he suggested orthotics, special tennis shoes, and physical therapy. The right foot got much better but unfortunately the left one got a tear on the fascia and put me in a boot for over 2 months.

I promise that I will never take walking for granted again. Before, I used to power walk between 8-10 miles a day. Now I have just started again with baby steps.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I started to think more about seniors traveling. How to travel when you slow down? Who specializes in senior travel? How much has senior travel increased, and how safe is travel for seniors?

We are now in Fort Lauderdale where many cruises depart. I have always seen many seniors taking cruises during this time of the year to the Caribbean, a very popular destination for November through January.

I have gotten some requests to speak to groups of seniors about traveling. Honestly, I don’t think I am an expert in senior travel. I believe cruises are still the safest, and booking groups is the most profitable. If you have experience in senior travel or want to learn more about group travel for seniors, I highly recommend this as a profitable area for travel advisors. Talk to me about places and groups where you can show your expertise and get more business from there.

As always, I am cheering for you!

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

 

Dear TAs,

In my opinion, your “Welcome Back” email is the best tool you have towards client retention and self-promotion. A well written and precisely timed “Welcome Back” email from you is the key.

Let’s review the precise time to send it first:

If you send your email too early, when most folks are still opening a bunch of emails received while they were away, your email could be mistaken as junk mail or something they got from you during their trip, so it is not important anymore.

But, if you take too long to send it, it loses the main goal of client retention and becomes one more piece of junk to deal with in their everyday life.

All people deal with their email differently; some are collectors, they don’t rush to read them, especially during vacation. Others are kind of OCD about email, even the inbox on their phone needs to show zero, so whenever they find Wi-Fi they read and clean out the junk.

So, the big question is when is not too late but also not too early? I have a rule of 10 days.

Let the collector catch up, and the OCD relax –  and if either group of people had any stopover before coming home, or any bad experiences during their flight  such as a flight delay, a person kicking their seat, or nowadays, someone not wanting to wear a mask (anything that could make the trip a little unpleasant), you don’t want to be the target of their frustration since it had nothing to do with your planning!

Now in terms of what to say in the body of your “Welcome Home” email:

Let’s remember that there are people who are givers, and others who are takers. From the givers, you can expect a thank you letter as soon as they come back, saying how wonderful you are and that they will tell their friends and families about you.

From the takers, expect a letter of complaint as soon as they come back, asking for a refund or a compensation for their troubles, or they will tell ALL their friends and families how awful you are.

Now that we have taken care of the givers and takers, let’s concentrate on the other types of clients. These are the ones who will receive your “Welcome Home” email. In my opinion, don’t ask any questions, don’t ask them to give you feedback, if they wanted to, they would belong in one of the other groups. Also don’t push them so hard that they eventually become eventually a complainer. Instead, tell them how much you enjoyed creating their dream vacation and can’t wait to do it again.  If you want, you can give them a gift certificate for their next vacation if they call you by certain date, or choose a vacation of a certain value, etc.

The shortest and sweetest email you can send will be the most successful one. If you are working with a large group, make sure you write an email to every single member, no cc’ing or bcc to anyone. Treat each person as they deserve to be treated, by giving them individual attention. This is very important, just like a thank you note after a nice gift!

Cheering for you as always!

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