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!

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Dear Travel Agents/Advisors,

On the last day of 2019, most of us are thinking about what we can improve on in 2020. Some are planning on making some New Year’s resolutions, others like me are dreaming about new places to visit in the next year. A lot of travel entrepreneurs are also counting on making their businesses better and stronger, and figuring out how they can promote themselves to get more clients.

Here is my suggestion for 2020. It is something that involves all of the above, with the addition of “Doing Good.”  Are you ready to hear this?  I promise it is simpler than you expect and much easier than a New Year’s resolution. The more you promote this idea, the more prospective, great clients you will get to think that you are awesome!

I have been doing this for many years. It is easy and fun! When I travel, I bring with me my older (in very good condition) tennis shoes and shoes. I also purchase t-shirts from Target, Walmart and Costco (very colorful and inexpensive). At the end of the trip (or even during the trip) I leave them behind, with a note that they are intended to be given to those who need them.

I’ve learned that even on cruise ships, some people who work there collect these “treasures” and send them to third world countries to help those in need.

When traveling, especially to third-world countries, check with the tour operator to see if they can recommend a church or school where they accept donations. Ask people to bring along school supplies or anything else they are willing to donate in their suitcases.

These are great acts of love, and at the same time, the traveler is making space to bring home souvenirs and presents in their luggage. I am able to travel on all my land tours with only a carry-on by “doing good.” I end up having enough space by leaving my old “treasures” behind, and bringing awesome memories back, and I feel good!

It is such a simple act, but if you multiply the number of travelers per year by the number of shoes, pants, shirts and everything else, can you imagine how much good we can do?

Just remember to leave a note, otherwise hotels and cruises might put your “treasures” in lost and found until you complain.

Here’s to an awesome 2020 of doing good and feeling even better!

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Dear Travel Agents/Advisors,

When helping clients to prepare for their trips, how much of your own common sense do you trust, how often do you check google, and/or when do you ask your tour operator/tour provider questions?

My question comes after working with different sizes and backgrounds of groups for so many years and noticing that they love to question everything. They ask the most basic to the most intriguing and intrinsic questions.

In the beginning, and honestly, based on my own insecurities, I turned in all of the groups questions to my providers. Over time, I realized that they were, for lack of another word, too “lazy” to research any kind of question, or giving them the benefit of the doubt, “insecure“ and asked questions such as what  kind of luggage to take to a country like France?

What is the expectation of an answer a travel agent could possibly give? To tell the client a brand we suggest, despite the budget or taste of the client? Using common sense, luggage is luggage; we can recommend a Rimowa but it is very expensive, and some people prefer soft luggage rather than hard and not expandable.

Others ask how much a bottle of water costs in South Africa, for example. Really? What size of bottle? Are you planning to buy inside the hotel or in a shop like a 7/11? Are we talking about fancy brands of water or flat, regular, good water?

How many questions can we be subjected to and believe the client is really serious? When is it time to introduce the client to google, or suggest they use their own common sense? When are we not crossing a line and being taken as “rude” by setting limits?

I guess I’ve got more questions than answers on this subject. I think probably checking your own common sense is a good idea before trying to confirm what is the right answer. Try to avoid feeling abused or abusing the provider, and letting them think WE don’t know anything.

Thank you for reading my blogs. I hope I can inspire you, make you think about different things, and I even look to you to give me some answers.

It is December 24th and I am so blessed to have you in my life! Thank you for being on this blessed journey together with me.

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Dear Travel Agents/Advisors,

Have you ever thought about how much the world has grown in the last 60 or 70 years? In 1950 there were 89 countries in the world. In 1960 it grew to 145 and now, almost 2020, there are 193 counties recognized by UN, and even 197 by some definitions.

My point in this is to say that even though not ALL are countries where travel is recommended, we have so many more choices than our parents had. Also, traveling in the 60s was more expensive and more difficult compared to nowadays (so many series on Netflix or in movies everywhere love to show how elegant it was to fly in those days).

Many people don’t stop and think about how much easier, flexible and affordable travel has become, because now it is so much part of our lives; basically, anyone can travel.

Through the years, many countries we once could not even imagine visiting have become places we would gladly visit. Also, unfortunately, a few countries that were once so wonderful to visit, are now not safe. For example, I used to sell Margarita Island in Venezuela. It never made it off my bucket list.  Now I regret it didn’t, I don’t know when it will again be a safe country to visit.

Cuba, on the another hand, made my bucket list as soon as it was possible to visit.  I went by a cruise visiting only Cuba, and it was very interesting. I feel very fortunate to had visited there.

I collect memories. I know there are too many choices; so many more countries to choose now than in my parents’ times. My goal continues to be visiting 120 different countries in the world. It is a great task since I fall in love with many countries and visiting only one is not enough. I have been to many countries more than once, (but I count them only once in my 120 goal!).

My husband knows me well, every time he wants to give me a gift, he books a trip for us. We have trips booked through November 2021. Our life is planned around our trips and not the other way around. We talk, dream, think and breathe trips, and all our family and friends know that.

To beautiful memories, since that is all we can take with us in this life! Amen!

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Dear Travel Agents/Advisors:

We all have stories about clients who drove us insane with impossible requests, demanding so much that we were ready to scream at them (but we didn’t). These are the clients that make us forget for a moment how many nice ones are out there, who appreciate our services.

How many of us took it personally, and believed that we were not good enough, or later thought about something else we should have said to them, or given them a different answer.

I’ve had that experience many times before, and when the phone rang, just the thought of hearing that client’s voice would made my stomach turn.

Honestly, I was giving too much power to those clients, and forgetting who I really was. I know a lot about travel and I am humbled and honored to continue learning if I don’t know something. I can always get the information, and relay it to the client know later on.

Nothing about travel is a matter of life or death. ALL issues can be solved.

Blaming someone else is just a game, and I do not play games.

Problem clients are unhappy human beings who are scared, selfish and so afraid of life that the only way to “control” their lives is to be demanding and mean.

Do not fall for this! Do not try to analyze them and be their therapist or coach. Take care of your own sanity and know you are worthy of better treatment. If you can deal with them, good for you! If you can’t, this does not reflect badly on you, shame on them!

I am your cheerleader!

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