Travel Agent Professional June 2012 Issue 18
4 6
2012 The Joel & Lenore Abels Scholarship Winner By Sue Shapiro
Conferencing at Sea! By Rusty Pickett, ECC
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June 2012
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une
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2012 The Joel & Lenore Abels Scholarship Winner By Sue Shapiro, President
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Shapiro Travel Resources
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Conferencing at Sea! By Rusty Pickett, ECC Shellback Cruises
10
http://issuu.com/action/page?page=12
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Past the Point of No Return By Scott Koepf Vice President of Sales Avoya Travel/American Express
http://issuu.com/action/page?page=16
Clients For Life Managing Travel Over Time By Mitchell J. Schlesinger Vice President, Sales & Marketing Voyages to Antiquity
Showcase
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Enterprise ......................................................15
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Well-Being Travel .........................................13 TRAVELSAVERS ............................................19
Ad Index
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4HE *OEL ,ENORE !BELS 3CHOLARSHIP 7INNER "Y 3UE 3HAPIRO
#ONFERENCING AT 3EA "Y 2USTY 0ICKETT %##
Cover Image by Royal Caribbean Line Aqua Theater
Auto Europe................................IFC http://www.AutoEurope.com
Sabre ...........................................17 www.sabretravelinetwork.com/tmu
Avoya Travel/American Express......9 http://www.joinavoya.com/default.cfm?ref=115
Travel Planners Int’l........................5 http://www.myhosttravelagency.com
Leisure Pops .................................11 http://www.leisurepops.com/
Voyages to Antiquity ......................3 http://us.voyagestoantiquity.com/
Royal Caribbean Line ...................BC http://www.royalcaribbean.com/
Travel Agent Professional
2012
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Travel Agent Professional June 2012 Issue 18
Travel Agent Professional P.O. Box 120202 Staten Island, NY 10312 E-mail: info@travelagentprofessional.com Phone: 718.227.7541
Joel M. Abels
Legend In the Travel Industry April 1927 to January 2007
Ann M. Hoek Publisher/Creative Design ann@travelagentprofessional.com Bonnie Walling Editor Bonnie@travelagentprofessional.com
Meet Our Editorial Board Mitchell J. Schlesinger Vice President, Sales & Marketing Voyages to Antiquity www.voyagestoantiquity.com Mary Brutscher Former Host Agency Owner & Travel Educational Instructor cruisefacecruises@yahoo.com Rusty Pickett, ECC Shellback Cruises www.shellbackcruises.com Les-Lee Roland Owner of The Package Deal Scott Koepf Vice President of Sales Avoya Travel/ America’s Vacation Center www.joinavoya.com/default.cfm?ref=11583 Sherry Laskin, ACC Travel Writer/NACTA Webinar Moderator www.cruisemaven.com Sue Shapiro, President Shapiro Travel Resources sue.shapiro@gmail.com www.shapirotravelresources.com Paull Tickner, Creator of Special Interest Britain pjtickner@yahoo.co.uk www.greatdays.co.uk
Travel Agent Professional has its roots in Home Based Trade, the first magazine of its kind, started by Joel Abels in 2004. Joel and Lenore Abels ran Travel Trade for nearly half a century – it was started by her grandfather, John S. Lewis, and her father, Sidney Lewis, in 1929, and they took the publication over after her grandfather’s passing. Under Joel’s direction, the company grew to be one of the travel agent industry’s leading publications, reaching more than 45,000 agents throughout North America. It spawned a famous series of trade shows and three monthly magazines – Cruise Trade, Tour Trade and Home Based Trade. The Abels also garnered enormous respect – Joel received the Neal Award, called “the Pulitzer Prize of the business press,” for his hard-hitting editorials. On a personal note, after working with Joel for over a decade and staying with him until the end, I grew to truly care for and respect the man. He was like a second father to me. Joel was old school, he stood by his word and believed in his work. There will never be another. While nobody can replace this industry legend, we’re hoping that this new publication, which reunites the original Home Based Trade editorial board, will be able to carry on his passion for travel and those who sell it.
Ann M. Hoek
Contributions Lee Rosen, CEO Leisure Pops www.leisurepops.com
This online magazine is dedicated to the memory of Joel Abels, Travel Trade's editor and publisher. Joel and his life's work may be gone, but with your help it can live on.
September 2011
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4 2012
http://issuu.com/action/page?page=1
By Sue
The Joel & Lenore Abels
Shapiro
Scholarship Winner By Sue Shapiro, President Shapiro Travel Resources
(L-R) Betsy Barber, Lorena Morel, Sue Shapiro
There’s
no better training in the travel industry than becoming an intern and learning “on the job.” That’s not so easy to do anymore which makes the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple so very valuable to their students.
applied for this year’s scholarship. Thanks to the generous contributions of members of the travel industry who remember Joel and Lenore Abels, the publishers of Travel Trade Magazine, each year one deserving student is able to help fund their academic endeavors.
Lorena Morel, a senior at Temple and winner of the 2012 Joel and Lenore Abels Scholarship, is an outstanding student who, while going to school, interned at the Philadelphia CVB, the Hyatt Hotel at Penn’s Landing and in the Spa at the Loew’s Hotel. The experience she gained earned her a prestigious position at Hyatt in their Management Training program.
The endowed scholarship is ongoing. Reader’s contributions, in any amount, are a way to give back to the industry that has given all of us so much. To add your contribution please send a check to the Abels Scholarship, c/o Betsy Barber, Temple University School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, 1700 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa 19122.
Like the 5 previous scholarship winners, Lorena’s academic and business experience propelled her to the top of the list of all of the students who
To so click on the link that follows: http://sthm.temple.edu/scholarships/documents/abels-form.pdf or copy and paste it into your browser. And thanks!
June 2011
Travel Agent Professional
6 Conferencing at Sea! By Rusty Pickett, ECC
Rusty Pickett, ECC Shellback Cruises www.shellbackcruises.com
As I write this we are on day 7 of our annual Vacation.com convention, this year aboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas. It has been spectacular. The conference is the largest travel conference ever held at sea, with more than 900 agents and, along with the suppliers, the show booked 780 cabins on the ship. February 2012
7 First the ship. For those that have never been on Oasis or its sister Allure of the Seas, feeling that the ships with nearly 6000 passengers on board are just too big, I would strongly disagree. Yes you have to like large — on a Vegas level, but this ship, with its multitude of neighborhoods, absorbs people like no other, so that you really never get a sense of the total number of passengers on board. The ‘getting on’ process is as good as it gets. The Royal Caribbean goal is 15 minutes from the curb to the cabin. I decided to time our own process. We arrived at the curb at about 12:30pm, and 12 minutes later we were standing in the Royal Promenade for the few minute wait until the cabins opened at 1:00pm. Navigating the Oasis is different from other ships, especially for dining. The ship is totally electronic, and the numerous touch screens around the ship tell you anything that you need to know. The Windjammer is relatively small, yet most folks still think there are only two main breakfast and lunch dining venues. As a result the Windjammer is frequently ‘standing room only’ during peak periods. The successful cruiser hits the dining button on the touch screen, or on the interactive stateroom TV, and finds those venues that are lightly loaded and heads there. We ate breakfast at Johnny Rockets, the Windjammer, and the Solarium Bistro depending on the time of day and demand. For dinner there are also many surcharge restaurants of superb quality. We ate at Giovanni’s Italian eatery and Izunu Asian fusion. Both were excellent, though our waiter at Giovanni’s was sort of all over the place and not very organized. The shows are superb — literally Broadway caliber — and Hairspray and the Aquatheater show are amazing by any standard. (continued on page 8)
Travel Agent Professional
8 On to conference. The ship has a robust conference center and we used that facility along with a couple of clubs nearby and the main theater. With the conference spread out over extra days, the pace was less hectic and there was more opportunity to network with suppliers, both individually and in groups. It can get a little strange for the suppliers, as Andy Stuart commented that he felt weird doing a Norwegian commercial on a Royal Caribbean ship!!! The trade show was held in the upper level dining room, and although a little crowded, the suppliers seemed to like the intimacy of the area in comparison to the huge standard convention center booth area. Bottom Line: This was a superb week, and talking to the folks at V.com this morning, other cruise lines want to tr y this too. We’ll see. Special thanks to V.com and Vicki Freed and her outstanding Royal Caribbean team for putting together a conference for the ages!
June 2012
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10 By Scott Koepf Scott Koepf Vice President of Sales Avoya Travel/American Express www.JoinAvoya.com
Past the Point of
No Return I am currently in Las Vegas attending the Home Based Forum, which has been wonderful. I am staying at the Venetian (I know, I do not expect sympathy) and was sad to see that “The Phantom of the Opera� will be closing in September. I have seen the show a few times and it is spectacular. One of the songs got me thinking about our businesses (what a surprise!) and actually leads me to a question for you to answer: When have you committed enough?
(continued on page 12)
June 2012
Leisure Pops: Your Ultimate Assistant Leisure Pops sits quietly on your desktop and waits for an opportunity to help you. It can save you time and keystrokes, or remind you of preferred-supplier offers, or notify you when there is an opportunity to sell add on products like show tickets or travel insurance, or automatically log your qualified bookings into contest sites like Win With Amex, or Las Vegas Agent Rewards.
With Leisure Pops you "Pick your Pops": meaning tyou turn on the Pop Campaigns they choose and get only those Pops when pertinent. With Leisure Pops you will never get a Pop that you have not asked for!
Leisure Pops "electronically taps you on the shoulder" at just the right time for your product offerings. Sell more add on products and have access to your specials at just the right time when they can help you.
Leisure Pops saves you time and makes bookings extremely efficient by moving data for you. One click takes you to the chosen site, automatically logs you in, shops the site, and even moves data (client data into and reservation details back) making the reservation process fast and easy.
Leisure Pops helps you make more money as you will sell more preferred suppliers, more add on products and can easily and automatically participate in reward programs.
Everyone wins with Leisure Pops: Agents better service clients and make more money; Agencies and consortia get more preferred bookings, Suppliers get more sales from preferred agents, and perhaps best of the all the consumer's interests are best served developing long term consumer - agent relationships..
To learn more visit leisurepops.com
12 To be successful in our business or any business for that matter requires a number of things including: passion, knowledge, skills and commitment. We all know what it takes to be passionate about what we do. We also know that knowledge and skills are imperative for success and require an ongoing quest to keep learning and improving. But how much commitment is enough commitment? When have you committed enough? Some may argue that the measure of commitment is working full time versus part time. Or maybe the level of commitment is measured by a certain dollar amount invested in your agency. Or perhaps the full commitment occurs after a certain number of years in the business. Although all of that may be true to a degree, I think true commitment occurs when you move from taking a ‘safe risk’ to risking beyond your comfort zone. We can apply the beautiful lyrics from “Past the Point of No Return” and discover that true commitment is when you go…
When you have put it all on the line you will indeed learn the secrets of what you are capable of. This same concept can be used not only in the evaluation of your commitment to your business but to each and every one of your customers. Do you get to the moment where words run dry? Have you asked all of the questions? Have you been authentic and vulnerable where the silence…the pause…will lead to the sale? When you reach the point of no return you are truly in a relationship with your client. There is no woulda, coulda, shoulda said that will play back in your mind if you have built a relationship with honesty that has taken you to the final threshold.
Past the point of no return, the final threshold — what warm, unspoken secrets will we learn? Beyond the point of no return ... You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence ...
If your business or your relationships with your clients are not where you want them to be, it may be because you are holding back. Maybe even just a little. To increase sales and maximize the success of your agency you must go…
Past the point of no return. June 2012
Showcase
30 Days and Counting Until... “Well-Being And Medical Travel Conference 2012” May 22, 2012 (Oyster Bay, NY) – In just under 30 days on June 20-21, the “Well-Being and Medical Travel Conference 2012” will kick off at The Phoenician luxury resort in Scottsdale, Arizona (www.well-beingtravelconference.com). “Travel and tourism has been making big news lately,” said Anne Marie Moebes, Executive Vice President at Well-Being Travel. “Brand USA, the new tourism marketing entity responsible for promoting the U.S. to world travelers, was recently launched. Earlier in the year, a Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness was formed by Executive Order. And several large corporations have announced their support of medical travel for their employees. With consumer confidence now starting to trend upwards, this is a good time for travel sellers to learn how to add a medical and wellness specialty to their travel offerings.”
Well-Being Travel is the goto resource for medical tourism, bringing together the medical and travel industries in a breakthrough partnership. The global organization provides the relationships, technology, marketing, networking and educational opportunities to help travel agents get in on the ground floor of this rapidly growing niche that is sweeping the world. WellBeing Travel's alliance with
The two-day Well-Being and Medical Travel Conference 2012 will provide specialized, in-depth education for travel sellers about all aspects of wellness travel and spa vacations, as well as selling to and servicing medical travelers. Travel sellers will gain the tools, knowledge and contacts they need to profit in this niche. Attendees will have opportunities to hear from and meet with top-level executives from key organizations including: medical travel facilitators, internationally accredited hospitals, corporate wellness programs, tourism ministries, destination spas and resorts and other travel suppliers. Participants will also leave the event with detailed action plans for selling medical and wellness travel.
Companion
Global
Healthcare provides an instant relationship for travel agents who are part of the American Marketing Group agency groups (TRAVELSAVERS, NEST, TWIN, or The
Affluent
Traveler
Collection) to become a credible source to handle the global medical travel needs of their clients.
To find out more about attending the Well-Being and Medical Travel Conference 2012 or participating as a sponsor, visit www.well-beingtravelconference.com or contact Debbie Press (888-854-0339 or dpress@well-beingtravel.com).
Travel Agent Professional
14
Clients For Life
By Mitchell
Managing Travel Over Time
J.
The
Schlesinger
nicest car in the world will not run
without four (4) fully operating tires. Mastering the practice of “clients for life” requires mastering the four elements covered in this series:
Mitchell J. Schlesinger Vice President, Sales & Marketing Voyages to Antiquity m.schlesinger@voyagestoantiquity.com
• • • •
A database with a complete profile (demographics and psychographics) of each client, their travel history and referrals. Understanding consumer behavior and managing the customer relationship. Implementing a customer service plan including the 3 Rs (recognition, referrals and rewards). Managing travel over time.
In truth,
you cannot manage travel over time, without fulfilling the necessities of the first three (3) elements above. For the purposes of completing the series, I will approach this final article with the notion that this is the case. At this stage, because presumably you have a robust database filled with personal and travel information for each client and have implemented an aggressive customer service plan, you are in a position to focus on literally directing where and how your clients travel.
In this role you are part financial advisor and golf caddy. Why?
• •
Personal finances are critical to consumers (especially now!!) and with the right relationship, fully entrust the placement of these funds to financial advisors. Travel is the most frequent high ticket expenditure consumers make, meaning they put their trust in you. The trust factor is what enables clients to rationalize a sizable travel purchase, similar to a financial investment. Golf caddies are very much like travel sellers. Those with strong, long term relationships make recommendations based on their players historical ability to hit specific shots with a club the player is most comfortable. Their job is to ultimately makes suggestions the player can select from. Sound at all familiar? (continued on page 16)
June 2012
Showcase
Enterprise Holdings Acquiring Mint Cars On-Demand Enterprise continues to expand world’s largest local car rental network, plans to quickly enhance Mint’s car-sharing fleet in New York City and Boston ST. LOUIS – May 17, 2012 — Enterprise Holdings has announced that it has acquired the business of Mint Cars On-Demand, a car-sharing company serving more than 8,000 members in New York City and Boston. The acquisition closed today; financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.
Leadership and Strength “We also intuitively understand what it takes to run a successful and sustainable car-rental operation in a highly competitive marketplace, regardless of whether vehicles are being rented for an hour, a day, a week or longer,” Johnson noted.
Enterprise Holdings, the most comprehensive service provider in the car rental industry, operates the flagship Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand as well as the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands. Founded in 1957, Enterprise has always focused on community transportation needs, renting cars where customers live and work. In fact, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car network — with 5,500 branch offices located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population — has more than twice as many neighborhood locations as its nearest competitor and is renowned for offering affordable, accessible and flexible local car rental service in towns and cities of all sizes.
Richard Ull, who founded Mint in 2008, agrees. “I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished thus far in the New York and Boston markets in such a short time,” he noted. “But thanks to Enterprise’s industry leadership and financial strength, our business will evolve and jump to the next level – and our car-sharing members will not only have access to a larger and newer fleet, but be supported by a team renowned for its community focus and customer-service excellence.”
Mint’s services will be offered under its current brand name initially. However, the Mint car-sharing vehicles will immediately be incorporated into the local Enterprise car-rental fleets in the New York City and Boston regions — and operated as a natural extension of the Enterprise home-city business model, which already includes a wide variety of car leasing, vanpooling and hourly rental programs. By year’s end, all of Enterprise’s car-sharing services throughout the country — including WeCar by Enterprise, PhillyCarShare and Mint — will be transitioned to the Enterprise Car Share brand name. “We have been anticipating and meeting local transportation needs for more than 55 years, so underscoring car-sharing’s connection to the Enterprise name and legacy makes perfect sense,” explained Ryan Johnson, assistant vice president for Enterprise Holdings.
Travel Agent Professional
Ull, who has more than 10 years experience in the New York parking business grew the Mint network to more than 40 locations across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Boston in just four years. Ull now brings his knowledge forward and will manage Enterprise’s newest car-sharing division, and help the company incorporate Mint’s “best practices” into its existing policies and procedures. This process will be managed carefully for the long term, as Enterprise is known for taking its time with acquisitions and for ensuring that integrations take critical operational, financial and personnel issues into account. Almost all of Mint’s staff members have been offered positions in their respective cities. For more info go to Travelagentprofessional.com
16 Your opportunity is to guide your loyal clients through the maze of travel alternatives because you:
• •• ••
Have created a personal relationship with them over a lengthy period of time as their demographics and psychographics have changed. Have learned to be a good listener. Understand their travel goals and aspirations, at each “life stage”. Know exactly where they have been, how much they have spent and…what’s next? Know their travel “hot buttons” and how they process them when making travel purchases.
Put yourself in a position whereby they seek your advice and counsel for travel alternatives before making a final decision.
The critical aspect is to use all of what you have learned above to literally manage what they buy over the length of your relationship with them. And it is a combination of what you can and should recommend to them and what they tell you they are interested in and ask for your opinion. In those cases, it is clearly up to you (as the golf caddy) to present the right assessments of the travel alternatives compared to previous purchases so that they can make a choice that they are comfortable with and can logically rationalize after the purchase is made. And recommendations should reflect their life stages: For couples traveling with their children, interactive travel experiences that the kids will talk about for weeks after they return and only want to know when they can go again.
(continued on page 18 )
June 2012
2012
Technology & Marketing University June 4-7, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas The Technology & Marketing University is not your average industry conference. UÊÊ Dive into intense product and industry training UÊÊ Be inspired by leaders who are making waves UÊÊ Take advantage of one-on-one time with industry experts
Join us on Twitter nthly thl T Twitter witter itt chat h t is i your opportunity opportt to provide Our monthly thoughts on the conference and the hot topics that will drive our theme.
Tuesday, February 28 Tuesday, March 27 Tuesday, April 24 Tuesday, May 29 Participation is simple. Just use the hashtag #TMU12 #TMU12 between 2 and 3 p.m. Central time and you will automatically be part of the conversation!
UÊÊ Build your network of bright professionals UÊÊ Be treated like a Vegas star!
REGISTER TODAY sabretravelnetwork.com/tmu
18 If they have a few extra days, an Alaska cruise-tour is a more complete way to fully experience the wildlife along with scenic beauty. Based on spending 10-14 days in Alaska, a 10-14 day cruise in the Med, Europe or Baltic. The length and cost are comparable to the Alaska trip and allow them to rationalize the purchase. As their psychographics change, specific destinations will draw interest. For some destinations, travel can be done in a sequence based on whether desired sights are inland or along the shore. Italy, for example, is a destination best experienced by both a land tour and a cruise. In their senior years, trips are longer as they have more time. Recommending suppliers they will feel comfortable with is very important. Whether it is a national park tour or cruise to an exotic destination, some suppliers simply cater better to older guests than others. The most important motivation for you to master managing travel over time is the “Annuity Factor�. It is a fact that as clients age, (especially over the age of 55), the majority will have more time to travel, more disposable income, all of which results in higher priced transactions yielding substantially greater commissions. And a stronger the base of longtime loyal clientele enables you to more efficiently generate new clients from referrals. There is a significant opportunity for professional sellers of travel who come to fully understand how financially valuable their clients are in terms of repeat travel and referrals. And it almost impossible to underscore just how important how the service provided by all the agency’s team members impacts client loyalty. Those aggressively embracing this philosophy will be rewarded with a dramatically stronger business and Clients for Life.
June 2012
Showcase
TRAVELSAVERS Establishes Foothold in Colombia May 31, 2012 (Oyster Bay, NY) – It was announced today that Viajes Calitour has become the exclusive licensee for TRAVELSAVERS Colombia with a network of 17 offices throughout the country. Established 30 years ago, Viajes Calitour is a leader in its marketplace and has an annual sales turnover of over $200 million USD. The agency specializes in corporate travel, meetings, incentives, conventions and tourism services. It is the main travel management company for government institutions and official dependencies in Colombia. The agency also sells leisure travel, specializes in golf trips, and has been authorized by FIFA to be a travel seller (including selling tickets to the game) for the 2014 World Cup to be held in Brazil. When asked why Viajes Calitour decided to become an integral part of the TRAVELSAVERS organization, General Manager Ligia Escobar Ospina said: “We are proud to represent a leader in the travel business. The challenge we are embarking on is big, but we come with the confidence of being in a great network that is providing a great service and experience in this economy. We are happy to call ourselves TRAVELSAVERS Colombia." Rick Mazza, President & CEO of TRAVELSAVERS, commented: “Viajes Calitour is a well-established group in this region of the world and we’re proud to have licensed them as TRAVELSAVERS Colombia. We’re helping to expand their regional success into the global travel arena. The new contractual agreement is an example of how TRAVELSAVERS is joining forces with other leaders in the travel industry in emerging markets around the world as we take the TRAVELSAVERS philosophy and business model across international borders.”
TRAVELSAVERS Established over 40 years ago, TRAVELSAVERS is an international marketing organization with 3,265 independentlyowned, full service travel agencies in 24 countries around the world. Our travel professionals are among the best in the industry today. TRAVELSAVERS is owned by American Marketing Group, Inc., the parent company of 19 successful global travel brands. We have long standing relationships with carefully selected travel suppliers that you know and trust, including top cruise lines, airlines, hotels, car rental companies and guided vacation companies. This allows us to bring you extraordinary travel savings and exclusive offers, plus you benefit from the personal attention and expertise of a dedicated TRAVELSAVERS travel professional. So before you set foot on your next journey, contact your local TRAVELSAVERS travel professional. Our travel professionals are committed to fulfilling your every travel dream, and are with you every step of the way!
To find out more about how to become part of the TWIN global network, independent travel agencies can visit www.twintravelmanagement.com, email twinsales@travelsavers.com, or call 516-624-0500 x5080.
Travel Agent Professional
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