TRAVEL ADVISORS PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN FURTHERING INCLUSION IN THE INDUSTRY
SERVING TRAVELERS WITH DISABILITIES
Make your clients’ trips seamless and unforgettable
THE STATE OF TRAVEL RECOVERY No more looking back; let’s look at what’s next
RESORT REFRESH 2021 is the ideal time for a reinvention
>> Departments
09. PRESIDENT’S NOTE
With an open mind and a bit of curiosity, your travel experiences will make you a better person.
12. EDITOR’S NOTE
This issue only begins to scratch the surface of the complete fabric of the travel industry and all the different types of people that make it diverse, wonderful and beautiful.
14. TRUE NORTH
This quarter’s most important news for advisors.
18. BY THE WAY (A PSA)
What entry requirements are destinations still enforcing, and how can you keep up?
22. HOW I CARRY ON
From the Peace Corps to Puerto Vallarta, Matt Wahlgren shares his story.
25. CONVERSATIONS
We talk to travel experts about what they are doing to help their clients feel confident to travel again.
26. DIGITAL DNA
How advisors are using digital tools to transform their businesses.
28. TAKING OFF
Welcome to the renaissance of travel + social media.
32. TECH TO KNOW
Learn about useful technology that saves you or your clients time.
80. BREAKOUT SESSION
Travel advisors and industry leaders share what behavior they’ve changed for the better because of the pandemic.
82. DESTINATION NEXT
The hottest cold destination: Iceland has travelers enchanted.
86. YESTERDAY’S NEWS
What can we learn from yesterday’s biggest stories in travel?
88. ASK MAXWELL
ur beloved ippered friend answers your VAX questions.
89. CROSSWORD
Calling all bookworms, movie lovers and travel enthusiasts. How well do you know your fictional travelers?
90. ONE FOR THE ROAD
Wisdom to take with you till next time.
>> Features
34. EMBRACING AND ELEVATING DIVERSITY IN TRAVEL
Travel advisors play a critical role in furthering inclusion in the travel industry. Here’s how to get started.
40. RESORT REFRESH: 6 PROPERTIES WITH NEW LOOKS
If there ever were an ideal time for a reinvention, it’s 2021.
48. THE STATE OF TRAVEL RECOVERY
No more looking back; let’s look at where we are now and where the industry is headed next.
56. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY
Tips for finding the perfect travel experience for every client’s budget.
62. SERVING TRAVELERS WITH DISABILITIES
A practical guide to making your clients’ trips seamless and unforgettable.
68. YOU SHOULD KNOW THE ASSOCIATION OF BLACK TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS
The three co-founders share their vision to create connections in the travel industry that elevate and empower everyone.
74. SOLO PARENTS NEED YOUR HELP
Solo-parent families are an overlooked market within family travel. Here’s how to serve them better.
President and Publisher John Ische
Editor in Chief – Sarah Kneisler
Managing Editor – Andrea Sedlacek
Staff Editors – Taylor Coulson
Contributing Editors – Laurel Delp, Ruth Terry, Sarah Treleaven
Advertising
Vice President, Business Development – Joe Shomperlen
Director, Operations and Marketing – Sarah Kneisler
Advertising Product Specialist – Kati Kohler
Manager, Digital Marketing – Ashley Perego
Advertising Producer – Kyle Krause
Business Development Manager – Beth Kitzman
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Steve Zepezauer
CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER
Scott Sanchez
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Tiffany Thompson
GROUP EDITOR
Katherine Duncan
CREATIVE & MARKETING DIRECTOR
Paul Graff
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Tina Leydecker
I’ve been fortunate to travel the world
and travel has been one of the most impactful parts of my life. One of my favorite destinations is Abu Dhabi. New York City is referred to as “The Great Melting Pot” but I believe Abu Dhabi is more diverse. I’ve met people in Abu Dhabi from Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, Africa and virtually every corner of the globe. It’s not what I fi t e ected en t n an a co ntry but I’m glad I’ve been able to spend t e e e enc n t a t o t e o d
Travel teaches in so many ways. It allows you to explore people’s history, environment, culture, customs, values and viewpoints. With an open mind and a bit of curiosity, your travel experiences will make you a better person.
In this edition of The Compass Magazine, we focus on diversity and inclusion in travel. The more I travel, the more I’ve grown a much greater sense of appreciation for the diversity of this planet, and I believe as travel becomes more accessible to everyone, it will lead to making us all more united. I am so grateful for you and the role travel advisors play in enabling this mission for so many travelers.
This past year as we have spent more time with our families and local friends and communities, it’s been
John Ische PRESIDENT, TRISEPT SOLUTIONS
John’s industry tenure spans more than three decades.
a great time to reset and reconnect. For me, I’ve been able to spend more time with my family with only a couple of limited, short car trips. I hope we never have to go back to the socially distant ways of the pandemic. I’m so looking forward to my next trip as I continue to explore the diversity of the people, places and experiences of this incredible world.
“With an open mind and a bit of curiosity, your travel experiences will make you a better person.”
We’re thrilled to introduce Norwegian Prima, the first in a new class of ships created to elevate every expectation. From first-class service and the most outdoor space of any new ship at sea to a style all her own and a variety of onboard activities, she’s designed to make waves. Be the first to discover a new experience at sea on voyages to Bermuda, The Caribbean and Northern Europe. Setting sail Summer 2022.
Oceanwalk
Northern Europe
Indulge Outdoor Lounge
Bermuda
The Haven Sundeck
Infinity Beach
As
we started work on this issue of The Compass Magazine with the theme of “travel is for everyone,” I soon realized that though the industry has made some great strides toward inclusivity, we still have so much to do. I saw the reality that there are so many communities of travelers, travel advisors and travel n ence o a e t nde e e ented n the industry.
“I was always only one of four or five Black agents at awards shows, and it was always the same ones and I would wonder, ‘How do we get more people who look like me here and not just here at the event, but onstage?’” — Veranda Adkins, co-founder of the Association of Black Travel Professionals
“If you don’t live this life, or if you don’t know somebody that does, you just don’t think about it because you don’t have to.” — Jamie Santillo, owner of Adventures by Jamie, a travel agency specializing in accessible travel, referring to accessibility and accommodations
“In this current day and age as a travel agent, we always get this question from our consumers: ‘How will we be treated there? Do they like Black people there? Do Black people go there?’ To this day, we still have that DNA, that residue of ‘We’re not sure we’re going to be welcome in a place where we travel.’” — Gai Spann, co-founder of the Association of Black Travel Professionals
We need to do better, within the industry and outside of it.
This issue only begins to scratch the surface of the complete fabric of the travel industry and all the different types of people that make it diverse, wonderful and beautiful. We are dedicated to continuing to represent diverse industry perspectives in every issue going forward, and on VAX VacationAccess.
In the following pages, we’ll hear from the Black Travel Alliance and the Association of Black Travel Professionals, two organizations that are working to elevate and support BIPOC travelers and travel advisors. We’ll explore inclusivity in terms of travel budgets, and we’ll talk about accessible travel and how you can create comfortable and
Andrea Sedlacek MANAGING EDITOR
Andrea believes the best way to gain perspective is to travel.
welcoming vacations for clients with accessibility needs. And don’t forget about single parents. Learn how to ensure smooth sailing for parents traveling solo with their kids, because if anyone can help with that, it’s a travel advisor.
Also in this issue, we take a deep dive into the data behind the industry’s recovery (it’ll be good, I promise), meet a travel advisor who got bit by the travel bug in Bulgaria, check in on newly refreshed resorts and a lot more.
I want this issue to be for everyone because I want travel to be for everyone. We all deserve to have incredible travel experiences and to feel safe and welcome while doing it, and it’s very clear that we are not there yet. But the more we connect with, talk about and choose images of BIPOC travelers, LGBTQ+ travelers, travelers with accessibility needs and other communities of travelers and travel advisors, the more inclusive the industry will become.
“This issue only begins to scratch the surface of the complete fabric of the travel industry and all the different types of people that make it diverse, wonderful and beautiful.”
CONTRIBUTORS
TAYLOR COULSON
Taylor Coulson traded in cava and paella in Barcelona, Spain, to finish her degree in cross-cultural communication and journalism. She has e perience writing and editing content for travel professionals, wine enthusiasts and 0-somethings interested in studying or interning abroad.
Beth Kitzman is the business development manager for VA VacationAccess. With over 0 years of e perience in the travel industry, beginning with Walt Disney World then working for airlines and now focusing on travel technology, Beth loves using her education degree to find ways to educate and empower travel advisors to grow their leisure travel business.
LAUREL DELP
Laurel Delp is a writer and editor who’s been published in numerous magazines, including Town Country, Departures and Western Art Architecture. Most recently, she was a contributing editor at A are World, reviewing hotels and resorts worldwide. She has also written for a number of travel-related websites.
uth Terry is an American freelancer in stanbul who writes about food, travel, wellness and life as a Black e pat. Her work has appeared in BBC Travel, Fodor’s Travel, National eographic, The Washington Post, Time, es and more. Follow her on Twitter uth_Terry.
Sarah Treleaven is a writer based in Nova Scotia. Her work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, en oute, The uardian, the BBC and many other publications.
BETH KITZMAN
RUTH TERRY
SARAH TRELEAVEN
True NORTH
Stay the course on these big issues.
New in PUJ: Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana
There’s a fresh new option in a white-hot vacation destination. Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana opened in the Dominican Republic in February of this year. On the sandy beaches of Uvero Alto, this adults-only resort boasts almost 10,000 square feet of pools — including an infinity pool with a gorgeous view of the ocean — along with luxurious rooms, beautiful gardens, seven restaurants and a grand waterfall. All this and more is only 30 minutes from the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ).
Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana opened in the Dominican Republic in February.
HOTEL AMENITIES
o Accessible Facilities (74)
o Adjoining/Connecting Rooms (23)
o Business Services (63)
o Casino (15)
o Children Amenities (10)
o Fitness Facilities (58)
o Free airport shuttle (3)
o Free Breakfast (6)
o Free High Speed Internet (10)
o Free Parking (19)
o Late Check Out (22)
o Pets Allowed (16)
o Pool (64)
o Restaurant (54)
o Room Service (44)
o Spa Services (52)
Filter your heart out
Find the room for your clients that really meets their needs. The Hotel Amenities filters in VAX’s booking engine make it easy for you to find hotel and resort accommodations with features like adjoining rooms, room service and more. But if your client needs a room with accessible facilities, there’s a filter for that, too — the Accessible Facilities filter. f they’re traveling with their pet, use the Pets Allowed filter. And if they’re not quite early birds, find hotels that will let them sleep in by using the Late Check ut filter. No need to scroll or guess about what a hotel offers because VAX’s booking engine can tell you that with one click.
REAL ID REMINDER + UPDATE
t’s coming, but now not as soon as you think the EAL D deadline. n late April, the Department of Homeland Security pushed back the deadline again, this time to May 3, 2023. That means that travelers now have more time to obtain a EAL D-compliant source of identification, like a driver’s license, to board a commercial aircraft to y domestically (and to access federal facilities and nuclear power plants). Though the deadline has changed, the rule remains unchanged: Every U.S. resident will need to get a EAL D or bring their passport or passport card (an enhanced driver’s license presently issued by only Michigan, Minnesota, New ork, Vermont and Washington) when ying within the U.S., even if you’re just going from Aspen to Vail in Colorado (fun fact: This is currently the shortest route in the U.S. at just 29 miles).
VAX’s origin story
Have you ever wanted to know the top 5 origin cities shopped on VAX? Here’s where we stand so far in 2021:
Chicago – O’Hare (ORD)
St. Louis (STL)
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
Atlanta (ATL)
Philadelphia (PHL)
True NORTH
WORDS / ANDREA SEDLACEK
Stay the course on these big issues.
DOES YOUR AGENCY HAVE AN ORG CHART?
If your agency is a one-person show, of course you won’t have an org chart. But if your agency is bigger than that, do you have an organizational chart that maps out every employee’s name, title, the team they belong to and their direct reports? In a recent poll on VAX, 53% of people said their agency does not have an org chart because it’s too small. As the industry bounces back and your agency gets busier, you’re probably going to need to hire more people. In that same poll, 11% of people said their agency doesn’t have an org chart but they wish it did and 32% said they didn’t know. Having an org chart will not only help keep everyone organized, it’ll also help your employees know who they’re accountable to, understand where they fit in within the agency and see opportunities for their professional growth. It’s a win for everyone.
I am the
walrus
Correction from spring 2021 issue
As luck would have it, the day the spring 2021 issue of The Compass Magazine went to print, the Department of Homeland Security updated the REAL ID deadline from October 1, 2021, to May 3, 2023. We regret the error and any confusion that may have resulted from it.
This past April, SeaWorld Orlando debuted a new animal experience: The Walrus Encounter. Curious visitors can now get face-towhiskers with walruses while learning about their unique personalities and how SeaWorld’s animal team cares for these mustachioed creatures. Book this cool new encounter, along with many others, right on VAX with SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Coo coo cachoo, or is it goo goo g’joob?
BY THE WAY (a PSA)
WORDS / SARAH TRELEAVEN
How to Get Into Where You Want to Go
What entry requirements are destinations still enforcing, and how can you keep up?
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS ARE CHANGING ALL THE TIME IN OUR CURRENT WORLD, AND TOURISM BOARDS ARE A TRAVEL ADVISOR’S BEST FRIEND WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION.
Here’s the background. As vaccination rates have increased and COVID-19 cases have declined, Americans are increasingly eager to return to international travel. Destinations are also keen to welcome back sorely missed tourism. But a deep desire to return to normal will, for a while, continue to be tempered by the pandemic’s lingering emphasis on health and safety. Some countries will be closed in the short and medium term to all nonessential travel, while others have reopened but with certain new protocols in place.
Will testing be required all over?
Testing requirements will vary from country to country, but many will indeed require testing either pre-departure or on arrival. Tourism boards and airlines are essential partners to help understand the requirements for each destination. Mexico, for example, does not require a COVID-19 test for air arrivals. Visitors to Jamaica must apply for authorization, including proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of travel. Hawaii has a pre-travel testing program that requires proof of vaccination
Many destinations have implemented new entry requirements and we have questions.
or a negative COVID-19 test in order for visitors to bypass the existing mandatory 10-day quarantine. And the Dominican Republic requires testing for residents of certain countries, and simply screens others (including residents of the U.S.) for symptoms upon arrival.
U.S. residents should also be aware that testing is required for all air passengers returning to the United States; they must present a negative COVID-19 test taken within three calendar days of departure. Alternatively, they can present proof of recovery from COVID-19 in the last 90 days. Airlines are being called upon to enforce these protocols, and are required to deny boarding to passengers who cannot provide sufficient documentation.
What about proof of vaccination?
Details are still being worked out, but many countries will likely require proof of vaccination for travelers. A growing list of destinations — including many Caribbean and European countries — are demanding that visitors demonstrate they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Puerto Rico allows prospective visitors to supply either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID19 test prior to departure.
Are vaccine/health passports legit?
Vaccine or health passports, including proof of a negative test, have generated considerable controversy — with some states embracing vaccine certification, and other states banning such measures. There are some concerns about equitable access — especially given the inequitable distribution of vaccines across the globe — but the hope is that vaccination requirements will both encourage individuals to get vaccinated and help limit the spread of COVID-19.
There’s presently much uncertainty about exactly how vaccine passports might work, but there is a likelihood that some form of proof of vaccination may be required of U.S. residents who hope to travel abroad — especially if they hope to skip local quarantine.
MICHELE
URSI/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
“Given the dynamism of the present situation, travelers might want to consider signing up for the U.S. Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.”
Airlines like Etihad and Emirates have already announced that they will launch a system of vaccine verification (developed by IATA), and the European Union is planning to use a form of digital COVID passport to ensure quarantine-free travel for residents of member states.
What’s your best resource for finding these answers and how can you keep up? Individual destinations are an excellent resource for determining entry requirements, as are airlines. New online tools like Sherpa — developed in partnership with major airlines, cruise lines and travel agencies — outlines country-specific regulations. The U.S. Department of State also has country-specific resources available to travelers. Given the dynamism of the present situation, travelers might want to consider signing up for the U.S.
Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which allows U.S. citizens abroad to receive the latest updates (including any local travel advisories) from the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
What are the new rules for cruise lines? After an extremely tough year — and uncertain near future — the cruising industry is looking to once again start sailing. But it will be a while before stepping on a ship looks like business as usual. As of spring 2021, the CDC is allowing simulated or “trial” voyages to ensure the protocols in place can guarantee the safety of passengers once a broader resumption of services takes place. The CDC is offering guidance for all ships arriving to or sailing out of U.S. ports; directives focus on preventative measures, including hand washing and enhanced hygiene, the wearing of face
masks, and testing protocols either on land or on board. The conditional sailing order remains in effect until November 2021, but there is some hope that sailings might resume in the summer months.
Bold is back for good — with a full lineup of award-winning ships sailing Caribbean adventures from the U.S. starting this summer. It’s time your clients get back to vacation mode, and all the things they’ve been missing. Like top deck tide taming on the FlowRider ® . Ahh-inspiring feats at AquaTheater. Tastebud temptation on a global scale, from Italy to Japan to Wonderland. And taking the plunge down the tallest waterslide in North America at our top-rated private destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay. This is the triumphant return we’ve all been waiting for. Come back and Come Seek the Royal Caribbean ®
Perfect Day at Cococay, Bahamas
HOW I CARRY ON
WORDS / ANDREA SEDLACEK
FROM THE PEACE CORPS TO PUERTO VALLARTA.
Matt Wahlgren Owner of Matt Travel
Matt Wahlgren, owner of Matt Travel, didn’t start out with his heart set on working in the travel industry. His story starts in the mountains of Bulgaria, with a jaunt in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to where he is today: building his network outside of the industry while helping his clients travel thoughtfully.
The toughest job he ever loved Wahlgren’s fi rst step after college took him to the Peace Corps, as he felt the calling to do something more before settling down into what he thought would be the 9-to-5 offi ce life.
“It was my senior year of college and I was like, ‘Wow, after all these years of going to school, from kindergarten all the way up, school is fi nally ending. It’s fi nally going to be over,’” he says. “And I felt like I was about to accomplish something big here by graduating college, but I also kind of felt like I didn’t do anything. And now I’m going to get a job, and I guess I’m just going to go sit in a cubicle for the next 30 years. Something just didn’t feel right. I thought I needed something else before I settled down.”
After hearing about the Peace Corps from a professor, Wahlgren joined on a two-year assignment. He was invited to work in Bulgaria and just a few months after applying, he was there. “And that was the fi rst time I’d ever been abroad,” he says.
“I lived in this little tiny village; it was very picturesque. It had cobblestone roads and the Rhodope Mountains right there. The town was nestled right under those mountains,” he remembers.
The Peace Corps’ slogan is “The toughest job you’ll ever love,” something Wahlgren defi nitely learned, along with learning how to speak Bulgarian and how to live in a culture and community that was totally new to him.
“The fi rst year was kind of slow. You need to get your bearings; you need to get relationships built. But that second year, it really
exploded,” he says. He was assigned to community and organizational development, which encompassed work like applying for grants, building a wood and metal workshop, building a youth health center, starting a Meals on Wheels program, building a home for at-risk youth and teaching classes on international cooking, English and ceramics.
“I wanted to accomplish something,” he says.
But it wasn’t all work and no play for Wahlgren. He managed to work in traveling as much as he could.
“That’s where I got the travel bug. I just fell in love with traveling,” he says. “I got a few weeks of vacation time, so I traveled all over the country. You couldn’t leave the country unless you were on your own vacation time but you could visit around different parts of the country, so I would go around and visit other volunteers to see what they were doing.”
Matt Wahlgren, owner of Matt Travel, has traveled to Istanbul multiple times.
On his vacation time, he went all over Europe; to Greece, Romania and Istanbul — twice. “It was amazing,” he says. “I just love that city.”
After his Peace Corps assignment was over, he took a Close of Service trip, which is a common practice for Peace Corps volunteers. “I hung around for a month after my service ended and went all over Europe. So that informs how I approach my travel business because well … guess what I’m an expert in? Europe!”
Becoming a Good Travels Advisor
Wahlgren’s time in the Peace Corps not only sparked his ambitions to get into the travel industry, but it continued to influence him as he grew his business and inspired him to become a certified Good Travels Advisor.
The Good Travels Advisor certification is an online training platform launched in 2016 through Tourism Cares, an organization dedicated to maximizing travel’s potential to be a global force for good. The certification gives travel advisors the knowledge and tools to support travelers interested in giving and volunteering.
“I decided to sign up for that when they first launched it because I felt like it dovetailed with my Peace Corps experience, and I wanted to have that certification so my clients know that I’m thoughtful about traveling,” Wahlgren says. “When I go somewhere new where I don’t know the culture, I’m always a little bit nervous. I want to be respectful; I want to make sure I’m not doing anything that would harm anyone. The Good Travels Advisor program has different components and one of them is being as environmentally sustainable as you can when you’re traveling and also making sure you’re not doing anything when you’re there that would harm the locals.
“We have to be mindful of that,” Wahlgren says.
What’s in Matt’s Carry-On?
MATT SHARES WHAT HE CAN’T TRAVEL WITHOUT.
“I have this little comfort kit that I put together in a little drawstring bag — that bag from Crown Royal — I save those and if I give one to clients, I put a little bottle of Crown Royal in it. When I make them for myself, I put [in] some earplugs, headphones, towelettes, a little toothbrush, and toothpaste, a lotion, definitely some breath strips, some playing cards. It’s a little different every time. I put a little snack in there of some sort and I just bring it with me on the plane. It’s got everything I need in there to freshen up.
“Do you ever feel a little funky after you’ve been on a plane for a while? I use these deodorizing wipes to wipe down your clothes, to freshen up. About an hour before the plane lands, I go in the bathroom and brush my teeth, freshen up. I tend to give one to whoever is traveling with me too, just to make the ride a little more enjoyable. I don’t fly first class, so that’s my own version of those first-class kits, but better.”
Connecting outside of travel
Wahlgren’s travel agency is also a Certified LGBT Business Enterprise through the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. He learned about this certification when he was on the board of the Rainbow Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley.
“That was my project during the pandemic last year. I decided to lay the groundwork to further build my business,” he says. The certification helps get his agency in front of B2B clients so businesses will use his services for their events like conferences and off-site meetings in other countries.
There was an application process for him to get this certification, but his experience with the Rainbow Chamber of Commerce helped move him along in the process.
Wahlgren sees this certification as valuable not only for the business it brings him, but for the networking it’s made possible for him. “If that’s something you’re interested in, I would definitely get that and start building those connections if you want to work with other businesses to sell travel. It’s a great way to get outside of the industry,” he says.
There are certifications like the LGBT one, but for other communities of business owners. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council certifies women-owned businesses (and is what the LGBT certification was modeled after), National Minority Supplier Development Council certifies minority-owned businesses and Disability:IN is a nonprofit organization that certifies disability-owned business enterprises, veteran disability-owned business enterprises and service-disabled veteran disability-owned business enterprises.
“It’s important to get a perspective outside of the industry and see how people run their business,” Wahlgren says. “You learn from them in a different way.”
Una casa nueva
The roller-coaster ride that was 2020 inspired Wahlgren and his partner to do another big thing. “We just thought, it’s been a crazy year, we might as well get crazy, too,” he says.
So in August 2020, they sold their house in San Jose, California, and moved to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
“It was a really awesome experience, especially in those beginning months because nobody was there,” he says. “And we could just walk around town and explore. Oftentimes there are a lot of tourists and it’s really busy, so it was nice to see the city when it’s quiet.”
Then in February 2021, they sensed that things were slowly returning back to normal, so they moved back to the U.S., settling just outside of Dallas.
Find Wahlgren’s agency online at matt.travel.
Matt is so nice, we interviewed him twice! Turn to page 56 for Matt’s expertise on booking wine country.
CONVERSATIONS...
We asked: How are you helping clients feel confident to travel again?
Ryan Doncsecz
GROUPS MANAGER FOR VIP VACATIONS INC. IN PENNSYLVANIA
WEBSITE vacationsbyvip.com
“We at VIP are asking clients point-blank: What makes you comfortable? Rather than trying to navigate the answer they might want, get a feel for what the traveler is looking for. They might come out and tell you, ‘I want a destination that is only accepting fully vaccinated individuals,’ and you might hear the exact opposite, too!
“I am personally also just going off experience and my own sense of comfort. Each person has a different level of risk, and what I might feel comfortable doing, others may not be [comfortable with] yet. But having that firsthand e perience, and going through the specific protocols allows me to better explain it to upcoming travelers.”
Danny Genung
OWNER OF HARR TRAVEL IN CALIFORNIA
WEBSITE harrtravel.com
“Most of our customers come from our YouTube Channel and the No. 1 way that we are making our customers feel confident is for them to see us traveling. We also do a weekly live stream where we answer their questions and provide them with all of the industry updates. We have done these from Mexico and Jamaica and will continue when we cruise. Constant communication and modeling have been really successful for us. Our customers are ready to book now and many are ready to travel as well.”
Marcus Williams
OWNER/TRAVEL ADVISOR AT IMPRESSIVE TRAVELS IN TEXAS
WEBSITE impressivetravels.com
FACEBOOK facebook.com/impressivetravels
“I have made it a priority to review travel destinations’ COVID-19 requirements and regulations regularly in order to provide the most current information to my clients. Currently, I’m only booking resorts that are offering free antigen tests and free 10- to 14-[day] quarantining.”
Kim Goldstein
PRESIDENT/TRAVEL CONSULTANT
AT JOURNEYS INC. IN VIRGINIA
WEBSITE journeystravelinc.com
“I’ve found the easiest way to help my clients feel more comfortable to travel again is to share my travel experiences since COVID-19 began. Letting them know that I’ve not only traveled for work but have traveled with my family as well typically puts them at ease. I always share a few suggestions of things they can do to feel comfortable since this is their first time traveling since the beginning of the pandemic. It’s also important to let them know what our amazing hotel, DMC and travel supplier partners are doing to create a healthy and safe environment. Once they hear about some of the cleaning protocols, they’re typically fairly confident at that point.”
DIGITAL DNA
WORDS / ANDREA SEDLACEK
Do you have clients who are still not ready to travel again? It’s OK — there are plenty of opportunities to #travelfromhome.
In early 2020, destinations, museums, parks, zoos, botanical gardens and more jumped into gear to make their in-real-life experience available to people at home. The San Diego Zoo set up cameras in animal enclosures so you could get up close and personal with their new baby orangutan, catch up with the koalas or peek in on the penguins. The Metropolitan Opera livestreamed nightly performances. The St. Lucia Tourism Authority, Discover Puerto
Rico and many other tourism boards hosted cooking classes, dance lessons and destination tours to stay connected with travelers.
The travel-from-home trend is still going strong into 2021. The Louvre digitized its entire collection, making 480,000 works accessible online to the entire world. And now that it’s easier than ever to livestream, everyone is going live, whether it’s just a check-in like Amstar DMC often does on Facebook from the various resorts it provides trans -
portation to, or a tried-and-true webinar like suppliers host on VAX.
Sure, all of these brands sharing their experiences is interesting and informative, but sometimes you want to hear from a real person in a more authentic way. Livestreaming is great, but short, bite-size video content is really popular right now. The best platform for this type of content is TikTok, where some organizations like the Toronto Zoo, the Oregon Zoo and
Alyssa Soileau, travel advisor at A Pair of Ears Travel in Louisiana
Clockwise from top left: The Metropolitan Opera, the Louvre and the San Diego Zoo, which have stayed connected with travelers by sharing experiences online.
even Vrbo have already appeared, giving people the real, personal content everyone is craving while they’re planning their travels from home.
But big organizations like zoos and vacation rental companies aren’t the only ones creating engaging travel-related content on TikTok. Travel advisors are, too, using the platform to showcase their knowledge and services. So which travel advisors are doing it the best?
Alyssa Soileau, a travel advisor at A Pair of Ears Travel in Louisiana, is always looking for new ways to market herself and to share her love of travel. In December 2020, she turned to TikTok to do just that.
“People have gotten past just reading posts on other social media,” she says. “Sometimes, reading a long post can seem like a bother. Short videos are highly popular, and it seems that the trend shows videos are the way of the future. It can encompass older and younger generations — a great addition to other platforms already in my marketing plan!”
And she’s already gone viral on TikTok. Her video of the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Walt Disney World has more than 30,000 likes and has been viewed more than 126,000 times.
“The video I shared wasn’t of a typical restaurant you would visit in your hometown. It was more of an experience that I wanted to expose to my audience. I try to share videos of unique things that not all guests know exist in the parks to generate engagement.” She believes she also boosted her engagement on the video by interacting with a lot of the comments she received on it.
TikTok can be used for more than sharing travel experiences — though it really is a great tool for that. It can also be a strategic way to myth bust misconceptions that travelers may have about travel advisors.
“I have been able to display my knowledge for these destinations and share what services I offer, and it is all complimentary to my clients,” Soileau says. “The biggest myth is
VAX’S TRAVEL INSPO TOOL KIT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SECRET WEAPON.
Social media. Content marketing. Hashtags. Three things that can be very intimidating to people who are not marketing experts. But they don’t have to be intimidating, especially since there’s a new tool on VAX to help you with your social media and content marketing woes. a e n o oo
and now that people are getting back out there, the Travel Again Tool Kit has become the Travel Inspo oo t t t e a
The last thing you need right now is to stress about your agency’s content marketing, but don’t worry, we’ve got you. Access the Travel Inspo Tool Kit at vaxvacationaccess.com/toolkit.
that travel agents add to the cost, which is hard to dispel. I’ve been able to show that I am not just a robot answering questions. I’m a real person, who will give real advice and experienced answers.”
Learning how to use yet another social media platform can be intimidating, but Soileau says travel advisors shouldn’t be afraid to try something new. “Social media is constantly changing. If you use social media
to advertise and market, you need to adapt and change with the times,” she says. “I believe TikTok is part of the times and should be a part of your overall marketing plan. This will allow users to see and hear your voice, which gives a sense of realism. Take the time to respond to the people who leave comments as well. It gives a sense of personalization to your followers.”
Find Alyssa on TikTok at @travel_with_alyssa.
TAKING OFF: Caroline Belgrave
WORDS / TAYLOR COULSON
Welcome to the renaissance of travel + social media.
After a year like 2020, you have to — and sometimes hesitate to — ask: What’s next in the world of travel? Caroline Belgrave of Nexion Travel Group had the answer long before the start of the reawakening of travel that we’re currently experiencing firsthand.
Meet Caroline
On paper, Belgrave is the travel business development and education manager for Nexion Travel Group, a host agency with operations in the United States and across the globe as part of the Internova Travel Group. But her knowledge, expertise and passion cannot be fully demonstrated in just her title. Belgrave helps more than 5,000 travel advisors in North America navigate the Nexion tools and processes to help them achieve peak effectiveness in the travel businesses they are building for themselves. She leads the business development and education team on education for their largest annual event, CoNexion. She is on their team for the Social Pro Award and the Mentor Award and lends her expert advice and voice to training on social media, romance travel, diversity and inclusion at ongoing events. And she’s fully certified through The Travel Institute; she’s earned her Certified Travel Associate, Certified Travel Counselor and Certified Travel Industry Executive certifications.
With over 18 years of experience in the travel, hospitality and marketing industries, she is the travel mentor and business spirit guide to agency owners and independent contractors that every travel professional can learn from. In fact, in 2017, she won the Pax Global Media Social Media Guru of the Year Award by working in her top five social media platforms and sharing her love digitally with her travel community. Here is how she got there and how you can, too, with a little help from social media. See? How can you understand all of that from her title alone?
How she got here
According to Belgrave, the universe was always sending her signs that she should be working in travel. One of the most memorable signs for her was a road trip to Seattle where the conversation quickly turned to traveling the world. “I said we should go, and six months later after planning and selling my car, I was off backpacking around the world with my good friends,” Belgrave says. “It’s a familiar story for many travel advisors. We start out planning and finessing the travel itineraries for friends, family or office associates, and that leads to the epiphany one day of ‘Wow! I really love planning this stuff!’”
Before Belgrave first stepped into the travel industry, she spent a lot of time analyzing human behavior and needs by working in market research. Belgrave brought that experience with her as an independent contractor in the travel industry. “The first travel agency I worked for literally threw me into the marketing deep end. They didn’t have the marketing supports that Nexion members do to nurture and grow their business. I had to take a guerrilla marketing approach, which was challenging for me as an introvert putting myself out there in unconventional ways.”
The result of putting herself out there in unconventional ways led to spots in trade publications and wedding magazines, and led
her to create amazing connections within the travel industry and increased visibility with her target audience. All while simultaneously learning the travel industry, Belgrave was taking in everything she could about the digital space, which was very different 15 years ago. She says, “Imagine, in 2021 there are 1.96 billion apps in the Apple Store and 2.87 in the Google Play Store, so not so easy to master them all!” The top five platforms that she uses to stay current and for communicating with her tribe and training are Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest.
Your time is now
“We’re in the renaissance of travel and this is the perfect time for travel advisors to leverage the social media space,” says Belgrave. She says there is so much confusion around how to travel and where to go combined with incredible pent-up demand to get out there. And she adds that “this is the time for travel advisors to showcase themselves as the subject matter experts and answer those questions for eager travelers.” While social media often has the appeal of being inexpensive, it’s one of the mistakes Belgrave says she sees over and over again with travel advisors. “The secret sauce is how you deliver those answers to the public. Answer the questions (how, when, where) and highlight destinations. The possibilities are endless — I say get creative!”
There are so many ways to stay top of mind
CAROLINE’S 6 STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
1. Stick to a few of your favorite apps and platforms to master.
2. Be true to yourself: Your content should speak to how you see the world with your travel focus and passion. This includes using photos and videos of you wherever you can to be as authentic as possible.
3. Create a process to capture leads. Social media is a tool that you use to drive potential clients into a space where you can nurture the relationships such as into a CRM.
4. Talk to people — engagement, engagement, engagement. Ask people questions on social platforms, respond to comments with more than a “Thank you for liking my post.” The level of engagement you have with your followers on ANY platform is going to impact the algorithm in a positive way for you.
5. Analyze your results. If it’s broken, absote fi t at o e o t n en o e posting and where you’re posting aren’t working, change it. Belgrave doesn’t recommend changing the what, when and where all at once, but change one thing at a time to see if that impacts your results, i.e., change t e at fi t n tead o o t n ct e test posting videos. Same thing with “when.” If you normally post in the morning or once a week, try posting in the afternoon or evening. Change something, watch it for a few weeks then reevaluate.
6. Pick an individual or agency that understands your business and brand. There is no shame in outsourcing your social media management.
with existing clients that also bring awareness to new potential clients through social media. With so many ways to use the tools of social media, travel advisors should use a medium (text, audio, photography, video) that best works for their style and brand. Don’t try to do it all.
Belgrave says the path to success with social media is “researching how your buyer personas (meaning the traits and characteristics your typical client has) use social media and which platforms they are spending their time on. An alternative strategy is to be on platforms that are on trend and creating a presence to draw potential clients to you and your business.” TikTok, with its short-form videos, was the fastest growing platform in 2020 and early adopters from the travel sector are seeing great success. It beat out social media giant Facebook for the most downloads, and although it’s demographic is statistically Generation Z, there is potential to reach other audiences. Another hot spot is YouTube, owned by search engine giant Google and the go-to spot for people to get answers to every ”how” question in the universe. With 2 billion monthly users and hundreds of hours of video consumed per
minute, now is the time for advisors to tell their travel stories.
Short-form videos on a variety of platforms are seeing the largest reach and higher levels of engagement than other types of content shared, such as static images or text-based posts. In response to TikTok’s short-form videos, YouTube also introduced YouTube Shorts and Instagram introduced Instagram Reels. If you don’t like the idea of video, then the audio-based and invitation-only platform Clubhouse is the place to be heard. Facebook is still a powerhouse and continues to rise to the challenge put forth by other platforms with new features and functions.
If you haven’t guessed it, “social media” and “now” are the answers to how and when is the best time for travel advisors is to rebuild their businesses. After all, we’re in the renaissance of travel and social media, and it’s important to be prepared with the tools to succeed moving forward in the worlds of both.
Follow Belgrave on Instagram at @carolinebelgrave or connect with her on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/carolinebelgrave. Find her digital and social media training on Instagram at @digital_training_collective.
RECIPE: CAROLINE’S SOCIAL MEDIA SECRET SAUCE
• Use Instagram Reels or TikTok stories.
• Go live on Facebook inside your private groups to create an allure.
• Send out video intros on LinkedIn to let people know you’re here to answer questions.
• Do a podcast and invite DMCs and suppliers to come have a chat.
• Crossover with a podcast that you also broadcast on Clubhouse (the latest au dio-only social media app).
• Use YouTube to feature destinations or cruise experiences but put your own twist on the knowledge sharing and travel highlights.
The Compass on VAX
The digital content you need to power your business
If you’re looking for travel inspiration to share with your clients, time-saving industry insights for you or words of wisdom from industry leaders, The Compass has what you need to be a pro advisor.
Plus, did you know that every article on The Compass has buttons so you can share articles with just one click? The Compass makes it easy for you to be a content marketer.
But don’t fret – your clients can’t access VAX’s booking engine from the articles, so their booking will still be yours.
VAX exists to enable travel advisor success. It’s that simple.
Our award-winning booking platform and wealth of travel content and resources are tailored to and made available exclusively for travel advisors.
We are a community of more than 110,000+ leisure travel advisors, who are turning industry insights into professional growth, and turning supplier relationships into more sales.
vaxvacationaccess.com/TheCompass
TECH TO KNOW: Timeshifter
WORDS / LAUREL DELP | PHOTOS / COURTESY OF TIMESHIFTER
Timeshifter
co-founder and CEO Mickey Beyer-Clausen
The app that gets your sleep back on track.
Whether you’re airborne for work or for pleasure, jetting over multiple time zones can wreak havoc on your health, especially for frequent travelers. Over the years there’ve been plenty of anti-jet lag fads and products, few of which worked, some of which were outright silly. How many times, despite all your efforts, have you arrived at a destination suffering from an undeniable state of mental fog?
Timeshifter co-founder and CEO Mickey Beyer-Clausen grew up traveling the world with his mother, a flight attendant for Scandinavian Airlines. It’s no wonder that years later the tech entrepreneur has teamed up with eminent scientists to create an app that addresses the central dilemma of jet travel — the interruption of the circadian rhythm, which is a person’s pattern of sleeping and waking over 24 hours.
Fatigue, mood shifts and an inability to concentrate are the most obvious jet lag symptoms, along with insomnia. But these issues aren’t just the unfortunate consequences of flying that we must be resigned to or should simply shrug off. Interruptions to the circadian rhythm can affect even the healthiest body and, more importantly, according to recent studies, the immune system.
The timing of exposure to light and darkness is crucial in avoiding jet lag. Within the brain, cells in the hypothalamus set your circadian clock according to information on light and darkness sent from the eyes. There’s also a possible genetic connection to your chronotype, which is your personal circadian rhythm — are you an early morning go-getter, or someone who’s more productive into the night hours? There is no one-fits-all solution.
“Properly timed light exposure must be at the foundation of any jet lag solution, and it must be personalized to each passenger because of the impact of departure and arrival timing, biological differences and personal preferences,” says Beyer-Clausen. “No generic solution will ever work — scientific studies have made that completely clear. We’re thrilled to finally put an end to all the jet lag myths and misinformation out there, and instead offer an effective tool that truly addresses the underlying cause of jet lag.”
First launched in 2018, the Timeshifter app provides individualized advice that outlines steps to take before, during and after flights. The technology borrows from NASA techniques for adjusting astronauts to the ultimate interruption in circadian rhythm: space flight. But you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to use the app; its recommendations are easily understood and followed.
What should you do in order to arrive at your destination alert, feeling good and, crucially, healthy? When should you be in bright light, when in darkness? When should you sleep, when to drink or avoid caffeine? Should you take melatonin, and if so, when and how much?
Timeshifter’s algorithm takes into consideration your chronotype and your itinerary to determine the best steps to carry you through
a flight with minimal disruption to your health. And have no fear, should your schedule suddenly change, Timeshifter can quickly adjust your program to your new needs.
The app is so effective at its job that the company has partnered with a number of high-power firms, including United Airlines, Six Senses, Amadeus and SAP. After all, no one wants their clients or employees to arrive too discombobulated to function in a meeting or to enjoy the first day of a long-anticipated vacation.
Learn more about Timeshifter at timeshifter.com and find the app in the App Store and on Google Play.
EMBRACING AND ELEVATING DIVERSITY IN TRAVEL
TRAVEL ADVISORS PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN FURTHERING INCLUSION IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY. HERE’S HOW TO GET STARTED.
OR S / R TH TERR
Pandemic inequalities and the global protests spurred by George Floyd’s murder have changed everything — including how we approach diversity, equity and inclusion within travel.
“This is the first-class line,” the airport staffer told Kerwin McKenzie, implying that he was in the wrong queue for check-in.
He wasn’t.
McKenzie is a self-described “aviation geek” turned travel expert and blogger, who has worked in the travel industry and traveled extensively since 1994. During this trip in 2019, he was flying to New York, one of many trips he planned to make that year; he had others planned to Modena, Italy, and Berlin. He clocks about 200,000 miles every year and has frequent flyer status on several airlines.
But because he is a Black man, McKenzie stands out and is sometimes treated differently from other travelers.
“People have a perception of us,” says McKenzie, who also writes the travel blog Passrider. “So, whenever I travel, I realize that by default, I’m the ambassador. I could have gone off on her, right? But had I done that people would be like, ‘No, there’s a Black guy yelling at some white lady.’ And I was like, ‘That’s not the image that I want.’ My treating her better than she treated me allowed her to kind of realize that she was wrong and even want to apologize. My hope was that [the airport employee] wouldn’t do that to the next person.”
Situations like these occur frequently, putting stress on travelers from historically marginalized communities. Sometimes these incidents are offensive but relatively benign — a person confuses you with a hotel employee; another snaps unsolicited photos of you because you stand out.
Others are more serious. Many Black women travelers to Europe have written about being confused for sex workers, causing them to feel less safe. In July 2020, CNN reported that, during the pandemic, Asian travelers have experienced everything from racist comments on flights to physical assault. And one in three LGBT travelers feels they are “treated differently due to their sexuality when on holiday,” according to a 2017 report by the World Tourism Organization. (Being LGBTQ+ is still stigmatized in many countries — and criminalized in 71, according to Human Dignity Trust).
Still, people from all these communities do travel, and make up a sizable share of the global travel market. Making sure these
travelers are fully accepted requires greater awareness of diverse travelers’ unique challenges and preferences, and more allies within the travel industry.
Inclusion starts with education: resources for travel advisors
Following the racial reckoning spurred by global protests following the murder of George Floyd, the Black Travel Alliance spearheaded #PullUpForTravel, a social media campaign to improve accountability around diversity that piggybacked on the Pull Up For Change initiative. This year, the group conducted a survey of Black travelers in partnership with research firm MMGY Global.
The report revealed that a majority of Black travelers chose destinations based on perceived safety and are more likely to visit destinations if they see Black people in marketing materials. Popular domestic destinations in the United States were Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia and California. Internationally, Black travelers were most likely to visit the Bahamas, Jamaica, Sydney, London and Paris.
Additional findings challenge dated ideas that many people still have about how Black people travel and how much they spend.
“For the longest time, the perception was that Black people just drive everywhere, which is not necessarily the case,” says McKenzie.
Another stereotype is that Black people (and Latinos, according to Latino travel expert Vanessa Fondeur-Adams) don’t spend on travel and don’t do luxury. In 2019, Black travelers spent nearly $110 billion, about 13% of total U.S. leisure spending. “We do do
luxury,” says McKenzie. “But just like everybody else, we want to get a good deal.”
Everything from media portrayals to historical erasure perpetuates harmful stereotypes that, despite our best intentions, create unconscious bias and make us treat people differently. That’s why it’s so important for travel advisors to educate themselves about their own implicit bias and pay attention to the people making the travel industry more inclusive through resources and education (see sidebar).
Noninclusive marketing is a missed opportunity
Diverse travelers represent a sizable market share: Research from the University of Minnesota Tourism Center shows Asian Americans outspend the typical U.S. traveler, and research from the National Tour Association found that Hispanics “are clearly outpacing” the number of vacations their non-Hispanic white counterparts take. LGBTQ+ travelers alone comprise a $211 billion global travel market, according to data from RCI Ventures, the leading vacation exchange network.
Still, diverse clientele isn’t always a focus in the industry. “When I go to conferences, I look at the brochures and you have to just walk down the aisles — very few people are marketing to Black people,” says McKenzie. “It’s changing somewhat ... but they’re not quite there.”
Other experts agree that travel media and destination marketers tend to alienate people by mainly featuring able-bodied, white travelers and heterosexual couples. “The travel industry has constantly just ignored the Black travel market and that is to their
detriment,” Paula Franklin, co-founder of the communications firm Franklin Bailey, told The New York Times in June 2020. “I don’t think the exclusion has been intentional, but it is pervasive.”
Fondeur-Adams, who founded the bilingual Latino World Travelers community to help other Latinos find travel inspiration, deals and destinations, also believes the lack of representation in advertising sends the wrong message to marginalized groups.
“I’m feeling like we don’t belong in spaces because we’re not being featured. They’re not marketing to us,” says FondeurAdams. “If they don’t put a picture of [someone like] me going to the Maldives, how am I supposed to think, ‘Wow, I could actually imagine myself going to the Maldives’?”
Worse than not including people of color is portraying them in harmful ways, such as depicting locals as “exotic” curiosities who are there to serve white visitors. This is especially problematic when marketing destinations such as the Caribbean that have histories of colonialism and enslavement.
“When these hotels [in tropical locations] are showing somebody of color in a tuxedo serving a white person, it goes back to colonialism days,” says McKenzie, who is originally from Jamaica, which was a British colony until 1962. “You don’t need that in your brochure to sell what you’re selling. You can [just] say, ‘We have butler service.”
Putting in the work: how advisors can better serve diverse clients
DMOs, service providers and travel advisors need to continue to lean into content that is respectful, resonates with an increasingly
diverse clientele and informs them about local amenities and activities they might enjoy. But adding that kind of value may take some work.
First, travel professionals can advertise diverse cultural heritage and history when promoting recommended destinations. “If you don’t know [what’s appropriate], go find a Black person and ask them because they will tell you,” says McKenzie.
Second, advisors should look to existing resources (familiarization trips, connections with DMOs, chambers of commerce and local experts are good places to start) to find out about Black-owned businesses and cultural heritage sites that might otherwise get overlooked. “Say, ‘I would love to tell my Black clients what they can do when they’re here, which neighborhood is good, which neighborhood is comfortable and things like that,’” advises McKenzie.
Third, look to social media to follow travel brands and influencers, such as the Black Travel Alliance and Latino World Travelers, that can help broaden their perspective and plan better trips for clients.
Fourth, advisors should make it a habit to understand and accommodate clients’ cultural norms. For example, Latino travelers often travel with family and prioritize trips to their countries
of origin, says Fondeur-Adams. She also recommends having bilingual information and a Spanish speaker at your travel agency.
Finally and importantly, McKenzie wants to see more people in the travel industry step up as allies.
“We need allies, regardless of your color,” says McKenzie. “If you see something wrong happening to your fellow human, then, you know, you should try to do something about it.”
To that end, travel advisors should be ready to contact service providers on behalf of clients to address problematic treatment — like assuming a traveler’s status based on their skin color. “They will put you through to the manager,” something they might not do for your client, notes McKenzie, whose background includes customer service.
This isn’t just the right thing to do; it also makes good business sense.
“It’s going to bring more clientele, because once they have a good experience with one client, that client is going to refer people,” says Fondeur-Adams, noting that Latinos, in particular, are extremely brand loyal. “It’s just opening yourself up to a whole new network. By embracing us, you learn about us, and in return, we share you with our community.”
Resources for Advisors
• The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association, established in 1983, is a network of LGBTQ+ friendly travel service providers that offers trip-planning advice and destination guides for LGBTQ+ travelers.
• Latinas Who Travel and Latino World Travelers are building Latino representation within travel and creating community around curated, culturally responsive travel experiences.
• The Black Travel Alliance is an award-winning nonprofit that amplifies Black travel content creators and holds the industry accountable to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals (Kerwin McKenzie is a board member).
• There are many BIPOC travel writers and educators who provide unique insights into the problematic aspects of travel and how we can all do better when it comes to equity and inclusion. Bani Amor focuses on decolonizing travel and shares resources via their Instagram page (instagram.com/baniamor). The book “Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World” by Dr. Anu Taranath explores equity and mindfulness in travel. Goodreads has a list of travel narratives written by people of color, “Best Travel Narratives by People of Color.” Also, check out Esquire’s list, “10 Essential Books About the Asian American Experience,” and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s anti-racism reading list, available on The New York Times website.
RESORT REFRESH:
If there ever were an ideal time for a reinvention, it’s 2021.
New year, new you. Many resorts came into 2021 with brand-new looks or big plans coming later in the year. Here are six resorts with either fresh renovations ready to explore now or new looks in the works, planning to be ready for the leisure travel boom expected this year.
Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel Maui, Hawaii
Located oceanfront on Maui’s world-famous Ka¯‘anapali Beach, “Hawaii’s Most Hawaiian Hotel” welcomes guests with authentic Hawaiian hospitality. In 2020, the hotel announced the “Kealaula” property enhancement project, which was unveiled in early 2021. “Kealaula” translates to “the light of early dawn and the glow of sunset” and this project is dubbed as more of a renewal rather than renovation. Significant redesign to each of the 180 premium rooms in the Papaku¯ South Wing (formerly known as the Kaua’i Wing) and the 84 enhanced rooms in the Kauhale Southeast Wing (formerly known as the La¯na’i Wing) now exude an earthy feel and have been upgraded and infused with modern design elements and features while still retaining a strong sense of Hawaiian culture. Each room features employee-made mea makamae shadow boxes that include “ma¯kau” (fishhooks), “lu¯ he‘e” (octopus lure), “lei ku¯ pe‘e” and “lei pipipi” (nerite lei) and “mea kaua” (weapons). Huihui, the hotel’s new signature oceanfront restaurant, functions as a gathering place. It also serves as a relaxing dining experience with unobstructed ocean views and an extension of the property’s canoeing programs with the eventual addition of a sailing academy. The 5,000-square-foot venue highlights the incredible accomplishment of Hawaiian navigation and features a unique space to house a new Hawaiian sailing canoe. With these transformative enhancements there is no question as to why Ka¯‘anapali Beach Hotel was recognized in HAWAI‘I Magazine’s 2020 eighth annual Readers’ Choice Awards. Kã‘anapali Beach Hotel ranked No. 1 on Maui across seven categories ranging from Best Hotel/ Resort with Aloha Spirit to Best Buffet and Best Hotel/Resort Staff. Adding to its extensive list of honors, the hotel was also acknowledged across six additional categories for Maui including Best Hotel/Resort for Families, Best Hotel/Resort Guest Services Program and Best Resort for a Wedding.
Sunscape Sabor Cozumel
Cozumel, Mexico
On the captivating island of Cozumel, just off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is Sunscape Sabor Cozumel, an AMResorts property. From sunup to sundown, this is a diver’s paradise and the ultimate and unforgettable all-inclusive, family-friendly experience with crystal-clear water and just a short boat ride away from the second-largest coral reef system in the world. The ocean that surrounds the island is a big focus at the resort, so much so that there’s a full-service dive operator on-site, allowing guests to embark on scuba dive trips. The resort even offers an underwater wedding package which includes a dive trip for water-loving couples. AMResorts announced in early February that the property will undergo a significant investment of $2.5 million to completely renovate 48 guest rooms consisting of 24 deluxe tropical view, 12 deluxe oceanfront and 12 deluxe ocean view rooms.
Dreams Los Cabos Suites Golf Resort & Spa
Los Cabos, Mexico
Set along the Sea of Cortez and surrounded by eight championship golf courses, Dreams Los Cabos Golf Resort & Spa embodies the elegance of traditional, colonial Mexican design. The 260 suites feature spacious bathrooms and private furnished balconies with breathtaking ocean views. It has never been easier to reimagine R & R and fun in the sun with its stunning swimming pools — whether you dive into the new-and-improved heated infinity pool with the whole family (did we mention there’s a waterslide?), which made its debut in February 2021, or take a dip in the adults-only pool to try out the personalized concierge and bar service at its two swim-up bars.
On Your Radar: 5 New Resorts
THESE FIVE RESORTS HAVE JUST COME ON TO THE SCENE. PUT THEM ON YOUR LIST FOR YOUR CLIENTS WHO ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NEW.
1. Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
OPENED: FEBRUARY 2021
You Can’t Miss: Seven on-site restaurants featuring traditional and avantgarde local and international cuisine for the ultimate gastronomic experience.
2. Aloft Ponce, Puerto Rico
OPENED: APRIL 2021
You Can’t Miss: The gorgeous view of the city from the rooftop lounge.
3. The Yucatan Resort Playa del Carmen, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Mexico
OPENED: MAY 2021
You Can’t Miss: VIP access to Hilton Playa del Carmen’s private beachfront, just minutes away from the property.
4. Margaritaville Resort Times Square, New York
OPENED: JUNE 2021
You Can’t Miss: The island-inspired guest rooms that create the iconic Margaritaville vibe in the heart of New York City.
5. Hotel Xcaret Arte, Mexico
OPENING: JULY 2021
You Can’t Miss: The Muluk Spa that offers a variety of hydrotherapies, flotation spas, mudrooms and vapor treatments. Plus, there’s an Alchemists Studio where guests can create oils, scents, lotions and potions.
Hotel Xcaret Arte will open in Mexico in July.
5 Sandals Royal Caribbean
Montego Bay, Jamaica
A kaleidoscope of colors and cultures from Britain to Bali awaits at Sandals Royal Caribbean. This adults-only resort also announced a refresh in late 2020 with upgrades that included the renovation of 36 rooms across its Caernarvon and Arundel buildings. Located within the resort’s Caribbean Village and joining the innovative Sandringham building introduced in early 2020, the newly upgraded poolside rooms feature custom furniture, Tranquility Soaking Tubs™ for two, new spa-style bathrooms and more enhancements that modernize the luxurious rooms. Three restaurant concepts were recently introduced at this property: Spices is an authentic island restaurant experience with Pan-Caribbean favorites; Bombay Club offers authentic Indian cuisine; and La Tavola allows guests to share comfort, cuisine and camaraderie often found around every Italian table. Plus, developments to the South Pool and surrounding area include a new Jacuzzi, new cabanas with outdoor fans and lighting and a new outdoor shower. These enhancements add to the resort’s already cutting-edge architectural ambiance and its features like the intimate and lavishly designed over-the-water bungalows.
Banyan Tree Mayakoba
Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Stretched across 620 private acres of lagoons, tropical beaches and lush jungle on the eastern seaboard of the Yucatan Peninsula is Banyan Tree Mayakoba’s complex, which includes Andaz Mayakoba, Fairmont Mayakoba and Rosewood Mayakoba. The Sands Beach Club, the unveiling of two-story, 2,385-square-foot overwater villas and addition of 34 new beachfront pool suites are part of a $50 million renovation scheduled to debut in August 2021. The Sands Beach Club has already become the highlight and heart of the property with an expanded oceanfront pool, restaurant, beachfront lounge, an interactive Rangers Club for kids and nearby beachside Banyan Tree Spa. The new beachfront pool suites measure between 1,740 and 3,155 square feet and feature interior patios, outdoor showers and whirlpool bathtubs, and a solarium with a heated, private plunge pool. One of the redesign’s most compelling characteristics is the way it capitalizes on the property’s natural landscape. Mayakoba means “village over the water” in Mayan and this property speaks to its translation, as it’s a breathtaking sanctuary for the senses and these enhancements make this the perfect place for relaxation, rejuvenation, romance and world-class dining.
THE STATE OF TRAVEL RECOVERY
No more looking back; let’s look at where we are now and where the industry is headed next.
OR S / AN REA SE ACE
Buckle up because we’re taking a data deep dive into the travel industry’s more-thanwelcome recovery.
Showing signs in early 2021
Signs of recovery began just after the start of the new year, when the Transportation Security Administration screened more than 1 million passengers for three days in a row: Jan. 2, 3 and 4.
That metric didn’t surpass 1 million again until mid-February, but that first positive blip was a hopeful glimpse into what was to come.
Then we encountered a bit of a challenge. On Jan. 26, a new rule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the potential to sideline travel went into effect: All air passengers entering the U.S. were required to get a COVID-19 test within three days before their flight to the
U.S. and provide documentation to the airline they’re flying with of either a negative result for COVID-19 or proof that they’ve recovered from COVID-19. It caused quite a stir amongst travel advisors, with many questions and unfortunately, cancellations from their clients.
Hotels and resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean quickly mobilized to counteract the potential worry by offering on-site COVID-19 testing to guests, often at no cost, along with extended stay accommodations if a guest did test positive and needed to quarantine before heading back to the U.S. (read more about the quick actions of hotels and resorts on page XX). AMResorts, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, Sandos Hotels & Resorts,
6,000
La Colección by Fiesta Americana, RIU Hotels & Resorts and Sandals Resorts are just a few of the resort brands that sprang into action for their guests to offer on-site testing. Apple Leisure Group Vacations even added a Hotel Amenities filter and hotel-specific messaging to its products on VAX to make it easy for travel advisors to find properties that offered on-site COVID-19 testing.
Soon after the CDC’s rule was in effect, TSA then offered another glimpse into the industry’s recovery in late February by
Traffic to the VAX website in January 2021 grew 72% over December 2020.
The Lowest Point
April 13, 2020
87,534 pax screened
1 Million Mark!
October 8, 2020
1,031,505 pax screened
announcing that it was seeking to hire more than 6,000 airport security screening officers by summer 2021 in anticipation of a busy summer season. And then more exciting news came from TSA in mid-March: 1.4 million passengers were screened at airports around the U.S. on Friday, March 12, 2021, the most passengers screened in one day since March 15, 2020. On the same day in 2020, TSA screened 1.71 million passengers, which was 18% more than in 2021, but still a promising sign for travel.
A New Daily Record
March 12, 2021
1,409,771 pax screened
VAX VacationAccess saw its own signs of recovery. Traffic to the VAX website in January 2021 grew 72% over December 2020. The first month of the year is generally the busiest on VAX, but seeing such a significant increase in site traffic was incredibly hopeful. February did not disappoint, with a 7% increase in site traffic over January, followed by a blowout in March with an 82% increase over February. The VAX site was buzzing.
In early March, VAX conducted an on-site poll asking travel advisors how the new CDC testing rule was impacting their business. The results were mixed: 40% said they had more canceled or postponed bookings, 34% said their clients felt intimidated or less confident traveling, 19% said their clients actually felt safer with the extra precautions and surprisingly, 4% said they had fewer canceled or postponed bookings.
COVID-19 Vaccinations in the U.S.
My clients feel intimidated/less confident traveling with these updated entry requirements
My clients feel safer traveling with extra precautions (on-site testing, quarantine if needed, etc.)
Less cancelled or postponed
Other
VAX followed up with another poll, this time asking travel advisors what their biggest obstacle was in navigating the travel industry in 2021. The poll didn’t include an option to choose the CDC testing rule, in order to understand the obstacles outside of that one, and 48% of respondents said they were struggling the most with making sure their clients felt safe and confident to travel.
So naturally, VAX turned to travel advisors to see how the increased vaccine rollout was affecting their business. The results were overwhelmingly positive, with 81% saying they saw an increase in bookings and clients calls and only 11% saying they were not seeing an increase.
Throughout all of this, the COVID-19 vaccination effort was well underway in the U.S. By March 15, 119 million COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered and 42 million people in the U.S. were fully vaccinated.
Source: VAX on-site poll, Mar. 17-21, 2021
A steady April
Friday, April 2, brought exciting news. The CDC announced that people who were fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorized vaccine could travel safely within the U.S. and U.S. territories.
This was big news.
At the same time, data on the feelings of safety amongst travelers gathered by Destination Analysts, a tourism market research fi rm, showed that Americans were starting to consider travel to be safe. A Destination Analyst survey of American travelers conducted from April 2-4, 2021, found that 39% of travelers still considered travel activities unsafe and 37% were still avoiding travel in general. That may still seem kind of low, but the same survey conducted April 3-5, 2020, found that 70% considered travel activities unsafe and 81% were still avoiding travel in general. What a difference a year (and few million vaccines) can make.
Prior to this announcement from the CDC, travel advisors were already seeing an increase in their domestic bookings, according to an on-site poll conducted by VAX. Half of travel advisors said their domestic business increased by 50% or more, with 17% saying it had no impact.
The shopping activity on VAX reflected these poll results, with the top five domestic destinations on VAX (Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, Honolulu and Maui) seeing big growth starting in March.
Source: VAX on-site poll, April 21-23, 2021
Source: VAX shopping data, Jan. 1, 2021 – April 30, 2021 Domestic Destination Shopping on VAX
The top domestic destinations shopped on VAX aligned almost perfectly with the top summer travel destinations Allianz Partners gathered from its 2021 Top 10 Summer Destinations Review.
Orlando
Maui Honolulu Kauai Big Island
Seattle Anchorage
Las Vegas
Boston Miami
1. Orlando 2. Maui 3. Honolulu 4. Seattle 5. Anchorage 6. Las Vegas 7. Kauai 8. Big Island 9. Boston 10. Miami
+435% in April 2021 over April 2020
Source: VAX website data, Jan. 2020 - June 2021
At the end of April, even more big news came. In an interview with The New York Times, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, shared that Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to travel to the European Union once again, as early as summer 2021. Details were to come, but excitement and travel planning were underway as soon as the news hit.
On our way in May
By early May, 87% of Americans were planning to travel in the summer, according to survey data from Destination Analysts. By May 5, the CDC reported that 250 million COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in the U.S. and 107 million people were fully vaccinated. The United States Tour Operators Association shared survey results showing that nine out of 10 USTOA active members saw a recent increase in sales and eight out of 10 felt enthusiastic or cautiously optimistic for a complete resumption of business by the
end of 2021. “Where can Americans travel now” and “places to travel during COVID” were trending Google searches in the U.S.
In one of the most telltale signs of recovery, TSA screened at least 1 million travelers every day since March 11, 2021. The traveler screenings still hadn’t reached 2019’s numbers but compared to 2020, things were really looking up. Good thing they ramped up their workforce in February.
By Memorial Day, weekend, TSA had reached almost 2 million passengers screened in one day with 1.9 million passengers screened on Memorial Day itself.
And by the end of May, VAX’s site traffic was holding steady, showing that the buzz that began in January 2021 was not ending any time soon.
No one wants to be too optimistic; it would be a shame to make sweeping predictions that never pan out. But the data speaks for itself. Travel is well on its way to recovery.
VAX Site Traffic
Travel Inspo Tool Kit
Now updated with fresh content!
Power your agency’s social media and content marketing with ready-made social media images, memes and articles
The time to travel is now and the time to connect with travelers is now
Turn to VAX’s Travel Inspo Tool Kit to get the content you need to make those connections
https://www.vaxvacationaccess.com/toolkit
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY
TIPS FOR FINDING THE PERFECT TRAVEL EXPERIENCE FOR EVERY CLIENT’S BUDGET.
WORDS / RUTH TERRY
Finances can be deeply emotional and, for most of us, talking about them is even more taboo than discussing things like sex or religious beliefs. That reality can make it hard for clients to open up about their travel budgets and for travel advisors to feel totally comfortable asking about them. But you’ll have to broach the “B” word if you want to help them maximize their travel investment.
Here are some expert tips for navigating that conversation with your clients and helping them be more strategic with their spending.
Ease into the money conversation
Even if you happen to be one of those rare individuals who happen to be perfectly comfortable talking about finances, your clients may not be. A less direct approach can help put them at ease — and give you clues as to the travel experiences that are a good match for them.
First, start by zeroing in on your client’s “travel personality,” says Kristin Braswell, owner of travel
Budget Cheat Sheet
BASED ON OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH EXPERTS, HERE’S A CHEAT SHEET FOR ASSISTING CLIENTS AT EVERY BUDGET LEVEL.
BUDGET
At the budget level, it’s all about planning and flexibility.
Steal These Tips
Send your clients information about travel deals for airfare and accommodations.
Help clients connect with reward programs that can help them offset travel expenses.
Present a wide array of options, including domestic packages and off-season price comparisons.
Investigate less-expensive options for on-the-ground transport — mopeds, auto rickshaws and shared taxis can add authentic flare — and hyperlocal dining options.
For every trip, help clients identify one splurge, such as a fancy meal or a massage, to elevate the whole experience.
agency CrushGlobal. Before talking numbers, Braswell suggests finding out what clients are passionate about via intake surveys and conversation.
“It’s really just showing the client that you understand what their travel personality is — listening in for the special touches that you can add to make it an incredible and memorable travel experience for them,” Braswell says.
Next, ask clients about their previous travel experiences, which will tell you more about their travel preferences and how much they are accustomed to spending.
“You just have to be clear on, ‘What is your travel style and what are you willing to be flexible with?’” says Vanessa Fondeur-Adams, who plans and hosts tours for members of the online community Latino World Traveler. What clients envision in terms of their ideal locations, transportation methods and dining options all “make a huge difference that can make or break their budgets,” she says.
Be sure to ask clients if they’ve done any online research about their upcoming trip and what prices they came across for flights,
VALUE
Value clients have more budget flexibility, but they’re still cost-conscious.
Help clients set a realistic budget.
Deliver rich experiences within budget parameters, but also suggest “must-do” splurges based on a client’s personality and what the destination has to offer.
Make sure bigger-ticket items, like a private tour at a single historical site or a luxury hotel for the last few nights, are substantial enough to really be the highlight of a vacation.
“Splurge the last couple of nights on a really nice, relaxing hotel, with a nice pool and amazing views.” - Matt Wahlgren, owner of Matt Travel
SPLURGE
With this client, the sky’s the limit. Take time crafting bespoke itineraries that really resonate with your client’s personality and preferences.
Whether your client is looking for an adventure or just wants to be pampered, every service provider needs to offer an exceptional standard of service, and make clients feel like valued guests.
Consider immersive local experiences like yoga retreats or artist vacations.
Help clients find ways to capture their memories by connecting them with local photographers.
accommodation and tours.
Keep in mind that research shows people who can afford vacations plan to spend an average of $2,470 on trips in 2021, according to a survey of American travelers conducted by IPX 2031, a leading investment services company, while others are using their pandemic stimulus checks to splurge on travel.
Educate your clients about what’s possible
Once you have this initial information, talking about your client’s actual budget should be less daunting — especially if you can assure them that you can deliver their dream vacation, regardless of how much they have to spend.
“Sometimes clients or travelers may not be aware of what’s possible within their budget,” says Braswell, who organizes everything from wine-country road trips to international getaways.
Braswell thinks creatively to help clients extend their budgets, particularly if they have more modest means, and likes “empowering them with information” about where to cut costs.
“I think that it’s important to communicate what some of the constraints might be with their budgets and to suggest alternatives,” says Braswell. “Like a friend of mine always says, ‘Have problem, think solution.’”
CrushGlobal’s work includes luxury escapes—think exclusive getaways to destinations such as Portugal and Grenada—but Braswell isn’t averse to suggesting accommodations including Airbnbs and motels, which she notes are “stepping up their game” when it comes to amenities.
Fondeur-Adams shares cut-rate deals on flights and accommodations with members of Latino World Travelers. She also suggests that people integrate points programs through credit cards and apps like OpenTable, a restaurant booking platform, into their normal routines.
“I just went to Guatemala and paid $0.69 for a hotel,” says Fondeur-Adams, who redeemed about five years’ worth of accumulated points to cover her stay.
Jonathan de Araujo, who owns The Vacationeer, an agency specializing in Disney vacations, helps his clients maximize their money by looking at how they spend their time. Big choices such as visiting during the off-season and small ones such as arriving at parks early all translate to more time immersing yourself in Disney magic and providing more value — advice that could easily apply to other vacations.
“You can see more in less time, which is important,” says de Araujo.
Help clients get the biggest bang for their buck Insider knowledge of destinations will only take travel advisors so far. You can go above and beyond for your clients by thinking
creatively about where to cut costs and where to splurge.
“I think that being strategic with the client’s budget is absolutely an underappreciated art form,” Braswell says.
Braswell founded CrushGlobal “to speak more to a diverse travel demographic,” and doesn’t want “clients with a smaller budget … to ever feel like things are shut off to them because of it.” To that end, she’s intentional about building out her preferred vendor networks so that she can recommend options at every price point.
“Building partnerships with various business owners has allowed me to establish certain packages or things outside of market rate for my clients,” says Braswell.
Food and beverage spending is typically the biggest budget line
item after transportation and lodging, according to research conducted by ValuePenguin, the research arm of LendingTree, so it makes sense to be strategic about where you recommend clients wine and dine. First, even all-inclusives don’t always include food and alcohol. Whether it’s a European plan or a full American plan, make sure your clients know what they’re signing up for.
Then, consider that some clients may want more variety than these resorts can offer — or a cheaper, local option, says FondeurAdams. Doing the extra research to identify local eateries for your clients is a way to “differentiate yourself by providing something extra that not all travel agents offer,” she says.
Perhaps counterintuitively, planning for big splurges — whether on food or other meaningful experiences — is also key to maximizing your client’s budget.
“For middle-of-the-road spenders, if I tell them that they should try to save or splurge, then that really depends on what they want to do,” says Braswell. “If they want to go to the Maldives and have the ultimate experience, of course, I’m going to say ‘Hey, if you’re middle-of-the-road, absolutely, we should spend $500 extra here for that elevated experience.”
On European tours, Matt Wahlgren, the owner of Matt Travel, advises clients to splurge on an incredible meal on their first night and a luxury hotel on their last. He also encourages private tours — but only for locations that really matter to the client.
“Those can be kind of pricey, maybe $1,000-plus for the day to do that kind of tour,” says Wahlgren, who recently helped one client plan a private tour of the Vatican. “But then after that, you do the hop-on, hop-off bus … which is typically no more than $100, and you’re seeing all the other sites that way.”
Help Clients Avoid Unforeseen Costs
MOST PEOPLE STAY WITHIN THEIR BUDGETS WHEN THEY PLAN TRAVEL, ACCORDING TO RESEARCH BY ALLIANZ, A PROVIDER OF TRAVEL INSURANCE. BUT THOSE WHO DON’T ADD A HEFTY 20% TO 32% TO THE COST OF THEIR TRIPS. HELP YOUR CLIENTS AVOID UNFORESEEN COSTS BY REMINDING THEM TO FACTOR IN THESE ITEMS:
• Travel consulting fee
• Travel insurance
• Baggage fees
• Tips for service workers
• On-the-ground transport
• Local sales tax
The Best on a Budget
HOW TO HELP YOUR CLIENTS MAXIMIZE THEIR TIME AND MONEY AT DISNEY WORLD, IN MEXICO AND IN WINE COUNTRY.
How to have fun (without going overboard) at Disney World
The biggest Disney secret is to book through a travel advisor. “If you’re going to spend the money, do it right,” says Jonathan de Araujo, owner of The Vacationeer travel agency. “It doesn’t cost anything to go to an agency like ours and book through us. All the prices are the same, but you get someone who lives, eats, sleeps, breathes this stuff.“
While an average Vacationeer package sells for $3,000 to $4,000, there are numerous ways that visitors can save, including staying in one of Disney’s value resort properties, skipping the rental car, and taking resort transportation. Budgeting your time will also help you save money — or at least not waste it. De Araujo advises traveling during winter months when school is in session, and when Disney is cheaper and practically empty.
“If you’re really budget-conscious, you can see more in less time, which is important,” says de Araujo. “You don’t have to spend four, five or six days there. Maybe you can do it all in three days. So not only are you paying less per day, but now you’ve got fewer days to budget for.” His best insider tip: Make reservations for must-experience dining months in advance. A meal at the iconic Cinderella Castle or the “Beauty and the Beast”-themed Be Our Guest Restaurant are worth the wait and the price tag.
All-inclusive Mexico that feels fancy but won’t bankrupt you
When crafting bespoke Latin American tours for members of Latino World Travelers, an online community she founded in 2015, Vanessa Fondeur-Adams looks for luxury where you might not expect it — outside the all-inclusive resort. In Mexico, she recommends venturing to surrounding areas to find local restaurants that serve authentic Mexican fare, and creates a map for clients to help them get there.
“When I do itineraries for people, I make sure that I map out every step of the way. They don’t have to worry about anything,” says Fondeur-Adams. “This is your hotel, this is how you’re going to get to places, these are the places you’re going to eat. And every single client I’ve had has always come back because of how I break it down.”
Another tip: Avoiding mediocre (and often pricey) chains or hotel restaurants frees up funds for one big gastronomic splurge — like award-winning Pujol in Mexico City, Fondeur-Adams’ favorite fine dining experience.
Venture off the beaten path in California wine country
“It is absolutely possible to do wine country at a lower cost than most people assume,” says writer, sommelier and travel advisor Kristin Braswell. Most people associate wine with luxury price points, but there are actually a number of affordable options, including family-owned wineries, packaged wine tours, and road-tripping through wine country.
Matt Wahlgren of Matt Travel cleverly avoids wine tasting fees in Napa Valley and Sonoma — which run “anywhere between $25 and $50 a person,” he says — by visiting newer wineries that don’t charge them. They may not have “built up a reputation yet, but that doesn’t mean they’re not good wines,” Wahlgren says.
Many people stay on the beaten path when visiting California wine country. Braswell taps into a burgeoning network of Black-owned wineries and experts who are building representation within the world of wine, but who aren’t necessarily on most travel advisors’ radars. “I have a number of partnerships with Black-owned businesses and local experts that work with me and help to create incredible experiences for my clients.”
SERVING TRAVELERS WITH DISABILITIES
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO MAKING YOUR CLIENTS’ TRIPS SEAMLESS AND UNFORGETTABLE.
WORDS / RUTH TERRY
Jamie Santillo has been traveling with her family since she was a kid. But living with muscular dystrophy has meant that her vacations have always looked different — and required planning for things such as how to transfer from her wheelchair to an amusement park ride or airplane seat, logistics that able-bodied folks need never consider.
Over the years, there have been soaring highs — Disney World cast members “rolling out the red carpet” during her weeklong birthday celebration at the Orlando park, for example, she says — and some real lows.
Santillo says her worst experience was at another theme park, where she found a staff member joyriding in her wheelchair while she waited to disembark from her ride. When she complained to the manager, they did nothing. It happened 20 years ago, but she still remembers how she felt.
“It made me feel like I didn’t matter, that, you know, I was just another number to them,” says Santillo, owner of Adventures by Jamie, a travel agency specializing in accessibility. “My $30,000 wheelchair is ultimately my legs. It’s not cheap or easily replaced. Without it, I am immobile. By treating my wheelchair like a toy — and I understand the interest to ride in it — you are ultimately disrespecting me as a person and threatening my independence.”
The World Health Organization estimates that 1 billion people around the world live with a disability — and, of course, many travel. In 2018 and 2019, adult travelers with disabilities took 81 million trips and accounted for nearly $59 billion in air travel, according to Open Doors Organization, a Chicago nonprofit focused on making transportation and hospitality more inclusive.
Despite these figures, around the world “disabled people still comprise the most underserved segment within tourism,” according to NextBillion, a social entrepreneurship site affiliated with the University of Michigan.
Travel advisors have an opportunity to curate meaningful travel experiences for this largely overlooked group of travelers, but getting it right is crucial. For this demographic, missing the mark may not just lead to a lackluster vacation — it could jeopardize your client’s physical and mental well-being.
Ensuring a Smooth Ride In-Destination
THE DESTINATION EXPERTS AT AMSTAR DMC ARE PROS AT GETTING TRAVELERS WHERE THEY WANT TO GO. HERE’S HOW THEY PROVIDE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR ALL TRAVELERS IN THE DESTINATIONS THEY SERVE.
WORDS / ANDREA SEDLACEK
Airport transfers should be included in every vacation package, but for travelers with accessibility needs, they should definitely be included, to ensure that the vehicle that arrives for your client is appropriate and accommodating.
Rosalinda Rodriguez, senior manager of U.S. sales and business development for Amstar, says the company pays special attention to travelers’ accommodation needs when assessing its transportation services and excursion portfolio. “Our customer service teams work diligently to facilitate accessibility needs on an individual basis,” she says.
Amstar’s services vary from basic car seats for infants and young children to wheelchair accessible transportation with electric ramps. It offers wheelchair accessible airport transfers upon request throughout the Mexican Caribbean; in Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta; in Punta Cana and La Romana in the Dominican Republic; and throughout Jamaica, Costa Rica and Hawaii. Travelers can request motorized scooters in some destinations like Jamaica and Costa Rica.
For travelers wanting to leave the resort and explore the area around them, Rodriguez says the industry sees that and is responding. “The travel industry, along with resorts, parks, beaches and attractions, are redesigning their products and services to provide better opportunities for more people,” she says.
“In the Mexican Caribbean, eco-park settings like Xcaret and Xel-Ha are well-known for being accessible, and depending on the abilities of the customer, Chichen Itza and Tulum are two world-famous archaeological sites that can accommodate wheelchairs,” Rodriguez says. “In Puerto Vallarta there is a fun Pirates of the Bay [experience] and in Punta Cana [there is] a unique excursion called Marinarium, both offering excursions on the water. Customers who are keen on deep-sea fishing can usually be paired with fishing boats that provide fantastic fishing experiences. In many of our destinations, private tours are available which enable us to prepare the activity to specifically accommodate the special accessibility needs of a particular customer,” she says.
Rodriguez says Amstar will do everything possible to assist travel professionals in accommodating customers with special needs. Travel advisors can call Amstar’s dedicated Travel Agent Hotline at 1-877- 329-4461 to inquire about available services per destination.
Jamie Santillo founded Adventures by Jamie, a travel agency specializing in accessibility, in September 2020 and now has 27 employees.
Accessible travel is more than you think First, you need to know which disabilities and conditions can impact travel — and there are more than you think.
“A lot of times when people think about disability, they think [about] somebody in a wheelchair, somebody that you can actively see has a vision impairment or something of that nature,” says Santillo. “They forget about disabilities that are not visible.”
Truly accessible travel addresses the needs of “people with disabilities, but also access for people with temporary disabilities, families with young children and the increasing aging population,” through physical infrastructure and universal design, according to wheelchairtraveller.org, referencing a UN World Tourism Organization report.
In our interview, Santillo uses “special needs” to refer to the array of conditions that may require accommodation during the travel experience. Even pregnancy and food allergies fall into this category, says Santillo, something that she discovered while completing her Accessible Travel Advocate certification through Special Needs Group.
Neurodiversity, a broad term that describes mental illness, spectrum disorders, learning disabilities and other brain function variations, should also be on your radar.
Traveling can trigger panic and anxiety because there are so many variables outside of our control.
Condé Nast Traveler reports that, according to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, 40 million people in the United States have anxiety, making it the nation’s most prevalent mental illness. “Even more people — about 25 percent of the population — are specifically anxious about travel. And those are pre-pandemic numbers,” the story says.
DENIS
Lynn Clark, owner of Travel Leaders SE Wisconsin, believes in being an advocate for your clients.
Careful planning by travel advisors and clients can help people with a range of disabilities, including spectrum disorders such as autism, have rich travel experiences.
“Different people have different triggers and needs,” explains Alexandra Wisotsky, a travel advisor for Polka Dot Bow Adventures, referring to clients with autism. “Knowing what to expect is very helpful for families to navigate their vacations best.”
Wisotsky lets “families guide me as to what they need,” but shows up ready with an array of options, including destinations where staff are “trained to work with children on the autism spectrum.”
“I make sure that families know about all of the options available to them that will make their vacation easier and more enjoyable,” says Wisotsky.
Santillo says it can be helpful to explain to suppliers you’ve booked for your clients that durable medical equipment or a service animal is an extension of the person using it. “That item or animal is their key to independence,” she says.
Asking the right questions
But to find out exactly what your client needs, you have to know what — and how — to ask.
“Just like a reporter, you have to ask really good questions and then, of course, listen to what your clients are saying,” says Lynn Clark, agency owner of Travel Leaders SE Wisconsin. “You have to understand the impact of the person’s disability to be able to help them.”
Don’t be shy about these conversations, says Santillo. Your client is an expert and will tell you what they need, but you have to be
“comfortable getting very personal,” she points out.
“When planning an amazing holiday for clients with disabilities it is important to remember that they are driving the ship,” says Kayti Behrends, an advisor at Adventures by Jamie. “They live a life that you and I may not have any insight into, and it is crucial to take the time to listen to their wants and needs.”
These needs can be extremely individual and specific. For example, Behrends’ close family member with Down syndrome “is very sensitive to certain situations and triggered by certain weather,” she says.
Harli McCullough, an Adventures by Jamie advisor whose son has nonverbal autism, says, “[N]ot all accommodations are necessarily physical. My son needs a ‘cool down area’ or a quiet place to regulate his emotions.”
Santillo advises asking about what trips your clients have taken before and what specific actions from service providers made them feel supported — and situations that have missed the mark. Santillo, for example, loves cruising and spends a lot of time at Disney because of the resort’s accessibility and experienced, well-trained staff.
Finally, when putting together any travel package, avoid making assumptions about your client’s preferences or what they may be comfortable doing based on your understanding of their disability or limitations. Santillo’s own recent trips have included skydiving, a hot air balloon ride and zip lining over alligators at Gatorland.
“After the excursion has happened, I’ll call my family and be like, ‘Guess what I just did?’” she says. “I don’t [want to] give them a heart attack beforehand.”
Advancing Accessibility
JAMIE SANTILLO, OWNER OF ADVENTURES BY JAMIE, A TRAVEL AGENCY SPECIALIZING IN ACCESSIBILITY, OFFERS THESE RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Ask around in Facebook travel advisor groups for on-theground information for destinations you’re unfamiliar with.
• Seek out trusted vendors like Special Needs at Sea for resources such as wheelchair rentals or oxygen tanks.
• Get to know the people in charge of ADA compliance at destinations and hotels, who can answer questions about special-needs accommodations.
• Research travel insurance. In most cases, it should cover preexisting conditions, but policies can be confusing, so make sure both you and your client are clear on what is covered. (Know that travel insurance doesn’t necessarily cover things such as wheelchair or prosthetics replacement.)
On the other hand, just because someone can do something doesn’t mean they want to do it on their vacation, Santillo notes.
“I always remind others that you can never put one wheelchair user and another wheelchair user in the same box,” says Santillo. “We are not all created equal. Our needs are different when it comes to daily life and travel, of course.”
Santillo has clients watch YouTube videos (like hers) by travelers with similar ability levels and then asks follow-up questions to gauge their comfort level with specific activities. She also recommends that travel advisors sift through reviews of hotels and service providers and check out Brett Approved, an accessible travel site that she likens to the popular review site Angie’s List.
Leveling up your logistics game
The most challenging part of accessible travel planning for many travel advisors is likely logistics.
“If you don’t live this life, or if you don’t know somebody that does, you just don’t think about it because you don’t have to,” says Santillo, referring to accessibility and accommodations.
When Clark planned a bespoke Virginia Woolf-themed trip to England for a client with vertigo, she walked through every step of the trip with vendors, hammering out details like “the porter will literally meet her at the curb, walk her into the train
station, get her into the car and then leave,” she says. “You know, just really pushing for the details of what the client can expect. What it comes down to is that you’re their advocate.”
Travel advisors should also consider certification. Special Needs at Sea offers an Accessible Travel Advocate certification for advisors. And Wisotsky completed her autism training and certification through IBCCES.
“I wanted to do my due diligence to help everybody check off those bucket-list travel items, and so I made sure that our agency was special-needs certified,” says Santillo. “I’d say even if special-needs travel is not your specialty, it is a wonderful certification to have in your wheelhouse.”
This level of research and planning for accessible travel takes time, but Santillo doesn’t charge a consultation fee. Instead, Santillo, who has a master’s degree in management and 20 years of experience in marketing, focuses on adding value and serving clients. She recognizes that delivering a spectacular vacation to one client will likely lead to referrals.
Her approach is working. Santillo left her host agency to found Adventures by Jamie in September of last year. In that short time, it has grown to a full-service agency with 27 employees, in the midst of the global pandemic.
Many members of her team have direct experience with disability — their own or a family member’s — and everyone is certified through Special Needs Group, giving them additional insights about how to best serve clients. Ultimately it’s about delivering great service and making travel dreams come true, Santillo says.
“I’ve made some long-lasting relationships with my clients,” she points out. “And I’m just so, so thankful to be able to provide a service for them.”
Questions for Clients
ADVENTURES BY JAMIE ADVISORS KAYTI BEHRENDS, HARLI MCCULLOUGH AND WENDY TRUCKENBROD SUGGEST THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS THAT FELLOW TRAVEL ADVISORS CAN USE TO GET SPECIFICS ABOUT CLIENTS’ NEEDS:
• What does a typical day look like for you or your family member? Are your days very active or are they more laid-back?
• Do you find yourself wanting or needing frequent breaks throughout the day?
• Are there any “triggers” or situations that need to be avoided for you or your family member, including sounds, visuals, foods, etc.?
• What kind of weather best suits you, your interests or comfort level? Are there certain times of year or weather conditions — for example, high humidity, cold temperatures — that we should avoid?
• Has there ever been a situation of shock for you or your family member? If so, what were the circumstances?
• Are there specific things you consider “comforts”? Where are you most comfortable?
• What does the perfect day look like for you or your family member?
• What makes you or your family member smile the most?
• What are your goals for this specific vacation?
• Are there any trip requirements that are non-negotiable?
YOU SHOULD KNOW THE ASSOCIATION OF BLACK TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS
THE THREE CO-FOUNDERS SHARE THEIR VISION TO CREATE CONNECTIONS IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY THAT ELEVATE AND EMPOWER EVERYONE.
WORDS / ANDREA SEDLACEK
“Any agent of any background can join,” says Gai Spann, co-founder of the Association of Black Travel Professionals.
If there’s one thing to remember about ABTP, it’s that the organization is truly inclusive. And another: It’s not just for travel advisors.
Veranda Adkins, Shawnta Harrison and Spann founded ABTP in late 2020. The idea for the organization wasn’t born out of longtime friendships between the three co-founders, as commonly thought. Harrison and Adkins first met in a Facebook group in 2017 and later connected at an industry awards show in 2018, and
Spann was Harrison’s BDM when she worked for Apple Leisure Group Vacations. They met in 2019 to talk about goals for growing Harrison’s agency. Through separate conversations between the three of them, they came together to establish the organization.
All three co-founder have their own perspective on why they saw the need for the ABTP, but they all believe in two things: There was a need in the industry for an organization to elevate Black travel professionals, and they were the ones to fulfill it.
Here’s more of their story, in their own words.
ABTP co-founders Veranda Adkins, Shawnta Harrison and Gai Spann
What was the spark that led to the creation of your organization? Was there a notable event or conversation that made you realize the need for this support in the industry, and that you were the ones to provide that support?
ADKINS: I worked for Travel Impressions for 12 years and was not seeing a lot of Black agents at events, and then once I switched to the travel agent side, I noticed it even more. I was always only one of four or five Black agents at awards shows, and it was always the same ones and I would wonder, “How do we get more people who look like me here and not just here at the event, but onstage?”
HARRISON: Veranda and I met in-person at an awards show and I was invited to the awards show, but just as an attendee. I was not receiving an award. So, she and I had several conversations like, “How did you win?” or “How did you get onstage?” Even for this particular awards ceremony, I was booking this supplier but I had never had a conversation with my BDM about it. I didn’t have any information [about it] and Veranda and I had the conversation, she shared the information with me, “Well this is what you need to do, just make sure you’re recording your bookings, make sure you’re doing this, make sure you’re doing that.” She was very open and honest with me, not withholding information that would make sure I would be recognized for what I was already doing.
The second “why” is that I attended a couple FAMs and when I was going about trying to promote the hotels and properties to my clients, I would go into the MediaValet for images for the suppliers and the hotels and there were very little images of and representation of people who look like me. And 95% of my clientele is people who look like me. To be [trying] to market something to someone and not be included in the marketing materials kind of bothered
me. So, I reached out to my BDM. He told me there were images, but I couldn’t share them publicly. I could only use them for certain things within my organization, and that didn’t sit right with me. So that prompted me and Veranda to have that conversation and to have that conversation with Gai.
SPANN: We have similar experiences. I was a BDM for Apple Leisure Group Vacations. Before that, I was a travel agent for about 14 years and just like they’re saying, whenever there was an event, I just noticed that there were not a lot of people of color.
I don’t think it’s a malicious issue. I think people say, “the reason people get awarded is their numbers because they produce,” that’s not really it. I think it’s still a lack of connection and a lack of information transfer.
That’s why I came to Veranda and Shawnta and said that we need to create an organization where we can call all of these people to the table and be able to share this relevant information so that we can have more people of color recognized and also make sure that they have their business together [in terms of] booking and knew how to book, and knew how to manage their company on the business side as well.
What can industry organizations, host agencies, tour operators, even us here at VAX, do to elevate and support Black travel advisors and Black travelers?
ADKINS: There are always so many programs for top sellers or people on the rise, but until you get there, you don’t get any recognition. And you can’t get there until you understand how to get there. It’s a Catch-22. That’s one of the great things about ABTP.
Since we’ve been in existence, several organizations have reached out to us, saying “Hey, I’ve been looking for a way to get in touch with Black travel professionals, can you help me?” So that’s one of the great things about us being here and a way for suppliers to get involved. Reach out to us and say “Hey, what can we do? Can we be a part of your organization?”
SPANN: There aren’t that many Black BDMs. There aren’t many Black managers. Not many Black VPs. Not many Black presidents. Not many Black CEOs at travel companies. So, when you’re in a room and you have your leadership of your company trying to figure out what to do, who are you asking, who can you ask? One of our goals of the organization is that we’re trying to build both sides, we’re trying to build relationships with suppliers and hold them accountable, too. Look for people of color to guide your ship.
I think there’s a good business reason for it. We’re just talking about our demographic right now: Black people. There is a historical tie. When you think back to Jim Crow laws and the [Negro Motorist] Green Book, the guide put together in the ’30s (and used through the ’60s). A postman put together a collection of hotels, restaurants, amusement parks that were safe for and accepted Black people because at that time, everything was segregated. And Black people traveling through the country would be humiliated or embarrassed or even have their safety in question. So, he started the Green Book, which was a guide of safe places to go. And one of the things I didn’t realize is that, in this current day and age as a travel agent, we always get this question from our consumers: “How will we be treated there? Do they like Black people there? Do Black people go there?” To this day, we still have that DNA, that residue of “We’re not sure we’re going to be welcome in a place where we travel.” And I think that destinations, hotels and travel companies should try to understand where that comes from. And if they do, then they could take proactive steps to show that they are [welcoming].
Are there travel suppliers doing it right in terms of representing Black travelers and travel advisors?
SPANN: We’ve had some companies come to us […] like Hurtigruten. Right away, they came and wanted to be a member. Quark Expeditions did come to us to present to our group because to them, it’s a market that’s new and if you want to grow your business, you need to go where that growth is going to be, so come directly to the clientele.
Royal Caribbean has been doing a lot to get themselves in the right space for heading up this demographic in the new year. They’ve had a lot of success. Apple Leisure Group Vacations has come on board. American Airlines, Vacation Express, Delta Vacations, ID Travel Group, Emerging Destinations, Wanderlust. Miami’s tourism board is on board along with Los Cabos Tourism Board, KHM Travel Group, Crissa Hotels in Jamaica and NYC & Company.
I think they deserve the recognition.
HARRISON: Our relationships with our partners are not strictly transactional. They are supporting us because they believe in what we do, and it’s not solely based on the number of sales our members are bringing to them.
Who is the right-fit travel advisor for ABTP?
SPANN: Our organization is really for everyone. We use the word “professional” for a reason. We didn’t use the word “agent”
because we do see the organization growing as an umbrella, so under that umbrella would be social media, could be content, could be journalism. It could be all of those things. We do have a strong focus toward travel agents.
We create what we call a safe space; we want people to be able to come and ask questions, we want people to be able to learn. So, if they have a lot of experience, we have [resources] for them and if they’re very new, we have [resources] for them as well. We run the gamut. Any agent of any background can join. It’s not like only Black agents can join.
ADKINS: It just goes back to our philosophy of, if you look around the room and there are not Black agents there, then that’s the problem. We want other agents of other ethnicities to be a part of ABTP so that they can start sharing that narrative, because sometimes they’re in a room where we aren’t.
One of your goals is to quantify the revenue impact of Black travelers and travel advisors. How is that going?
ADKINS: We’re working on getting our own ABTP certification number so we’re still working through the processes for that. We’ve been talking to some of the suppliers who have come on board now so that our agents can have their own number if they don’t have one of the other accreditations, or they want to move away from one of the other accreditations. So that will be big in helping us quantify those numbers. Like Shawnta said [earlier], it’s not just about the
transactions, but we want people to understand. A lot of value comes with relationship building and I think that will show the impact we have on the travel industry, just getting that number out there.
SPANN: It shouldn’t be transactional, but we do want to show proof eventually, and every supplier asks for numbers so we know we have to do that, but we don’t want the emphasis to solely be on that because we are growing.
Have you been busy planning your conference this November?
SPANN: Yes! Our host hotel is the S Hotel in Jamaica. The focus of the conference is really on leadership, that’s why it’s [called] the Beyond Travel Leadership Forum. It’s focused on Black business. We are not having a typical conference where all the agents are at one hotel in a conference room, we’re actually going out into the community in Jamaica and we’re having some of our events in local venues. You know, as many times as I’ve been to Jamaica, I’ve never been to Montego Bay, not the beach but the town of Montego Bay. They have a civic center and it is beautiful. They have a museum and they talk about the history of Jamaica and the history of Rastafarianism, and we’re going to have one of our sessions there. We’re also going to have some local events where we
go off-property, like an excursion where we’re going to go to a local village of artists. We’re going to have what we’re calling a Barefoot Marketplace on the beach and our sponsored vendors will have booths there, but we’ll also invite local businesses to be there.
Real customers want to get off the resort sometimes and they just don’t know where or how to do it and I think bridging that gap to show that yes, you can stay on the resort, but you can also one night go to dinner at a local restaurant or get a driver to take you to some other sites that are always so planned, with the bus. Get out and have some real experiences and bridge the gap with the people of Jamaica. So, the focus is going to be well-rounded in that way. We’re travel people so we like to be out. It’s very movable. All the sessions are at different places, so the whole time, people will be able to experience and see different parts of Jamaica. We’re real excited about it.
Any closing thoughts?
SPANN: This organization was a longtime coming. And we’re looking for support from everywhere. We want people to talk about us, to share us, join us, and we want sponsors to come on board.
Learn more about the Association of Black Travel Professionals at abtprofessionals.org.
Introducing The Takeo Travel Stream, your source for streaming news content on VAX, curated just for travel advisors. Whether you have 30 seconds or 30 minutes, catch the stream regularly for the industry updates that matter most to you.
3 Reasons to Tune In
Video content is updated weekly
Quick-hit stories are just minutes long
You can pause, rewind and skip ahead
SOLO PARENTS NEED YOUR HELP
SOLO-PARENT FAMILIES ARE AN OVERLOOKED MARKET WITHIN FAMILY TRAVEL. HERE’S HOW TO SERVE THEM BETTER.
WORDS / RUTH TERRY
The travel bug bit Theresa Winters in 2016, when she embraced solo vacations after her divorce. Soon, when she began traveling with her two children, now 10 and 12, she quickly discovered the family vacation looked different to her as a single mom.
“I remember when I first started traveling on my own with my kids, [there were] huge learning curves,” says Winters, owner of Faraway Places Travel in Port Huron, Michigan. “My kids do much better [now] when they’re traveling … But it’s definitely a big learning experience every trip that you take.”
The family travel industry gets a lot of attention, and for good reason: Before the pandemic, spending on this segment had soared to $500 billion annually, according to the Family Travel Association. But what about single-parent families, a subset of family travel that’s been described as “ignored” and “untapped,” and one that would be well-served by the expertise of travel advisors? Data from the Statista Research & Analysis found that in 2019, nearly 16 million children were living with single mothers and just over 3 million children were living with single fathers in the United States.
Solo-parent families need different resources and support to create the family vacation of their dreams, and advisors may need to think outside the box to serve them. Here are some tips from travel advisors who not only cater to this market but are solo parents themselves.
Know your customer: building critical understanding of your clients — and their kids To help solo parents navigate vacation planning, advisors have to start by understanding their lives. According to the Pew Research Center, 81% of solo parents are mothers, they are more strapped for cash than married or cohabiting parents, and many have trepidations about traveling alone with their kids.
“Going from a dual income to a single income could certainly be a roadblock [to vacations for single parents],” says Winters. When budgets are a concern, Winters recommends road trips — a “great opportunity for families,” she says — traveling around the United States by car, or even via Amtrak or Greyhound versus flying.
Dyan McKie, family product manager at Intrepid Travel in Australia, agrees that advisors should be especially sensitive to the
“We, as single parents, need an additional sense of ease. Most times, we’re outnumbered by children, which can easily make us feel stressed and overwhelmed. A travel advisor should focus on the ages of the children so that their particular needs are met.”
— Theresa Winters
reality that solo parents may have fewer resources to work with, and that they may be nervous about being the lone adult on a vacation with their children.
“Listen to any concerns a parent has about traveling and having to play the role of both parents away from home,” McKie advises. “Consider that they may be asking you questions to reassure an ex-partner.”
Winters advises getting to know the family’s “vibe” to help narrow down experiences that will work for parents and kids. Focus on what each family member is looking for in a trip.
“My suggestions on destinations for single parents and their children depends on a family’s interests,” she says. “Some families may desire to be at an all-inclusive property because of the ease. Other single-parent families may prefer to be more active in nature, hiking, canoeing and horseback riding.”
Asking questions sooner rather than later can help the trip go more smoothly, especially when traveling with children of different ages and interests, as Winters recently discovered herself on a
Qualifying Questions for Single-Parent Travelers
• How old are your children?
• What are your children interested in?
• What kinds of things do they like to do?
• What activity level do they like?
• What do you hope your children will take away from this travel experience?
• Do any children on the trip have special physical or mental health needs?
trip to Florida. While her daughter was happy to sit seaside and soak up the sun, her son needed more activities. “I had to kind of say, ‘You know what, this is a kid who needs my attention. Sitting in a beach chair is not a vacation for him.’”
One way to minimize the risk of a mismatch of personality to an itinerary is to encourage solo parents to involve their kids in planning the trip. “Children nowadays are part of the planning process,” says McKie, whose daughter is 7 years old.
Winters says her kids are involved from the get-go: “They have to go online and find things that they want to do and narrow it down,” Winters notes. “[T]hen they feel like they have a say, that this is their trip.”
Put safety first: educating your clients about destination risks
The most important logistics to consider are those related to safety. As a travel advisor, it’s up to you to provide solo parents, especially women, with in-depth and accurate safety information, particularly for international travel. Cover topics including the safety situation at the destination and where to go in a medical emergency.
Consider local perceptions of women and single mothers. The Pew Research Center found that nearly one-fourth of American children live in solo-parent households, which far exceeds the rest of the world. In some countries, there is still a stigma associated with single
motherhood, writes hospitality and tourism researcher Yunqi Wei. This could lead to unwanted attention or unsafe situations. Talk this through with your clients before booking international trips.
Before your clients depart, encourage them to enroll in the U.S. State Department’s STEP (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program), a free service that provides safety alerts to travelers from U.S. embassies in their destination countries. Suggest travel insurance plans with coverage for children and add additional value by providing local emergency numbers and information about health care providers at their destinations.
Anticipate logistical snags: solving problems for single parents
As a travel advisor, one of the best services you can offer an already overtaxed single parent is effective logistics planning.
“Single parents are the organizer, leader, protector and go-to person, which can get exhausting,” says McKie. “You have so many different elements to deal with on your own: ‘Will we get sick? What if I can’t find the right train to catch? How can we get to some remote places to really experience the country we are traveling in?’ All with a child — or several — in tow who may be tired or bored.”
To start, consider what types of vacations might automatically relieve a solo parent of sticky on-the-ground logistics. Winters
is a fan of all-inclusive resorts with child care amenities for this reason, because everything a family needs and wants is at their fingertips. “It’s a nice, easy way to be confident, to feel comfortable and not get overwhelmed, especially if you’re in a foreign country,” she says.
If that’s financially prohibitive, Winters offers this insider tip for stretching hotel value for money: “With an all-inclusive, they don’t care how many adults are in the room,” she explains. “I could have two adults, two kids [or] one adult, two kids, and it’s the same price.” If it’s possible, suggest that your client bring a nanny or friend along to provide an extra set of hands.
When it comes to travel times, be sure to factor in kids’ ages — disrupted sleep schedules can be extra stressful for a single parent. Families with toddlers, for example, might benefit from direct flights on airlines known to be especially family friendly. McKie also suggests that agents offer to book arrival transfers if clients are arriving late or to an unfamiliar destination.
“We, as single parents, need an additional sense of ease,” explains Winters. “Most times, we’re outnumbered by children, which can easily make us feel stressed and overwhelmed. A travel advisor should focus on the ages of the children so that their particular needs are met.”
It’s also important to remind solo parents what travel documents
they’ll need for their specific destinations. Winters advises clients to make several copies of passports, IDs and prescriptions, and keep them in multiple locations, including as photos on their phones.
Make yourself available: being a crucial resource during their trip
Your job doesn’t end when the family boards its flight. Boost your customer relationship game by keeping the lines of communication open during the trip.
Make sure families and older children know how to reach you. WhatsApp is a great, free option for staying in touch and helping your client troubleshoot issues that may arise during the trip.
After the trip is over, staying in touch can help you create longterm customers who may refer you to new solo-parent families. Consider using social media to stay connected: 30% of people use social media to find travel inspiration, according to DMO software company CrowdRiff, but that number climbs to 60% and 68%, respectively, for millennials on Instagram and Facebook. After a successful trip, ask parents and kids (with their parent’s permission) for testimonials for your website and social channels.
“I have created a page that is all about me and my children traveling,” says Winters. “People comment on my photos, which provides me with a natural opportunity to keep that communication going.”
BREAKOUT Session
WORDS / BETH KITZMAN
Industry chatter on a topic that’s important to you.
TRAVEL ADVISORS AND INDUSTRY LEADERS SHARE
WHAT BEHAVIOR THEY’VE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC.
“FOR ME, I DO MY BEST TO BE MORE AWARE OF OVERALL PRESENCE NOW MORE THAN EVER. IN THE VIRTUAL SPACE WE NOW LIVE IN, WHEN IN MEETINGS OR IN CALLS WITH OTHERS, I TRY (IT IS NOT EASY) TO BE FOCUSED ON THE PERSON AND PROVIDE THEM WITH MY ATTENTION. I MISS THE IN-PERSON CONNECTION AND TRY NOT TO BE DISTRACTED FROM OTHER THINGS WHILE IN A ZOOM SO THAT THE OTHER PERSON ALSO FEELS MORE CONNECTED. OVERALL, IT HAS HELPED ME WITH PRODUCTIVITY WITH WORK AND ENGAGEMENT WITH FRIENDS, FAMILY AND COLLEAGUES. THE GOAL IS TO ALWAYS MAKE INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS AS PERSONAL AS POSSIBLE.”
Drew Daly, CTIE and senior VP/GM for CruiseOne DreamVacations
“Although we have spent time learning new products during the pandemic, as well as other needed procedure changes, a big takeaway is understanding multiple perspectives of our clients. While our agency feels it is the right time to travel and that we need to support the industry, not all clients feel the same way. We have adjusted our attitude to focus on the clients’ feelings and comfort level. We have made it known to all clients that when they are ready, we are here for them and will help them feel safe and prepared for their much-needed vacation. By having that level of trust and understanding, we know we have lifelong clients.”
Barbara Strait, owner of Straight Away Travel
“I
WILL GIVE YOU TWO: I STOPPED
SMOKING
ONCE IT STARTED, AND I SLOWED DOWN.”
Lawrence Pinckney, CEO of ZenBiz Travel
“We have become very active in securing our partners and promoting them and us on social media and YouTube and are engaging more with our current clients and future ones.”
Randy Otts, chief memory architect at 2 Getaway Travel
“I’VE SLOWED DOWN. I GUESS IT TOOK A PANDEMIC TO ALLOW ME TO TAKE A BREATH AND REALIZE EVERYTHING WOULD BE OK. I STILL HAVE MY DAILY ROUTINES, HAVE INCREDIBLE PERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS WITH ALL OF MY ADVISORS AND SUPPLIERS, STILL SETTING AND ACHIEVING GOALS, BUT I HAVE MORE TIME WITH MY THREE CHILDREN, FAMILY AND FRIENDS, AND ENJOYING THE BEAUTY OF EACH AND EVERY DAY.”
Andrea Wright, vice president of Travel Industry Sales for Playa Hotels & Resorts
“I had to learn to do something I didn’t think I could: to work from home. I never felt I was disciplined enough to stay focused when I was at home. Well, then 2020 happened. Not only am I focused, but I also find myself stuck at my desk as much as I was when I was in an office. I still eat at my desk like always, and I have to remind myself to get my pups out in the afternoon.”
Betsy Geiser, CTA, VTA and vice president of Uniglobe Travel Center
“As the pandemic dug in last year and began impacting many facets of our lives, I quickly realized I’d be working from home for a while. In an effort to avoid staying totally locked down, I started riding my road bike more regularly. At my peak, I would ride 50 miles, 60 miles, even 100 miles, aka a century ride, which I did in 2008 with Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training, in memory of my mother. Since then I’d ride here and there, but never quite to the same level as before. Over this past year, I realized that if I wasn’t going to be traveling for work as I had been previously, I had to do something to stay active, get out of the house and keep my immune system in check. So
I got back on my bike each week, if not more frequently. Not only did riding help me physically, but it helped me mentally and emotionally as well. It’s fun, it helps me keep things in perspective, and it gets me out of my office while I wait to get back out there and travel again! We’re all looking for some positives coming out of the pandemic. For me, this was one thing, and I plan to spend more time on the saddle!”
Scott Radesi, director of sales, North America for Karisma Hotels & Resorts
“THE ONE THING THAT I’VE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER IS DOCUMENTING. DURING THE PANDEMIC I’VE LEARNED THAT I NEED TO DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT. I’VE ALWAYS TAKEN GOOD NOTES, BUT I’VE TAKEN THAT TO ANOTHER LEVEL. I NOW MAKE NOTES ABOUT WHO CANCELED, THE DATE THAT THE CANCELLATION TOOK PLACE, WHAT THE POLICIES WERE AT THE TIME OF THE CANCELLATION, ETC. I’VE NOTICED THAT ALL OF MY CHANGES REVOLVE AROUND CANCELLATIONS. I DIDN’T HAVE ANY GOOD SYSTEMS IN PLACE FOR CANCELLATIONS BEFORE BECAUSE IT WAS RARE THAT ANYONE EVER DID CANCEL, BUT I DO NOW.”
Stephanie Charboneau, CTA and travel advisor at Travel Creates Memories by Dream Vacations
Destination NEXT
WORDS / TAYLOR COULSON
The hottest cold destination: Iceland has travelers enchanted.
FOLLOWING A VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN 2010, ICELAND BECAME KNOWN AS THE LAND OF FIRE AND ICE AND TOURISTS HAVE BEEN FLOCKING THERE TO EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC EVER SINCE. ICELAND IS CLOSER AND EASIER TO BOOK THAN YOU MAY THINK, ESPECIALLY ON VAX.
The Nordic island nation’s truly magnificent beauty is a big reason its popularity has grown exponentially in recent years. “It’s one of the few areas in the world where you can experience snow-covered mountains, volcanoes, ice fields and lagoons at the same time,” says Amelia Sugerman, public relations manager at Collette. Since travelers are faced with so many options when they want to see the world, trying to settle on one particular adventure can feel overwhelming.
Once your clients have chosen their faroff, in-demand destination like Iceland, travel advisors should look to booking the adventure with a tour operator, who will
handle all the details of the trip from start to finish. “One of the best ways to visit a destination in high demand is to travel with a tour operator, who not only knows the ins and outs of the region, but is well connected with the locals, hotels and vendors in the area,” says Sugerman. Tour operators often offer different types of travel styles based on travelers’ vacation preferences, interests and their mobility. Sugerman says that classic-style tours are for those who want to see the sights, taste the cuisine and experience the world. Explorations-style tours are for the smaller groups looking for the opportunity to delve into engaging, immersive experiences. Collette offers three carefully crafted tours
to Iceland. According to Sugerman, the most popular tour from its Explorations line is called the Icelandic Adventure. “On tour, guests will travel the stunning Golden Circle and visit Thingvellir National Park, Geysir thermal field and the awe-inspiring Gullfoss waterfall,” she says. The Icelandic Adventures itinerary also includes a chance to interact with friendly Icelandic horses, go whale watching in Skjálfandi Bay with specialized RIB Zodiac boats and savor Icelandic delicacies during a visit to a local goat farm. Plus, on this tour travelers can ascend the Langjökull glacier in a super truck surrounded by uninterrupted mountain scenery as well as have the chance to take a dip in the iconic Blue Lagoon. Travel advisors can’t be expected to know all these specific details of a destination, which is why booking with a tour operator can be really helpful.
As a travel advisor, you may not know how to get to every waterfall in Iceland, but you may want to have a general understanding of the island’s geography. Here are Iceland’s seven major regional destinations and popular hotels and flight origins to consider for your clients.
West Iceland is home to three major towns: Akranes, Borgarnes and Stykkisholmur. Visit major attractions here like Hraunfossar, Glymur, Kirkjufell, Snaefellsjokull and Eiriksstaoir.
Westfjords is home to four major towns: Isafjordur, Bolungarvik, Patreksfjordur and Holmavik. Visit major attractions here like Latrabjarg, Raudasandur, Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, Isafjordur Maritime Museum and Dynjandi.
North Iceland is home to four major towns: Akureyri, Husavik, Saudarkrokur and Dalvik. Discover major attractions like Akureyri Art Museum, Askja caldera, Asbyrgi Canyon, Dettifoss Waterfall, Godafoss Waterfall, Lake Myvatn, Hvitserkur, Dimmuborgir and Hrisey island.
East Iceland is home to three major towns: Egilsstadir, Seyoisfjorour and Fjaroabyggo. Explore major attractions like Burstafell, Vatnajokull, Hengifoss, Skriduklaustur, Lagarfljot, Storuro, Eioar Hallormsstaoaskogur, Djupivogur and Borgarfjordur Eystri.
South Iceland is home to five major towns: Selfoss, Hveragerdi, Vestmannaeyjar, Vik and Hofn. Visit major attractions like Pingvellir, Gullfoss, Geysir, Hekla, Landmannalaugar, the Seljalandsfoss waterfall and Reynisfjara.
Reykjanes is home to five major towns: Grindavik, Garour, Sandgeroi, Reykjanesbaer and Vogar. Visit major attractions like the Blue Lagoon, Gunnuhver, Krysuvik, Valahnukur, Keilir, Katlahraun and the Bridge Between Continents.
The 5 Iceland hotels mostshopped by travel advisors on VAX
1. Canopy by Hilton Reykjavik City Centre
2. Hilton Reykjavik Nordica
3. Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel, Reykjavik
4. Center Hotels Skjaldbreid
5. Hotel Reykjavik Centrum
The 5 most-shopped origins to Iceland shopped on VAX
1. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
2. Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
3. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
4. Eppley Airfield (OMA)
5. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Capital Region is home to five major towns: Reykjavik, Kopavogur, Gardabaer, Hafnarfjordur and Seltjarnarnes. Visit major attractions like Reykjavik City Hall, Harpa concert hall, Reykjavik Pond, The Old Harbour and Videy Island.
Unlike destination hot spots that tightened their budgets in 2020, Iceland increased its spending on tourism by 40%. This led to now being considered the time for a new era of outdoor adventure — one that locals are hoping is far more sustainable than it was pre-pandemic. A substantial amount of the $1.73 billion ISK ($13.6 million USD) budget focused on improving infrastructure at popular tourist sites that became famous due to social media. Additionally, the Icelandic government improved necessities like restrooms, parking lots, designated trails and wheelchairaccessible entrances.
With these improvements from the Iceland tourism industry comes new beginnings for vaccinated travelers. Iceland is encouraging visitors to stay longer, travel slower and contribute to the country’s utmost strengths in a COVID-cautious world: space.
VAX VacationAccess has always had one ambition:
to make travel advisors’ lives easier and provide a platform for them to succeed. In no time, VAX became a household name in the travel advisor community, and as some may call it, their very best friend. Now boasting a community of 100,000+ leisure travel advisors, VAX has established its title as the award-winning leisure travel marketplace.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. We are proud to have won coveted industry awards for the many facets of VAX: our industry-leading booking engine technology, our marketing resources, our travel advisor education and even our presence in print. We’re always striving to give our travel advisor users the best and to keep our winning streak alive.
Travel Weekly Magellan Awards
Gold Award
Booking Interface
Education Program
Travel Agent Only Website
Marketing Website Overall
Marketing Campaign
Silver Award
Travel Agent Only Website
Marketing Campaign
Trip Planning
Booking Interface
Web Marketing/Advertising
Promotional Video
Educational Program
Association of National Advertisers (ANA) B2 Awards
Silver Award
Awards
Best Travel Technology Provider
Best Travel Agent Reservation System
Best Travel Planning Technology
Travel Weekly Readers Choice Award
Best Travel Technology Provider
Nexion Awards
Best Technology/Booking Tool
Content Marketing: Magazine (Print or Digital) Category
Travvy
Yesterday’s NEWS
What can we learn from yesterday’s biggest stories in travel?
WORDS / TAYLOR COULSON
What can we learn from yesterday’s biggest stories in travel?
Once upon a time, prior to the pandemic, hotel guests probably never worried about walking through a crowded lobby or even thought twice about the cleaning and sanitation procedures used in their hotel rooms. Yet here we are, and things have changed. Savvy vacation suppliers have been staying productive to help guests gain peace of mind about traveling during a pandemic with an exceptional attention to sanitation and safety protocols, and talking openly about them. So, where do we go from here and what should we know about the future of travel as vaccines roll out and we get ready to book vacations again?
How long will these new protocols stay in place?
With a new normal to navigate, it’s safe to say not all adjustments will stick around forever. Some short-term solutions that hotels and resorts adopted in the wake of the pandemic to keep both guests and employees safe may already be gone, like elevator capacity limits. And other quick-hit solutions like extending benefits and points expiration dates and programs will thankfully stay with us for a while. However, several of the following adjustments are part of the hotel industry’s evolving new normal to navigate in 2021 and beyond, and travelers will most definitely benefit from it all.
Amenities like valet parking and spa services were limited or suspended throughout the pandemic. According to Phil Cordell, Hilton’s global head of lifestyle brands and new brand development, these amenities will eventually slowly roll out in accordance with local guidelines and guest surveys to gauge when visitors are ready for their return.
Cleaning protocols are a top-tier concern for travelers during these trying times. Robert Rauch, hotelier and founder of Hotel Guru, a website that shares trends and predictions about the hospitality industry, says he “expects hotels will keep these new sanitizing protocols in place for a while. However, properties will likely stop advertising them as part of their cleaning process after the pandemic.”
Contactless apps create a seamless experience for guests from check-in to checkout — and they’re here to stay, but hotels and resorts are moving forward with them on different timelines. Depending on the app, guests can book rooms, order room service, directly message hotel staff and check-in to their suites all from their smartphone. Many of these apps and technologies were around before the pandemic, but social distancing really made going contactless key.
The future of hotel design has had sustainability and cleanliness at the forefront for quite some time. While the pandemic has slowed many hotel brands’ progress in eco-friendly endeavors — like the transitions to LED lightbulbs, single-use bottles, straws
We’ll now understand that there is a lot going on behind the scenes to ensure the health, safety and comfort of travelers.
and more — hoteliers recognize travelers’ interests constantly change. Some noticeable changes in hotel designs lately are adjustments to interior spaces to help guests socially distance by spacing tables 6 feet apart in on-site restaurants or extending outdoor dining areas. More technology advancements like ultraviolet lighting and opting into upholstery fabrics that are easier to clean and resistant to bacteria are expected to stay for the foreseeable future.
Do these new protocols hinder the overall resort experience or impact the all-inclusive vacation?
Not at all. While lockdowns, stay-at-home orders and social distancing have put an everlasting emphasis on the ode to the outdoors, the all-inclusive vacation experience seems to align well. Hotels are also continuing to capitalize on this trend of spending time outdoors when it comes to business travel by implementing work-from-hotel packages that feature outdoor workspaces, events and seminars. Plus, it’s important to recognize that when it comes to the pause on cruising over the past year, the wave of converting cruise clients to all-inclusive resort clients just makes
sense. A survey of active members of the U.S. Tour Operators Association showed that eight out of 10 are “enthusiastic” to “cautiously optimistic” for a complete resumption of hotel and resort business by the end of 2021.
2021 is the recovery year for hotels and resorts, and all-inclusive vacations are the go-to choice for vacationers these days. The layout and size of most all-inclusive resorts provide guests with their own little travel bubble since venturing anywhere beyond the property itself isn’t always necessary. Add a controlled capacity; alfresco dining, entertainment and activities options; and advanced sanitation and safety protocols to the mix, and it’s no wonder travel advisors and savvy vacation suppliers continue to see an increase in bookings this year. From multigenerational families to clusters of friends, groups traveling to all-inclusive resorts are higher than usual in 2021 and into 2022. Chuck Anderson, owner of Adventures by Anderson in Colorado, reported that 90% of his business is currently all-inclusive resorts and he attributes it all to COVID-19. He also said, “The safety protocols these all-inclusive resorts are undertaking are far beyond anything I’ve seen in the U.S.
Once you go and see it for yourself firsthand, you are less afraid.”
Many travelers aren’t afraid to splurge now that they have had time to save for their post-pandemic travel plans. Ellen Geissel, a New Jersey travel advisor, says, “People are more willing to spend now than they were pre-pandemic.” Geissel goes on to say that travel advisors shouldn’t be afraid to approach their clients with the upgrades and incentives all-inclusives have been offering lately. “Many people who didn’t go anywhere last year have saved that vacation money and want to step up to a swim-up room or suite. I think there is a whole ‘I deserve it’ vibe going on.” That said, many all-inclusive resorts are offering programs where kids and teens stay free, which are great incentives for an all-inclusive vacation experience.
Though we may soon forget how many checkpoints go into ensuring our next hotel room is clean or the type of air purifier installed in a resort’s elevator, we’ll now understand that there is a lot going on behind the scenes to ensure the health, safety and comfort of travelers. Now that’s some great peace of mind.
OUR BELOVED FLIPPERED FRIEND ANSWERS YOUR VAX QUESTIONS.
You asked: My password has expired and my account is locked; how can I get unlocked?
Maxwell says: If your account is locked, your password is expired or you are having trouble logging in to the VAX website, you’ll need to contact your agency’s site manager. Within each agency’s VAX account, at least one person is designated as a site manager responsible for setting the permissions and providing access to the employees of the agency. This person will be able to reset your password or unlock your account. The site manager could be the agency’s owner, manager, office admin or someone designated with this responsibility. If you are the site manager for your agency and you need help with your access, you will need to contact the VAX Tech Support team. When you contact the VAX Tech Support team, they will need to verify your identity. In addition to providing them your agency number, you will also need to provide them with at least two of the following: your VAX username, the email associated with your VAX account, the phone number associated with your VAX account or the name of a valid site manager for the agency.
You asked: How can I track my agents’ or my own reservations?
Maxwell says: There is a report available that you can export to view all of your reservations or all the reservations for your agency if you have the appropriate access. Start at the Retrieve Reservations link in the upper right navigation from any page on VAX. To retrieve all reservations from your agency, click Search under Reservation Search OR enter in any of the search criteria to narrow down your results. If you export the results to Excel you will get additional reservation details such as Number of Passengers, Number of Nights, Hotel Name and more. It is important to note reservations will only be retrieved if they were booked within the last three years and traveled within the past 18 months.
You asked: How can I book in VAX when my clients are leaving from different cities to the same destination?
Maxwell says: The ability to book travelers sharing a hotel room arriving from different origins is offered only through select suppliers within the VAX marketplace. To verify which suppliers offer this, you can start by selecting New Reservation in the upper right navigation. Choose your preferred supplier and then take a look through the Package Type drop-down. If your preferred supplier offers this package type, it will be named Multiple Origin Air – Shared Hotel or something similar to indicate that you have
travelers arriving from multiple origins. After completing the rest of the details within the reservation tool and beginning your search, you will find yourself on the availability page without default selections. From here you will select the air for your first traveler and follow through to accept the terms and conditions and complete the booking without selecting a hotel. You will receive a prompt reminding you a hotel is required to complete the reservation. At this time, you can select the green Add Party button to add the flight coming from a different origin. Once you complete the air for passengers coming from each origin, you will see them on their own tabs. To add the hotel portion of the reservation you’ll start at the green Add Party button again, enter the correct number of adults that will be staying in the room and then click Search. On the availability page you can choose the hotel and any other features that you want to add for the travelers. Use the Refresh Deposit button to update the deposit based on all the components you have included in the package and then you will be able to complete the booking. The order of the steps is important; you must complete the air portion for all travelers prior to adding the hotel and other components. If you need to modify the reservation later, you may need to contact your preferred tour operator’s call center directly.
Have a question for Maxwell? Send it to us at training@ vaxvacationaccess.com and we’ll send it his way. Then check out the next issue of The Compass Magazine to see if he answered it!
The Compass CROSSWORD
Across
2. Audrey Hepburn has this kind of holiday in this classic movie from 1953
4. Bill Murray’s character in “Lost in Translation” feels lonely in this island country in East Asia
6. This adventurous kid never goes any where without her backpack
7. Leonard Nimoy played him on “Star Trek”
9. Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of _______ Finn”
11. ____ Quixote sets off from La Mancha before picking up his friend Sancho Panza
12. Where in the world is Carmen ____ ________? (Two words and a U.S. city)
15. This guy’s quest took him in search of ancient artifacts; his first name is also a U.S. state
16. The cute and trusty sidekick of 6 across
17. Louise’s counterpart on their ’90s road trip adventure
18. She fell down a rabbit hole
Down
1. This time traveler goes back to the future
3. Just the first name of the girl who followed the brick road with her three new friends and her little dog, Toto
4. The real name of Secret Service agent 007
5. This guy only travels once a year in his one-horse open sleigh
8. Like 13 down, he also leaves The Shire, but it’s on purpose to destroy a ring (and he has the same last name as 13 down)
10. Phileas Fogg jumped in his hot air balloon to go “Around the World in ________ Days”
13. _______ Baggins left The Shire accidentally to go on an adventure (and his first name just has one L)
14. The three-word title of Jack Kerouac’s iconic book
19. The first name of the accident-prone dad in “National Lampoon’s Vacation”
Find the answers at vaxvacationaccess.com/ thecompasscrossword.
“If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”
Maya Angelou Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet
POWERING
With 20 years of travel technology innovation, Trisept Solutions has earned the loyalty of the biggest names in the travel.
We provide tailored solutions for every sector of the travel industry.
VAX VacationAccess is the award-winning leisure travel marketplace that brings together 120,000 travel advisors with 50+ leisure-focused travel suppliers. It’s the premier platform for leisure travel advisors to expertly research, market and sell vacations to their clients.
Synapse enables travel sellers to synchronize omnichannel distribution, supplier connectivity, customer service and back-o ice functions on one secure and seamless platform. The enterprise operating platform delivers innovative merchandising solutions for airlines, hotels and resorts, destinations, theme parks and other travel merchants.
Let our team of travel innovators build your bigger future.
VAX DIY
VAX is more do-it-yourself than you think!
Did you know you can make changes to reservations, resend itineraries, refine searches to find specific availability and more on your own, right on VAX?
No need to call your supplier’s customer care center and wait on hold. Review our top do-it-yourself VAX tips and get step-by-step guidance for making these changes on your own.
Submitting Special Service Requests
Retrieving & Sharing Reservation Details Changing Travel Components Using the Hotel Filters Adding Features and Transfers Changing Passenger Info
Visit vaxvacationaccess.com/vaxdiy to get started!
