Luxury Travel Advisor - January 2009 - (Page 8)

EDITOR'S LETTER Out of Chaos Comes Opportunity O If your clients can’t afford the top suite this year, find them a room that is spacious and less expensive. That may be luxurious enough for now. 8 ne of the most inspiring things I’ve heard for awhile was on the trade show floor of Luxury Travel Expo and it was from Greg DeClemente, who, along with Sheila Yellin of Courtyard Travel, graced our cover in December. “I love chaos,” Greg said joyfully. “Out of chaos comes opportunity. Bring it on.” From the smile on his face, I knew that Greg wasn’t kidding. He was, of course, speaking of the times we live in now, and to the fact that many people tend to hibernate when the markets go south. Others innovate. Winter is an ideal time to innovate. Today, for example, is a week before Christmas and it’s snowing in Manhattan. When it snows anywhere, it seems as if a hush has fallen over the world. But if you really listen, you can hear a car horn in the distance, a bird cheeping or the low roar of your furnace trying to keep up with the winter chill. It’s a great time to listen to your soul, to what you feel is important about what you do. It’s also a good time to rethink what your clients’ needs are. Their budgets may have changed from a year ago, but their cravings for travel haven’t. So, think about it: If they aren’t demanding to book the top suite this year because they’re trimming back, what is it they are really looking for? A hotel’s best suites are typically large, so perhaps space is the amenity that your client finds luxurious? If so, scout out the hotel to determine which of the standard rooms are larger because of their location. Hint: The lower floors of older hotels tend to have higher ceilings because the affluent of yore didn’t want to have to walk up a lot of steps in case there was a problem with the elevator. As a result, their servants were given rooms on the higher floors, which had lower ceilings and smaller windows. I learned that from reading this month’s Vanity Fair article on the multimillion-dollar topfloor penthouses that were purchased at The Plaza Hotel in New York. (That was a real eye opener.) Here’s another inspiring thought: Just because the economy is dragging doesn’t mean new destinations won’t continue to emerge and wonderful new hotels won’t continue to be built. Progress will always be a part of our lives because the human spirit always has the impetus to move ahead. In the meantime, take any down time you have to travel, to explore the world. Educate yourself in any way you can and spend quality time with the suppliers whose services and business ethics you admire. If you’re new to the industry, speak to those luxury travel advisors who have been through past recessions. They’ll smile and tell you that we’ll all get through this one and that will make you feel a lot better. Our industry is known for having a good number of long-lasting professionals; this is a luxury for all of us, because we can all benefit and learn from their sage advice. Along those lines, spend these days with other luxury travel advisors, whether at conferences, on fams or in online communities. Join Facebook; you may be surprised to see how many of your colleagues are on there. At the very least, you’ll be able to share ideas and read about where everyone is jetting off to. In the meantime, listen to the silence and consider every chance you have to innovate. RUTHANNE TERRERO, CTC Vice President/Editorial Director rterrero@questex.com LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | January 2009

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Luxury Travel Advisor - January 2009

Luxury Travel Advisor - January 2009 Contents Publisher's Letter Editor's Letter Lucca Egypt Provence Great Honeymoons Cover Story: Dan Flannery Girlfriend Getaways Croatia The Pulse Jetset Report Sightings Meetings & Incentives Supplement Aruba Turks and Caicos Los Angeles Laguna Beach, CA

Luxury Travel Advisor - January 2009

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