Luxury Travel Advisor - October 2008 - (Page 48)

COVER STORY Africa, Mongolia and possibly in some areas of Eastern Europe. Sales and reservations will be handled through Coastline Travel Advisors, which is a licensed and bonded travel provider. “We’re trying to focus on what we love to do, which is more exotic, off-the-beaten-track travel, less cookie cutter,” Smith says. A concept Smith learned from Cornell is using a matrix to determine which type of trip is ideal for a Meridian Prime client. In short, it assesses how active or passive a traveler the client is and, thus, how closely they truly want to participate in the local cultures of these destinations. By determining these desires up front, Meridian Prime will be able to design appropriate programs for customers who say they want to be fully immersed in an environment, yet whose matrix results has revealed that they have a more “soft” adventurer profile. In the end, the process will provide quality assurance to the client. “We want their perception of their experience to be equal or above their expectation level. We want them to come back being fully satisfied. And if we’re going to promise something like that we need science behind it,” she says. Smith is currently working on collecting tour operator partners for Meridian Prime; her strong belief in the value of sustainable tourism is a driving force in the development of the portfolio. “We want to help the tour operators who own and operate companies within these countries but just can’t extend their arms into the U.S. market because of the costs. Many come over to the U.S. and do road shows, but they’re limited to about two weeks and it’s really not effective.” Smith believes that many consumers are seeking the unique experience these operators can provide but are wary because they aren’t working under the umbrella brands they are familiar with. Meridian Prime would provide that umbrella. “We want to partner with these tour operators, bring them into the U.S. market, provide consumer confidence and quality assurance,” says Smith. For Smith, sustainable tourism is not merely an interest, it’s a necessity. “It all really starts with economic sustainability. Everybody knows the benefits of tourism and how it creates jobs. Look at countries like Egypt and Cambodia. Tourism is the driving economy. When tourism goes down, it hurts them. A lot of times, especially in Cambodia, they’re really not benefiting from the tourism because it’s the American companies that are coming in. It’s a little bit of an irony that Meridian Prime is an American company and we’re definitely a for-profit company. But we’re hoping to create a partnership where we could work with tourism boards and work with these local tour operators to grow their economies and assist them in that.” The idea for Meridian Prime came from the fact that Smith’s father, who is close to retiring, loves to travel off the beaten path and doesn’t want to take a tour where he’d be put on a bus. “This is a means to an end for clients, where they can come to us and we can promise them a very unique experience,” says Smith. Smith admits that when she considered becoming a travel agent, she found the industry had a bit of a stigma to it. “I still, to this day, really have to explain it,” she says. “When I was at Cornell, I was the very first graduate that came from a travel consulting background. I’m always still trying to defend myself. Luckily, a lot of students I went to school with come from very wealthy families and have used Virtuoso travel agents. So they did understand that this is a profession. Had I not been in a Virtuoso agency, that stigma would have stayed with me forever. But coming to Travel Mart and seeing everybody in their gorgeous suits had an impact. I think the first year I came they were talking about Viking Stoves and I knew what a Viking Stove was and that they were very, very expensive. Everybody at Travel Mart was saying they had one. That’s a $20,000 stove!” While some say that the travel advisor community does not readily provide newcomers with a distinct career path, as, for example, the hotel industry does, Smith argues that she has moved up the ranks more quickly than she would have in another industry. “In any industry you start at the bottom and have a long way to go before you can go out and buy designer shoes. You definitely have a long way to go when you’re working in the hospitality industry because the people who are in the executive positions all will say, ‘I started as a bellhop, so you’re going to start as a bellhop.’” Having taken a gamble on the youth market, Johnson, who is just 42, can look at the past four years and brag that his annual ADVISOR INSIGHT: What was Jay Johnson’s secret in attracting a youthful group of prospective agents to Coastline Travel Advisors? “I targeted schools that had hospitality programs and made sure they knew that the agency industry is a viable avenue for personal growth,” Johnson tells Luxury Travel Advisor. “All the students want is a chance to grow. That, and, of course, travel benefits, is all that they are looking for. I made sure that they knew we are an agency that has many avenues for growth. Be it with Coastline or Meridian Prime, the gist is that the sky is the limit in terms of growth potential. One reason students are so attracted to hotels and tour operators is they think they have a better chance to grow. I made sure they knew those options are also available to them with Coastline and Meridian Prime.” Additionally, while many agency owners might put a “newbie” right out of school on a commission pay basis, Johnson is a full believer in putting them on salary. “A benefit of having a salary-based setup is the ability to hire some of the best and brightest young stars in the industry. Students right out of college would never survive if they worked strictly on commission. This is why so many of our bright, young students decide not to go to the agency side of the business. They will go work at a major hotel that has a structured salary because they simply cannot afford to get into our side of the business. Sure, there is a six- to nine-month period where their salary outweighs their incoming commission, but they quickly surpass the breakeven point and have far exceeded what our previous commission-based agents were producing.” 48 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | October 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Luxury Travel Advisor - October 2008

Luxury Travel Advisor - October 2008 Contents Publisher's Letter Editor's Letter Glasgow Greece & Cyprus Private Islands Park Hotel Weggis Mexico Private Yachts MS Europa Coastline Travel Awards of Excellence The Pulse Just Back Luxury Travel Expo Sightings Source List

Luxury Travel Advisor - October 2008

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