Travel Agent - June 23, 2008 - (Page TA-10) Agent CONTRIBUTORS Insider Due to the economy, what close-to-home destinations are clients opting for? “There has been a shift in trend to cruise locally, as opposed to Mediterranean and Alaskan cruises,” says Bill Myers of Park Avenue Travel in New York City. “We have seen an increase in booking cruises to New England and Canada out of Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Our clients are focused on spending more time vacationing and less time and money getting to the destination.” “If they are looking for cool weather, they are going north, up to Michigan, which is an easy drive,” says Rob Shainker of Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Kirkwood, MO. “There is a European bus service called Megabus that runs from downtown St. Louis to Chicago that is typically $29 and is about a five-hour trip, give or take.” “It goes beyond fear about the economy it’s the airport grief factor,” says Karen Good Satzman of TravelStore Platinum DAVID EISEN, associate editor for Travel Agent magazine, covers the cruise and hotel beats. This week he tackles the issue of how a travel agent can get off on the right foot with a potential client (page 54). “Agents and suppliers alike told me many of the same things when it comes to dealing with customers for the first time,” he says. “Listening is key, as is asking the pertinent questions so you know who you are dealing with. Above all, don’t be an ordertaker.” Up next, Eisen travels to England for the inaugural of Holland America Line’s Eurodam, which promises to be a hit. He’s looking forward to relaxing in one of the ship’s poolside cabanas, a new feature from Holland America. GEORGE DOOLEY is Travel Agent’s contributing editor covering retail and technology. In this issue, he talks to Tom Ogg, who, along with his wife Joanie Ogg, helped build the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (NACTA) into an industry powerhouse. Now Tom has taken on a new challenge: nurturing Travel Professionals Network (TPN) into a force to benefit travel agents and help them gain needed professional recognition (page 83). JOE PIKE, associate editor for Travel Agent magazine, covers the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexico and Central and South America. Pike is currently on site in Washington D.C. covering the first Caribbean Tourism Summit at the International Trade Center in the Ronald Reagan Building. The event kicked off June 21 and runs to June 24. Pike penned this issue’s cover story on Rose Marie Spatafore, owner of E-Z Travel and Tours in Ansonia, CT. Pike had the privilege of meeting Spatafore at her office and relays that interview with readers in this issue (see page 58). EVELYN KANTER is a freelance writer and former broadcast news reporter and producer. She has contributed several stories to Travel Agent magazine, including an article in the December 10 issue about Liverpool, the European Capital of Culture for 2008. In this issue, she writes about the new all-inclusive Sandos Resort in the Riviera Maya (page 44). in Los Angeles. “I’m being flooded with requests for cruises out of local ports (for us, from L.A. to Mexico, Hawaii or even Alaska) and for such drive-to places as Yellowstone National Park and the U.S. and Canadian Rockies. Hawaii is still going strong, probably because it feels far away, even if it isn’t.” 10 | TravelAgent June 23, 2008 MARK ROGERS, senior editor for Travel Agent magazine, recently made back-to-back trips to Fiji and Bangkok. You can read the onsite reports of his journeys at www.travelagentcentral.com. In this issue, Rogers highlights new hotels in Beijing (page 24). He also showcases Australia’s Northern Territory as it prepares for an onslaught of media attention when Baz Luhrmann’s romantic period film Australia premieres this Christmas season (page 28). In Bangkok, he reported from the annual Thai Travel Mart and had the opportunity to speak with Santchai Euachongprasit, the deputy governor for international marketing for the Tourism Authority of Thailand, for an outlook on what’s ahead for Thailand tourism (see pages 81 and 82). Rogers covers Hawaii, the South Pacific and Asia, as well as California, where he is based. http://www.travelagentcentral.com
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