Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - (Page 8)

FROM THE EDITOR Judging by the Package VICTORIA’S SECRET IS KNOWN, OF COURSE, FOR SELLING ALL SORTS OF APPEALING UNDERGARMENTS, but it also has an attractive clothing line as well. What’s even more appealing about the outfits Victoria’s Secret sells is that they’re worn by the same famous models that show off its lingerie line. In the ads, the models are usually standing on some amazing tropical beach with the sun shining on them and their hair thrown back as if life’s bounties know no bounds. They can make a striped T-shirt look like a million bucks. The funny thing is, if you order any of this clothing, it comes in what is probably the least appealing packaging you’ll ever find. It’s usually folded up as small as can be into a tiny plastic package and dropped into a larger, very unattractive bag. When you receive it, you can’t quite believe that this is the same exotic clothing you saw on that fabulous model on that alluring beach in the catalog. This is a case of a company whose promotional efforts receive an A-plus, but whose delivery leaves a lot to be desired. There are a few lessons to be learned here, believe it or not. The first is that brochures don’t necessarily always tell the truth. It’s easy, especially when it comes to travel, to portray images of a beach or a hotel that are overly flattering. Everyone knows this, but everyone forgets it when they get caught up in the excitement of planning a trip. They want that beach to be perfect and they wish and hope that hotel is spotlessly clean and comfortable, even though it’s 30 years old and hasn’t gone through a refurbishment since it opened. Keeping It Real As travel agents, it’s important to bring your clients back down to earth when they walk in with a gorgeous brochure or direct you to the website of the hotel they want to visit. You are the ones who need to take a step back, examine what’s real and what’s fake and then direct them to a supplier that will truly deliver the experience they are looking for. Along those same lines, it’s important that you, as a travel agent, don’t get too caught up in the process of selling a dream that doesn’t actually exist. You may be anxious to close a sale, but if the picture you are painting for your client of guaranteed endlessly sunny days in a “luxury” hotel is something that exists simply in your mind, you’ll never see that client again and you’ll probably waste their hard-earned vacation dollars. There are plenty of suppliers who provide stellar products. Your job is to sort through them all to determine which of them are trustworthy. One way to do that is to consult with the consortia to which you belong; management at these associations spends most of its time forming alliances with dependable suppliers who have undergone a quality assurance process. Another method to cutting through all of the hype is to be sure that you are out on the road, testing these products yourself. It’s so easy to get caught up behind the desk, fulfilling the requests of your clients, but in the end, that will make you more of an order-taker rather than a true travel consultant. Take the time for field trips to visit top hotels. If you are a manager, allow your agents to travel, but when they do, insist that they return to the office with a trip report so that the rest of your agents can learn from the experience. Be sure to give your agents strict criteria as to how they should be judging these properties; if they are new to the industry, it’s easy for them be overwhelmed if they’re seeing their first so-called luxury hotel. Remember, natural instincts propel us into wanting something to be good. We all hope that the fabulous sundress on the Brazilian model standing on a rocky cliff will make us appear just as dazzling as she does, but when it shows up on our doorstep in that gray little package, reality will kick in soon enough and we’ll wonder why it is that we were fooled again by pretty pictures. RUTHANNE TERRERO, CTC EDITORIAL DIRECTOR 8 | TravelAgent August 4, 2008 Editorial Director, Ruthanne Terrero CONNECTING YOU For more from Ruthanne Terrero, visit www.travelagent central.com/edletter http://www.travelagentcentral.com/edletter http://www.travelagentcentral.com/edletter

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - August 4, 2008

Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 Online Now Contents From the Editor Africa Europe Pacific/Asia Hawaii Las Vegas Australia Alaska Central & South America Adventures by Disney comes to Costa Rica Caribbean Cruises Cover Story: Have Food? Will Travel Air Consolidators Hotels Tours Gay & Lesbian Travel Agent Profile Bidding for Business Agenda Caribbean Update India Attacting More U.S. Travelers Fuel Prices Cost Royal Caribbean Jobs ASTA Celebrates Victory Over Airlines Agent Access Classified Marketplace In the Spotlight Editorial Index Advertising Index Trendwatch

Travel Agent - August 4, 2008

Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - (Page Coverwrap1) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - (Page Coverwrap2) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 (Page Cover1) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 (Page Cover2) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 (Page 1) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Online Now (Page 2) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Online Now (Page 3) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Contents (Page 6) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 8) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 9) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 10) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 11) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 12) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 13) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Africa (Page 14) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Africa (Page 15) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Africa (Page 16) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Africa (Page 17) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Europe (Page 18) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Europe (Page 19) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Europe (Page 20) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Europe (Page 21) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Europe (Page 22) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Europe (Page 23) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 24) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 25) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 26) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 27) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Hawaii (Page 28) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Hawaii (Page 29) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Hawaii (Page 30) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Hawaii (Page 31) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 32) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 33) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 34) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 35) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Australia (Page 36) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Australia (Page 37) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Alaska (Page 38) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Alaska (Page 39) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Central & South America (Page 40) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Central & South America (Page 41) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Adventures by Disney comes to Costa Rica (Page 42) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Adventures by Disney comes to Costa Rica (Page 43) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 44) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 45) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 46) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 47) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Cruises (Page 48) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Cruises (Page 49) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Cover Story: Have Food? Will Travel (Page 50) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Cover Story: Have Food? Will Travel (Page 51) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Cover Story: Have Food? Will Travel (Page 52) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Cover Story: Have Food? Will Travel (Page 53) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Cover Story: Have Food? Will Travel (Page 54) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Cover Story: Have Food? Will Travel (Page 55) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Air Consolidators (Page 56) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Hotels (Page 57) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Tours (Page 58) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Tours (Page 59) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Gay & Lesbian Travel (Page 60) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Gay & Lesbian Travel (Page 61) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agent Profile (Page 62) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agent Profile (Page 63) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Bidding for Business (Page 64) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agenda (Page 65) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Caribbean Update (Page 66) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - India Attacting More U.S. Travelers (Page 67) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Fuel Prices Cost Royal Caribbean Jobs (Page 68) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - ASTA Celebrates Victory Over Airlines (Page 69) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - ASTA Celebrates Victory Over Airlines (Page 70) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agent Access (Page 71) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agent Access (Page 72) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agent Access (Page 73) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agent Access (Page 74) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agent Access (Page 75) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Agent Access (Page 76) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Classified Marketplace (Page 77) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - In the Spotlight (Page 78) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - In the Spotlight (Page 79) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Editorial Index (Page 80) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Editorial Index (Page Cover3) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Editorial Index (Page Cover4) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Editorial Index (Page Coverwrap3) Travel Agent - August 4, 2008 - Editorial Index (Page Coverwrap4) 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