Travel Agent - September 24, 2007 - (Page 34)

Back to School This fall, what educational opportunities are agents exploring for themselves? Merry Larsen America’s Vacation Center/American Express Orlando “You’re never too old to go back to school,” says Merry Larsen of America’s Vacation Center in Orlando. “This summer, I completed the Princess Academy classes for becoming a Commodore, and found them to be very helpful. Right now I am taking the Cunard Commodore online classes, as well as several other specialist classes with Celebrity and Crystal.” Agent Exchange She’s also active with her travel colleagues and partners. “The beginning of November we are scheduled to have our second-ever Strategic Business Unit (SBU) advisory board meeting in Oaxaca for North American travel to Mexico.” The first was held in June in Washington, D.C. And in between? “Well, I am hoping to do a little hurricane/ low season island-hopping in the Caribbean,” Austin says. Meg Austin The Travel Society Inc., Denver Meg Austin is an adventure specialist with Denver, CO-based The Travel Society Inc. She knows all about back to school, as she has two daughters, ages 13 and 14. “Once the children are back in school, my phones start ringing off the hook,” Austin says. “Parents are already missing them and hopefully planning Spring Break travel; many are late and seek Christmas space.” An influx of client inquiries doesn’t stop her from educating herself, however. “Our industry does offer quite a bit of educational opportunities at this time of year,” says Austin, who recently went to Virtuoso’s annual Travel Mart, where she attended classes and seminars beginning daily at 6:30 a.m. and not ending until well after 9 p.m. “In addition, we met with all the Virtuoso hoteliers from all corners of the globe,” she continues. Austin also values networking within the travel industry. “I will be in New York October 9 and 10 for the annual Condé Nast Traveler awards,” she says. “This event is always educational, offering some of the best networking opportunities in the industry.” Heather Dolstra Democracy Travel Washington, DC “One of the less wellunderstood facts about a travel agent’s professional life is just how broad a knowledge base is required to do the job competently,” says Heather Dolstra of Democracy Travel in Washington, DC. “Required areas of competency include technological, consular, medical, mathematics, linguistics, psychiatry and destination knowledge.” At the top of Dolstra’s list is destination education. She chooses destinations that will be of use in her job. “I am going to Costa Rica next month because this is a ‘hot’ destination and I need to have firsthand information. I visited Tunisia in July because this is a North African country that is little known by Americans but has a booming tourism sector. Second, I visit trade shows to meet suppliers and pick up current materials. I attend local supplier events (or host in-office visits) for the same reason. Third, says Dolstra, “I read the trades to keep up with industry information and the consumer travel press for destination information and to keep up with what my clients are reading. I also read daily emails from travel information aggregators, which keep me up to date on breaking news in the industry. Lastly, I participate in webinars—a fairly new concept of virtual sales calls that have a great deal of potential.” Terry McCabe Altour International, Fair Lawn, NJ “I try to do as much as I can, depending on my schedule,” says Terry McCabe, national director of leisure for Fair Lawn NJ-based Altour International. “Nowadays clients don’t ask if you’ve been to a hotel; they ask, ‘When was the last time you were there.’” McCabe values seminars and road shows for the contacts that can be made, but she prefers to see a destination with her own eyes. “This fall, I’ll be doing some swings through the Caribbean, hitting most of the islands, and also traveling out west to visit California, Las Vegas, New Mexico and Arizona,” she says. —Dan Butcher, Joe Pike and Mark Rogers 34 TravelAgent September 24, 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - September 24, 2007

Contents Editor's Letter News You Can Use Agenda: Fam Trips, Calendar of Events, Deal of the Week Cover Story - Down the Stretch: Ramping Up 2007 Sales Central & South America: Anthony’s Key Resort, Roatan, Honduras Florida: Hotel Packages for Cruise-Bound Travelers Cruises: A Tale of Two Lines Agent Exchange Classified Marketplace Luxury Travel Expo Update Advertisers’ Information People & Places

Travel Agent - September 24, 2007

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