Travel Agent Professional Feb 2012

Travel AgentProfessional

February 2012Issue 16

4 How much is too much?By Rusty Pickett, ECCShellback Cruises

14 Birmingham England —The Ultimate Shopper’s ParadiseBy Paull Tickner Creator of Special Interest Britain

February 2012

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Travel Agent Professional TAP

2012

Ad In

dex

64 How much is too much?By Rusty Pickett, ECCShellback Cruises

66 What Kind of Fool Am I?By Scott KoepfVice President of Sales Avoya Travel/American Express

68 Managing the Customer RelationshipBy Mitchell J. SchlesingerVice President, Sales & Marketing Voyages to Antiquity

14 Birmingham England —The Ultimate Shopper’s ParadiseBy Paull Tickner Creator of Special Interest Britain

20 Damage Control, Surveys & InsuranceBy Les-Lee RolandOwner of The Package Deal

ShowcaseAvoya Travel™/American Express® ..............17OASIS............................................................11TRAVELSAVERS ............................................15

February

http://www.AutoEurope.com

http://www.joinavoya.com/default.cfm?ref=115

http://www.leisurepops.com/

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/

www.sabretravelinetwork.com/tmu

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http://us.voyagestoantiquity.com/

Auto Europe................................IFCAvoya Travel/American Express....19Leisure Pops ...................................9 Royal Caribbean Line ...................BC

Sabre ...........................................19Travel Planners Int’l......................13Voyages to Antiquity ......................3

Travel AgentProfessional

February 2012 Issue 16

Travel Agent Professional has its roots in Home Based Trade, the firstmagazine of its kind, started by Joel Abels in 2004. Joel and Lenore Abelsran Travel Trade for nearly half a century – it was started by her grandfa-ther, John S. Lewis, and her father, Sidney Lewis, in 1929, and they tookthe publication over after her grandfather’s passing.

Under Joel’s direction, the company grew to be one of the travel agentindustry’s leading publications, reaching more than 45,000 agentsthroughout North America. It spawned a famous series of trade showsand three monthly magazines – Cruise Trade, Tour Trade and Home BasedTrade.

The Abels also garnered enormous respect – Joel received the NealAward, called “the Pulitzer Prize of the business press,” for his hard-hit-ting editorials.

On a personal note, after working with Joel for over a decade and stay-ing with him until the end, I grew to truly care for and respect the man.He was like a second father to me. Joel was old school, he stood by hisword and believed in his work. There will never be another.

While nobody can replace this industry legend, we’re hoping thatthis new publication, which reunites the original Home Based Tradeeditorial board, will be able to carry on his passion for travel andthose who sell it.

Ann M. Hoek

Travel Agent ProfessionalP.O. Box 120202

Staten Island, NY 10312E-mail:

[email protected]:

718.227.7541

Ann M. HoekPublisher/Creative Design

[email protected]

Bonnie WallingEditor

[email protected] Our

Editorial Board

Mitchell J. SchlesingerVice President, Sales & Marketing

Voyages to Antiquitywww.voyagestoantiquity.com

Mary BrutscherFormer Host Agency Owner & Travel Educational [email protected]

Rusty Pickett, ECCShellback Cruises

www.shellbackcruises.com

Les-Lee RolandOwner of The Package Deal

Scott KoepfVice President of Sales

Avoya Travel/America’s Vacation Center

www.joinavoya.com/default.cfm?ref=11583

Sherry Laskin, ACCTravel Writer/NACTA Webinar Moderator

www.cruisemaven.com

Sue Sh apiro, PresidentShapiro Travel [email protected]

www.shapirotravelresources.com

Paull Tickner,Creator of Special Interest Britain

[email protected]

ContributionsLee Rosen, CEOLeisure Pops

www.leisurepops.com

Joel M. Abels Legend In the Travel Industry

April 1927 to January 2007

September 2011

This online magazine is dedicated to the memory of Joel Abels, Travel Trade's editor andpublisher. Joel and his life's work may be gone, but with your help it can live on.

From monumental Sicily and the classical elegance of Greece to the beauty of India’s Taj Mahal, in-depth Burma and mysterious Angkor Wat, Voyages to Antiquity’s uniqueitineraries bring to life the history of the world’s ancient civilizations.

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4

February 2012

We were recently on a NACTA seminar at sea,

and as is typical these days, the subject of social and elec-

tronic media came up with respect to its use in our busi-

ness. A very professional and aggressive agent, also relatively

new, was describing how much time it takes to do her elec-

tronic newsletter, keep up with her Facebook account and

also stay active with Twitter.

Although she didn’t say it directly, it was clearly evident that

the amount of time she spent on these media was cutting in

to the time she had available for actually processing client

bookings and professional education, which she stated was

important to her.

The buzz at the moment seems to be that you can’t be a

successful travel company unless you have a robust

Facebook and Twitter presence, and are always in contact

By

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Rusty Pickett, ECCShellback Cruises www.shellbackcruises.com

How much is too much?

The bottom line

seems to be keep it

simple. List all the

media/actions that you

want to have a

presence in: Web site,

Facebook, E-mail,

Twitter, newsletter,

professional education,

client service etc.

5

Travel Agent Professional

with your client base through the use of a top-

notch newsletter. We never discuss how much

is too much.

Just like you have to qualify your clients, you

also have to qualify your client base! The base

question is that really needs to be asked is how

does your client base really grow? For the vast

majority of home based agents it’s pure and

simple — word of mouth networking based on

service provided rather than a huge social net-

working presence.

I have both a business Facebook account and

Twitter account. There are only a few people

who have ‘liked’ my Facebook account and I

don’t use my Twitter account at all — one life-

time tweet! My national client base just isn’t on

Facebook, and using that as a reference, they

won’t be on Twitter.

It just would not be a good use of my time to

spend hours per week chatting on those

media. The value added compared to the time

taken away from professional education and

client processing just isn’t justified.

To some extent, the same can be said about an

agency newsletter. I definitely think there is

value added, but you have to decide which is

more cost-effective — spending many hours on

the newsletter or growing your professional

knowledge and service ethic.

There is certainly a balance, but given the vast

amount of information pushed by our travel

supplier partners, there is only so much new

information that can be put out in a newsletter.

I think you really need to understand that what

you are trying to accomplish with the newslet-

ter. “Touching” your client base is critical.

However, too much may be overwhelming,

given the number of E-mails – spam and other-

wise — that are generated daily.

Additionally, you need to ensure you are using

the best E-mail broadcast method – using a

product like Constant Contact – instead of

processing the information using your E-mail

program, which can be tedious at best.

The bottom line seems to be keep it simple.

List all the media/actions that you want to have

a presence in: Web site, Facebook, E-mail,

Twitter, newsletter, professional education, client

service etc. Which of these platforms give the

most return on investment on your most valu-

able commodity — your time? Objectively fig-

ure out which ‘time consumer’ adds the most

value and potential for growth and focus your

attention on that. Forget about the others in

spite of what the talking heads say!

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February 2012

What Kind of Fool

Am I?

Scott KoepfVice President of Sales

Avoya Travel/American Express

www.JoinAvoya.com

6

There may be a few of

you who are already composing

your E-mail to answer this ques-

tion for me. While I will be happy

to receive those replies, this ques-

tion is actually designed to ask of

yourself, not others.

It is the title of a song that became more famous

than the show it came from, Stop the World — I

Want to Get Off. Through singing the beautiful

melody and piercing lyrics, the character tries to find

the answer to the question in the title of the song,

“What Kind of Fool Am I?”

Through this self-analysis, he realizes he may be inca-

pable of love, which is sad indeed. As compared to

most of my musical theatre references, this song is

really somewhat depressing.

So how is this introspective song related to selling

travel? After recently reading a number of communi-

ty forums and Facebook posts, I was struck with the

idea that maybe we need to take the approach of

this song and apply it to our businesses. As I noted

above, this song is about self-analysis, so let’s take a

look at ourselves.

If you are honest with

yourself, you will

determine what you

may not have done

well so you can

improve for the next

time.

7


As travel agents, we are in a very competitive and

dynamic business — if you do not agree with that

you might as well stop reading this! While I under-

stand the frustrations of losing business to com-

petitors or direct sales, I guess I am tired of the

blame game. It seems that just about every post

says something like “They (insert competitor or

supplier name here) are doing this bad thing or that

bad thing and I am losing business because of it....”

Of course, it is easy for others to jump in and toss

a couple “Halleluiahs” and “Amens” and add to the

tale of woe. Soon, you have an unending string of

“They did this...” and “They did that...”

I may not make friends with this next comment,

but maybe it is time to sing the song, “What Kind

of Fool Am I”? (Now you really want to send me

your answers!) Before you get too upset, please

don’t imply that I am calling you a fool. But I do

think we all should start by looking at what our

actions have been instead of moaning and groaning

about what others are doing.

Everything we do comes out of the choices we

make, and no matter how upset we might get,

the fact is that others are winning sales and

growing their businesses in the same environ-

ment we are in.

The irony here is the very fact that we travel

agents exist is the whole proof that I am right.

Remember that due to commission cuts, the

Internet, the economy or direct sales, we are not

supposed to be here! Yet here we are. However, I

think the most successful agents are not the ones

loudly worrying about what “they” are doing but

instead have made choices to change and adapt

which allow them to succeed.

So, the next time you lose a sale take a deep

breath and think about this song’s self analysis and

focus on “What did I do?” instead of what “they”

did. Complaining about what “they” did will simply

not improve your business prospects for the

future. However, true self analysis will.

I always recommend that agents review what did

and more importantly, didn’t work on a daily if not

weekly basis. So if you lost business to a competi-

tor, step into your panic room and scream primor-

dially, then come back and ask yourself why that

happened. If your answer is that “they” have a bet-

ter price or that their marketing is too pervasive,

then I suggest you did not ask the right question.

Once again, it is self-analysis, not blame analysis.

What can be learned from this to make sure it

does not happen again? Did you follow up to the

degree you should have? Did you do enough

research to quote a compelling offer in the first

place? Did you spend enough time with the cus-

tomer and ask enough questions to build a rela-

tionship? Did you clearly articulate the benefits of

booking with you?

If you are honest with yourself, you will determine

what you may not have done well so you can

improve for the next time. If you sing the song

below just a few times (with some liberty taken

with the lyrics) you may realize the only foolish

thing would be to not sing this song!

What kind of fool am I?Who didn’t make the sale?

What can I do next time so I will not fail?I need to learn and grow

Or clients will never knowWhat kind of Jewel I really am!

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Mitchell J. SchlesingerVice President, Sales & Marketing Voyages to [email protected]

Capturing “Clients for Life” starts with understanding the basics of consumer behavior, which provides a fuller

understanding of each of your clients’ individual motivations. So let’s focus on how this works:

1. Clients come to you with their own motivation for travel and the expected result. The key isthat they purchase based on emotions and then justify with logic. To be successful, you must lis-

ten very closely to what they want and then match the right product to fulfill their expectation.

2. You need to create an emotional connection with each client so that they perceive you under-stand what it is they are seeking. Remember, they buy for their own reasons, not yours. Selling

them a vacation that fulfills their personal emotional desires directly impacts their ability to

logically justify that they made the right choice, of both the travel package…and YOU.

3. Customer perceptions of you and your service are crucial. They must feel that there is signifi-cant value in your relationship. It starts with their trust that you will be invested enough in

the relationship to recommend the travel that best fulfills their expectations, which creates

the perception that their purchase had significant value. It continues with your communicating

with them on an ongoing basis and the acid test, how you handle “challenges.” And part of

this perception must be their sensation that they are your most important client!

Think about your own motivations when you buy

anything. For clothes, it is how stylish you feel you look or

appear to others, or those of you in Green Bay, warmth. For

insurance, it is security and peace of mind; for toys, the pleasure

in the eyes of children; for a computer, a way to connect to the

rest of the world and, importantly, conduct business.

The use of the word “commodity” to convey a non-brand dis-

tinct thing is not accurate. We don’t buy “things,” we buy ideas,

personal feelings, happiness, self satisfaction, respect and solu-

tions to challenges.

8 Clients For Life

Managing the Customer

Relationship

February 2012

(continued on page 10)

With Leisure Pops you "Pick your Pops": meaning tyou turn on the Pop Campaigns they choose and get only those Pops when pertinent. With Leisure Pops you will never get a Pop that you have not asked for!

Leisure Pops "electronically taps you on the shoulder" at just the right time for your product offerings. Sell more add on products and have access to your specials at just the right time when they can help you.

Leisure Pops saves you time and makes bookings extremely efficient by moving data for you. One click takes you to the chosen site, automatically logs you in, shops the site, and even moves data (client data into and reservation details back) making the reservation process fast and easy.

Leisure Pops helps you make more money as you will sell more preferred suppliers, more add on products and can easily and auto-matically participate in reward programs.

Everyone wins with Leisure Pops: Agents better service clients and make more money; Agencies and consortia get more preferred book-ings, Suppliers get more sales from preferred agents, and perhaps best of the all the consumer's interests are best served developing long term consumer - agent relationships..

To learn morevisit leisurepops.com

Leisure Pops:Your Ultimate Assistant

Leisure Pops sits quietly on your desktop and waits for an opportunity to help you. It can save you time and keystrokes, or remind you of preferred-supplier offers, or notify you when there is an opportunity to sell add on products like show tickets or travel insurance, or automatically log your qualified bookings into contest sites like Win With Amex, or Las Vegas Agent Rewards.

104. And speaking of service, how each and every member of your agency team comes across estab-

lishes a service benchmark for the agency. This is a reflection that every contact is a judged

experience highlighted by:

Physical appearance: Attractiveness counts;Attitude: Accommodation, understanding, responsiveness;Phone etiquette: Attitude can be heard as well as witnessed;Responsiveness: “How important am I?”

5. Learn from mistakes and criticisms — this is CRUCIAL. You can’t ignore what a client istelling you. It is their perception and their reality. And whatever it is, it provides a platform for

you to communicate your appreciation, thank them for their honesty and create the perception

that you are addressing their input.


February 2012


Outside Agents Sales Integration System (OASIS)Reports Record Growith in 2011With Total Sales Growth 186% over 2010

Boca Raton, Florida,February 15, 2012 – OASIS,www.OasisAgent.com, aleader in the development ofprograms for home basedindependent travel agents,reports another year ofrecord growth.

“We are extremely pleasedthat total sales in 2011 are186% more than in 2010and agent growth hasincreased by 106%,” statesKelly Bergin, OASIS vicepresident of business devel-opment. “We attribute thisgrowth to our unique busi-ness model, which allowsagents to join OASIS with noinitiation fee and receive100% commission on alltransactions. The only feesare a monthly charge of $29for the basic plan, and pro-cessing fees ranging from $2to $29, depending upon thesupplier commission.”

Contributing to the success

of OASIS is the overallgrowth of the tourism indus-try. Statistics released by theUS Department of Commercein January 2012, indicate thatthe travel industry continuesto outpace all other sectors ofthe economy. Posting its thir-teenth consecutive gain dur-ing the past 14 months, thetravel industry added 7,000jobs in January 2012. SinceMarch 2010, travel industryemployment has expandedby 223,000, marking a 3.1percent increase — fasterthan the 2.4 percent rise inemployment in other sectorsof the economy.

With a significant declinein brick and mortar travelagencies, many tourism pro-fessionals are becominghome-based agents. Amongthe benefits that OASIS pro-vides its agents is access toSignature Travel Network’sIntranet, with a hotel and

cruise booking engine andmany value-added featuresthat Signature has negotiatedwith hotels and cruise lines.This gives agents tremendousproduct diversity in bothland and cruise offerings andoffers them the benefit of vol-ume purchasing power.

OASIS turnkey businessmodel offers participatinghome-based travel agentsbusiness development sup-port and the advantages ofvolume purchasing power.Additional benefits includecontinuing professional edu-cation through webinars, on-demand training, interactiveforums, and mentoring,which help to ensure theirsuccess. Customized andbranded websites featuringcomprehensive content forcruises, hotels, land vaca-tions and destinations arealso available to all OASISagents.

Showcase

OASIS, the Outside Agents Sales Integration System, is a division of Smart Travel Group of Boca Raton, Florida. For more informa-tion about OASIS Agent visit www.OasisAgent.com or contact Kelly Bergin at 800-613-8380 extension 120, or by email [email protected]

12

February 2012

An intrinsic part of managing the customer relationship is communication. There is a distinct difference

between how this is handled by clients who are becoming customers for the first time and those who

have purchased previously.

With new customers, it is the process of establishing the relationship, learning about what they really

want and providing a high quality initial level of service and product recommendation. It is important to

reinforce how the recommendation reflects the input they provided by pointing out the features of the

travel and how each segment fulfills the “wants” they expressed.

For existing clients, this is taken to a completely next level, including what you already know and augmenting it:

• Communication must be consistent in order for clients to feel engaged by your agency;

• You must constantly update your profile for each client with demographic and psychographic trendsand changes;

• Clients must be asked repeatedly, how are we doing? How can we provide better service? Whatnew ideas do you have for future travel?;

• Send information on new travel destinations and products and ask for their reactions;• Send communication of a personal nature to show how engaged you are.Creating and managing client relationships by understanding consumer behavior is crucial for you and your

team members. The reaction to the service you provide will be judged and evaluated by your clients based

on key factors:

1. Credibility 2. Communication 3. Attractiveness4. Reliability 5. Responsiveness 6. Empathy

Arranging the first letter of these factors spells the word CARE. Show your clients how much youCARE and increase the number of clients you retain for life.


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February 2012

Paull Tickner, creator of Special Interest Britain, is affiliated with the Greatdays Travel Group. For over 30 years, he has been developingand operating customized niche travel programs for the United Kingdom and Ireland. For more information, visit his Web site atwww.greatdays.co.uk and E-mail him at [email protected]

Airside Kerbside in less than 30

minutes... Fantastic weekend rates at fabulous 4

star hotels ... Amazing shopping... Welcome to

Birmingham, Britain’s second city and recently

named as one of the world’s top 20 places to visit

in 2012 alongside the likes of Florence, Tokyo and

San Diego.

The influential New York Times newspaper

placed the city 19th on its list of must see desti-

nations, highlighting a recent quote that

Birmingham is the UK’s ‘foodiest town’.

In its write up the New York Times says: ‘’The

chefs are building on an already rich dining

scene. Birmingham is famous in Britain for its

Balti Triangle, an area of town that is home to a

beloved Pakistani-Kashmiri curry dish invented

here.’’

With this ease of access and the high quality of

its hotels to work with, Birmingham is THE

place to go to for Girls Getaway shopping trips.

14

(continued on page 16

Birmingham England —The Ultimate Shopper’s Paradise


TRAVELSAVERS Partner Services & AnalogAnalytics Team Up to Provide

The Ultimate Travel Industry Solution to Group Discount Sites

Oyster Bay, N.Y. –(February 2, 2012) – TRAVEL-SAVERS Partner Services, anew American MarketingGroup company, has won theaccount as the exclusive trav-el provider for AnalogAnalytics’ Bigger BetterDeal™ solution. The newpartnership is the winninganswer to one of today’sgreatest industry challenges— group discount sites —because all parties benefit.For every purchase made, thebuyer’s local AmericanMarketing Group licensedagency receives a royalty feeand client information forpotential future business, pre-ferred suppliers can offerproduct online to a compre-hensive subscriber list withoutminimizing profits and con-sumers receive terrific value-added vacations through theAnalog Analytics SyndicationNetwork. Travel deals willlaunch at the end of February.

“This partnership forms theperfect marriage between theonline community and ourtravel agents because every-one comes out on top,” saysRick Mazza, CEO of TRAVEL-SAVERS Partner Services. “Wehave been exploring the ques-tion of how to garner mutualonline success for suppliers,

travel agents and consumersand I am thrilled that TRAV-ELSAVERS Partner Services isthe first to come up with theanswer. We’re very excitedabout our relationship withAnalog Analytics.”

Analog Analytics andTRAVELSAVERS PartnerServices by the numbers: • 850 online newspapers andbroadcast media accessingexclusive travel offers daily• 40-50 million consumersreached daily • 1 travel provider

How The Agent Benefits The partnership’s profit

sharing structure providesfinancial rewards toAmerican Marketing Grouplicensed agencies in theform of a royalty fee, alongwith the added perk of acustomer prospect — abonus that is received simplyfor being associated with thecompany. Through its exclu-sive territory system basedon populations of 50,000,TRAVELSAVERS PartnerServices matches eachBigger Better Deal™ travelpurchaser to the closestlicensed agency to ensure afair distribution of royaltyfees and client information.

How The Supplier BenefitsGone are the days of

online deals filled with lowprofits for suppliers. The newpartnership provides suppli-ers with the opportunity tooffer product online withoutslashing prices, which allowsfor rate integrity to stay intact. Instead, Bigger BetterDeal™ travel offers providevalue-added experiences anda business model that allowsfor inventory to be carefullycontrolled in a limited timeoffer structure. Suppliers onlypay for performance, yetreceive exposure similar tothat of a comprehensiveadvertising campaign.

How The Consumer BenefitsWith consumers looking to

stretch their vacation dollars,TRAVELSAVERS PartnerServices’ Bigger BetterDeal™ offers will meet thosedemands head on by provid-ing the value-adds today’saspiring traveler expects.Through the new partner-ship, consumers can lever-age the relationships TRAV-ELSAVERS Partner Serviceshas with many of the world’stop travel suppliers to makethe most of their holiday. For more go to www.travelagentprofessioal.com

Showcase

To find out more about how to become part of the TWIN global network, independent travel agencies can visitwww.twintravelmanagement.com, email [email protected], or call 516-624-0500 x5080.

16

February 2012

Whether you want designer labels, the latest

high street trends, unique one off bargain

brands, the city’s got it all. With thousands

of shops to choose from, it’s the ultimate

shopper’s paradise. No purse is safe from

Birmingham’s inspiring retail outlets from the

uber-cool Mailbox and the iconic Selfridge

building to its selection of quirky indepen-

dent stores the city is an unparalleled world

class shopping destination.

Shopaholics will love browsing around the

vast choice of shopping malls. At the heart

of this capital of retail lies the award winning

Bullring www.bullring.co.uk which is home

to a vibrant mix of over 160 shops and 25

restaurants.



We are committed to helping independent travel agencies live a lifestyle of success and are looking for p

O

Norwegian Cruise Line Honors AvoyaTravel With Top Travel Award

Award Signifies Avoya Travel’s Commitment to Creating a Better Vacation Experience

MIAMI – January 25, 2012: AvoyaTravel™/American Express®, one ofthe leading travel companies inNorth America and beyond, todayannounced that Norwegian CruiseLine has presented the companywith its 2011 ‘Home-Based Agencyof the Year’ award. Avoya Travelreceived the cruise line’s highestagency honor for the company’sdedication to customer service, itselite network of IndependentAgencies, and outstanding sales per-formance in 2011.

“Avoya Travel is a valued partnerof Norwegian Cruise Line and, assuch, we commend them for creat-ing exceptional vacation experiencesfor customers worldwide,” said AndyStuart, Executive Vice President,Global Sales and Passenger Servicesfor Norwegian Cruise Line. “AvoyaTravel’s support of Norwegian CruiseLine is a core element of our success,and we’re looking forward to work-ing together to deliver amazing vaca-tions to cruisers around the globe foryears to come.”

Recently onboard the NorwegianEpic, Avoya Travel held its annual

National Conference for its networkof independent travel agencies.While onboard, Stuart hosted anexclusive event for Avoya Travel tocelebrate the successful year. Thehonor was later announced by Stuart;Camille Olivere, Vice President ofSales; Alex Pinelo, Director, NationalAccounts; and Shanel Knight,Program Manager, Home BasedAccounts for Norwegian Cruise Line.This is the third agency of the yearaward Avoya Travel has won fromNorwegian Cruise Line, previouslyreceiving the cruise line’s recognitionin 2007 and 2006.

“Earning the Home-Based Agencyof the Year award is a testament toAvoya Travel’s commitment to thecustomer experience and the exper-tise of our Independent Agencies,”said Brad Anderson, Co-President ofAvoya Travel. “We are pleased to winone of the most elite awards fromNorwegian Cruise Line and will con-tinue to provide travelers worldwidewith the best value, customer service,and overall vacation experience.”For more information visitwww.travelagentprofessional.com

Showcase

Travel agency owners and professionals interested in growing their business should contact Avoya Travel / AmericanExpress at 800-521-2597 or visit www.JoinAvoya.com. Travelers interested in booking their next vacation should call800-753-1463 or visit www.AvoyaTravel.com.

Sandals honored AvoyaTravel™/American

Express® with the 2011Travel Agency Recognition

S.T.A.R. Award‘Best of the Best,

Western’ for the compa-ny’s dedication to out-standing customer serviceand creating exceptionalvacation experiences forSandals Resorts’ guests.

Avoya® was recognizedfor being the ‘Best of theBest’ by Sandals Resorts atthe Tenth Annual S.T.A.RAwards event held recent-ly at Sandals GrandRiviera Resort in OchoRios, Jamaica.

“Sandals Resorts ispleased to recognizeAvoya and their elite net-work of IndependentAgencies for their commit-ment to excellent cus-tomer service and a greatvacation experience forour Luxury Included resortguests,” said Gary Sadler,Senior Vice President ofSales for Sandals Resorts.

February 2012

18The Mailbox www.mailboxlife.com houses some of the top designer

names such as Harvey Nichols, Hugo Boss and Emporio Armani along-

side contemporary arts and fine furnishing shops, exclusive eateries, top

salons and spas.

Birmingham’s wealth of shopping centres continues with the Pavilions,

City Plaza, the House of Fraser, the Pallasades, the Great Western

Arcade and Martineau Place.

If you’re looking for something that dazzles, head for the world famous

250 year old Jewellery Quarter www.jewelleryquarter.net/shopping. It’s

where an estimated 40% of all the UK jewellery originates and it’s the

place to go for something that sparkles especially if you’re looking for

hand crafted jewellery, clock and watches, at unbelievable prices.

Finally, Birmingham is famous for its outdoor markets that are jam

packed with bargains, character and bumper choice.

A typical Girls Getaway day can include:

• A behind the scenes tour of the Jewellery Quarter.• Some insider tips at Harvey Nichols.• English Afternoon Tea in the Edwardian Tea Rooms at the CityMuseum and Art Gallery (home to a wonderful collection of

pre-Raphaelite paintings)

• A pampering session from a top expert at Selfridges beforekicking back with a glass of champagne at the Moet Bar and

Gallery Restaurant.

• Cocktails and dinner at Gingers, an exquisite bar and restaurant.The New York Times isn’t wrong about many things and if you take a

closer look, you’ll find that their judgement about Birmingham is spot

on. As travel planners, if we look beyond the obvious eg London, we’ll

discover that Birmingham is a place to be taken very seriously indeed.

If you think otherwise, I’m afraid your information is very much out of

date. Check their website and you’ll see exactly what I mean at

www.visitbirmingham.com

20

February 2012

First, I found myself running damage control with my clients after Costa’s tragedy. Then, Princesshad an outbreak of the norovirus on two ships. The calls from clients asking the same questions, making

the same comments, became very tedious. I was feeling like a robot defending the cruise industry, giving

clients answers designed to reassure them so they would still make bookings.

By

L

es

-L

ee

R

ol

an

d

Les-Lee RolandOwner of The Package Deal

Damage Control,

What a Month

This Has

Been

21


Yes, the demise of the Concordia is so unthinkable,

but the media did not emphasize enough that over

4,000 people were rescued with the help of the

crew. (And that didn’t come from a press release

from Carnival).

I don’t know if the people that didn’t make it out

were the ones who had just boarded and their

muster drill was set for the following morning, which

was their policy. I do know that on a large ship, must

people don’t find themselves oriented until the sec-

ond or third day. And the darkness was a big factor.

Remember the captain’s words when ordered to go

back to the ship - “It’s dark out there.”

Then the TV reports of the virus onboard the

ships. I tell my clients that the virus has nothing to

do with the ship — there’s a 99.9% chance it was

spread by a passenger who came on board with it

— perhaps knowingly.

If that were the case, most likely the person didn’t

fill out the form at registration asking if they had

any symptoms. Who would? It means you are not

allowed to board. In addition, crew members are

not allowed to work if they have the virus.

My clients are surprised when I mention that this

is normally a 24-hour virus and only cruise ships

are mandated to report it — not hotels, not air-

lines, not resorts. Las Vegas hotels hold more peo-

ple than the cruise ships. All it takes is one guest

with the virus touching elevator buttons, slot

machine buttons and everything in sight in com-

mon areas, and within a couple of days, hundreds

of people may have symptoms.

The difference here is that Vegas visitors usually

don’t stay more than three days, so if they return

home, they blame their illness on something they

caught on the airplane.

Now, I’d like to move to another topic — surveys.

Cruise lines, some hotels, and tour operators all

ask you to fill out forms. Don’t you just love it

when the choice of answers doesn’t allow you to

state your true feelings?

What a surprise I had when three employees of

the cruise line contacted me separately about the

survey I filled out on a recent cruise — to ask for

more specific info, to offer apologies for any prob-

lems and to share the praise for the good remarks.

Two of the three callers did not know I am a travel

agent, so I was not picked out for that reason.

Guess there is a cooped up office in Miami where

they read thousands of these every week — and

more importantly, they act on them! Kudos!

I wish a prominent travel insurance company

would have sent out a survey rather than the let-

ter I received. Yes, me, moi, the one and only Les-

Lee Roland got a letter from Access America stat-

ing they were deleting me as a travel agent selling

their product starting in February. If I did want to

process policies from them, I would receive only a

$5 marketing fee.

Surveys & Insurance


22

February 2012

I admit, they were not my preferred supplier. But

when they offered policies that fit my clients’

needs, like their family plan, I did quote their rates

to my clients. And I don’t think I had any claims

processed through them. In fact, the day I received

the letter, I did process a policy.

This week, I contacted them, and explained the sit-

uation that because of family illness, I took a few

months off from actively selling travel, attending

shows, etc. and asked to be reinstated.

The answer I got from a nice phone reservations

agent, Ashley, was that once the decision was

made, it cannot be reversed. “What’s the reason?”

I asked. She said it has to do with the state — in

my case, Florida.

That was not an acceptable answer to my thinking.

In fact, I did call the State of Florida’s office, and

they said they knew of no reason for Access

America’s actions.

I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was told that

couldn’t be done. I then asked who the head of the

company was and how I could reach him. His name is

Ricky Horowitz, and he doesn’t take phone calls. The

only way to correspond is to send Ashley, the phone

agent, an E-mail, which she would then give to him.

With all respect, Mr. or maybe it is Ms. Horowitz, I

have called the White House and spoken to many

different offices. I can, and have called, the CEOs or

presidents of airlines, cruise lines, and tour opera-

tors; my state senator, Buckingham Palace, the

Vatican, and Donald Trump’s executive secretary

to get a quote confirmed. I have the gold-

embossed stationery signed by Mr. “You’re Fired”

himself, thanking me for the phone call. Guess

Ricky Horowitz marches to a different drummer.

I did receive a call from a Daniel Durazo at the insur-

ance company offering me his sympathies for the fam-

ily illness, but telling me “no” to ever selling their

product again unless I wanted a $5 marketing fee, or a

referral fee — they don’t use the word commissions.

I asked why, if my sales were practically non-exis-

tent, they didn’t have a rep call me in advance and

try to pump up some future bookings. Well, he

said, my rep had left the company - and they just

don’t do that.

Thank goodness there are other very reputable com-

panies we can deal with, as well as the companies

affiliated with our suppliers. Five dollars is an insult,

when we can make 20%-60% with other companies.

Whether you are an occasional user of Access

America, or a constant user with perhaps many

claims, you, too, may get a letter. Wonder it they’ll

blame it on the State.

I remember a couple of years ago, I got a letter

from Access America saying I had to pay them to

be registered and update my license in Florida.

When I called Tallahassee to ask about my license,

I was told there is no renewal fee, and my license

was active. I relayed that info to Access America

and they dropped the billing fee. I then wrote

about it in a column to warn other agents who

may be charged incorrectly.

I would be interested if anyone has had similar

problems with ANY travel insurance company.

Contact me at [email protected]

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Travel Agent Professional Feb 2012