The Education of Travel Travel Agent Musings

RSS

The Education of Travel

16 Jul

By Rhonda Stanley

A teacher once told me, “the greatest education you can give your children is the education of travel.”

That was her response to me asking permission to take my children out of school for a vacation in Puerto Vallarta. At that time, the twins were still in the primary grades.

They are now 18 years old, and we have taken between 1 and 3 family vacations every year. BOY have they been bitten hard by the travel bug.

We have visited many mainstream destinations: Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Cuba. When you plan a trip to one of these places, you always know you’ll have a great time. Nothing beats a relaxing piece of paradise with the perfect blend of sun, sand, and sea.

But the less mainstream adventure travel destinations have been the difference-maker for my kids. That’s where the education of travel really comes into play. Places like Fiji, Australia, Europe, and most recently Southeast Asia.

I think it’s amazing that my daughters have experienced all this at the tender age of 18.

They’ve stepped out of a bure in Fiji into the most spectacular aquamarine water with snorkelling gear on and being swarmed by dazzlingly colourful fish. They’ve visited a Fijian Chief to ask permission to visit one of the 322 islands that make up that county – this one was happened to be the island where Tom Hanks filmed “Castaway” .

In Europe, they’ve experienced so much history: the Holocaust museum in Berlin, the famous Notre Dame in Paris, the Vatican City in Rome, the ancient ruins of Ephesus, the Acropolis in Athens, and Copenhagen’s Tivoli.

Travel has been such an indispensible part of our lives. My children really don’t understand how fortunate they are
to have experienced so much of the world.

For me, the life-changing trip was Southeast Asia which we just visited in March.

Perhaps my favourite was Cambodia. What an amazing destination with its rich history and breathtaking temples – the most famous being Angkor Wat! The people of Cambodia are truly beautiful, humble, and probably the most sincere people I have ever met. They own so little and yet they have so much. We’ve all heard it’s the little things that mean the most – our gifts of pens,
pencils, toothpaste and toothbrushes, body soap and shampoo were truly appreciated.

Just this past week, during history class, my daughter Natalie was studying the Vietnam war. It was the first time she came home excited about a history class, because she has actually walked in the Cu Chi Tunnels and visited the War Remnants Museum. She had experienced Vietnam, and she could share her knowledge and experience with the class.

While their travel experiences have provided my kids with an education, it has also given them freedom; they have the confidence to go out in the world as they graduate from high school.

Whatever they choose to do or wherever they choose to go, they have an amazing understanding of what the world has to offer. “The world is their oyster”.

No Comments

Posted in Rhonda Stanley

How did I get here?

22 May

By John Woods

Last night, when I arrived home, there was a pick-up truck parked in front of my house with a red canoe strapped to its roof. I remarked to my wife that someone must be going fishing.

This morning, as I was putting the garbage to the curb, I saw a young man getting into the truck.

I asked him if he was going fishing, and he said, “no, I’m going up north to work for the summer.” He told me he was an environmental biologist. The canoe was to help him get to the sites where he would be collecting his samples.

We parted ways. I finished the trash round up and started my commute to the office; he headed out into the vast wilderness of Northern Ontario.

But while I was driving, I couldn’t help but reflect on my youth. There was a time when I imagined I might end up working outdoors myself. I started thinking about the path that had led me to become an executive at a software company instead of a Ministry of Natural Resources Officer – or any of the other things I wanted to be when I was growing up.

I found myself wondering, “how did I get here?”

As I drove, I remembered four pivotal points in particular:

1. When I was a kid, I was diagnosed with mild eczema. When I graduated high school, I wanted to pursue a career as a helicopter pilot with the Canadian Armed Forces. I met with a recruiting officer and completed aptitude testing. Then I mentioned I had Eczema… Declined for medical reasons.

2. Plan B: I always liked fishing and hunting. So I thought, “what better way to spend your days than working in the outdoors as a conservation officer?” At that time, to become an officer you needed to go to College and take a 3 year diploma. Being practical, I realized that path could only lead me to one destination. I stepped away from that choice.

3. When I sought advice from my guidance counsellor, he asked me what I liked to do. Well, I liked Math. I liked Accounting. I liked Economics. He suggested I look into becoming an accountant. I had found my path.

4. I had been working for about 5 years as an accountant in the Insurance industry, when an opportunity presented itself in the shape of a middle-aged, burly bear of a man named Ian Lang. Ian’s wife had been a collague of mine, and she mentioned that her husband was a VP at a software company that happened to be looking for an accountant. I agreed to meet with him. We hit it off right away. Ian took me under his wing and said to me, “you are more than an accountant”.

27 years later, I am more than an accountant. Ian has retired. Now I’m a VP at that same company, and I get to take the young people on our team under my wing and say, “you are more than…”.

Somewhere in that group of young professionals is the next VP. That person probably doesn’t even know that they have it in them yet. They don’t know that their path will bring them to a point where, like me, they will look back and wonder, “how did I come so far?”

As for me, I do not regret any choices I have made. I really like my job, I like my co-workers, I like my customers, I like what I have become.

But I’ll admit, I did wonder this morning what my life might look like if I didn’t have eczema.

No Comments

Posted in Guest Bloggers

Follow up: Rhonda’s Girls Weekend

14 Mar

By Rhonda Stanley

I can’t believe it’s already been 3 weeks since I embarked on my ‘Girl’s Dream Weekend’. While the effects of my spa treatments may have worn off (i.e. relaxed muscles, hydrated skin etc) the memories of that weekend will last a lifetime.

What I didn’t write in my original blog about my mother-in-law’s request for this weekend is that it was a ‘bucket wish’. Sadly, since that weekend, she has passed away from pancreatic cancer.

Here’s how this amazing girls’ weekend unfolded.

6 of us ladies (all very close friends and family) arrived at the beautiful Tigh Na Mara Resort in Parksville, Vancouver Island. The first night started with a beautiful dinner, some wine and an early bedtime; we had a busy day ahead.

In the morning, we woke to the most spectacular day. We had lots to celebrate and be thankful for, so we started with a champagne toast followed by brunch. Then it was spa time. It was 11am when we went in; we stayed there in our bathrobes until 9pm.

I said I wanted a picture like the advertisement and here it is.

The only things we’re missing are martinis, but I don’t feel too bad about that. We were well taken care of that day.

It wouldn’t be a ‘Rhonda blog’ if there wasn’t a key message to take away.

The lesson from this weekend is, ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’. We did this because it was my mother-in-law’s wish. In any other case it might have been difficult to find the time. But every one of us knew there was nowhere else on earth we would have chosen to be, and no other people we would have chosen to be with. There is already talk of an annual ‘girls’ weekend in memory of Inge.

The other thing featured in each of my blogs is some kind of ‘real life’ drama. (Honestly I don’t make this stuff up!) This weekend was no different.

On Friday night, as we were leaving our complex to go for dinner, we saw a police cruiser in front of our building. We thought it was unusual because the resort is very private and spread over 22 acres of land.

We saw two police officers accompanying a young man. There was a utility trailer parked out front, and they were going through it, taking out one item at a time. These were not general travel or household items, but more like office equipment, shredders etc. When we came back from dinner, the trailer was still there but the police were gone, so we figured everything must be okay.

The next day while we are at the Spa, my mother and sister-in-law decided to go back to their unit for a little quiet time. On the way, they saw that the police were back, with guns drawn, accompanied by the same young man, searching a room directly beneath us.

Later, we went to the front desk and asked what was going on. All they told us was that the man had been arrested, he wouldn’t be back, and the trailer was gone.

Just another bizarre incident that got the adrenaline pumping. But I have to admit, it was just a little bit exciting.

No Comments

Posted in Rhonda Stanley

Personal Business

07 Mar

By: Marion Dyksterhuis

“This is business, not personal” –the famous quote from the Godfather that we have all heard in one form or another, time and again. But is it true that business is never personal? We are all “persons” after all.

My loving, trustworthy daycare provider recently advised me that she was moving and closing her business… in 3 weeks. I would therefore have to find someone else to care for my young son in very short order.

I was stunned, irked and more than a little bit panicked. Those are all very personal feelings! When I asked her why the short notice, her reply was, “well, our contract says I only need to give you 2 weeks notice.” Ouch! What was business to her was very, very personal to my family.

It got me thinking about my own clients and our day-to-day dealings. How often do my – or my company’s – actions affect them in a personal way?

Maybe they were called to the carpet by their superiors or had their integrity questioned because of a deadline I’d missed or a promise that could not be delivered. That’s very personal. How could it not be?

When I was a travel agent years ago, I became, de-sensitized to how “personal” the travel experience actually is. For me, it was work. But to my clients, it was as much more intimate.

Often, a client trusted me to get them home to visit a sick family member or grieve a loved one. I flew people out of tense situations, and tracked down their lost belongings. I shared the enormous responsibility of helping to plan weddings and honeymoons, family vacations and reunions. Their memories.

That’s pretty personal stuff and also pretty darn cool to be a part of. Did they want me to treat those dealings as just business, or did they want me to also personally invest in their trip? I wonder.

We all know that a good salesperson develops relationships with their clients, but I would ask the question: is it possible to do that without making it personal? Can you truly have a relationship with someone you do business with without some level of investment?

Oh, I imagine you can fake it, but really, that’s not the point. People need a personal connection to trust, respect and want to do business with you.

We all know we need to stop and smell the roses sometimes. But, in business, I think it’s important that we step back and see the “persons” sometimes too.

1 Comment

Posted in Guest Bloggers

The Perfect Pump 101

13 Feb

By John Woods

Friday December 9th started out as a pretty normal day for me.

I had a scheduled vacation day, and was going to go Christmas shopping with my wife. I got up at about 7 am (late by my standards) gathered the garbage, and took it to the curb. I let the dog out for his morning constitutional, had my breakfast, and made a list of what we were going to pick up that day.

At about 8:30 I decided to go upstairs and have a bath. I ran the water, got into the bath tub and sat down when BAM! I got a sudden, shooting pain in my shoulder.

At first, I thought I had just twisted it getting into the tub. But it did not go away. In fact, the pain spread up my shoulder to my neck, and then to my ear and jaw. My assumption was “oh boy, I am coming down with the flu.” But something told me it wasn’t the flu.

I pulled the plug got out of the tub, dried off, and went back into the bedroom to lie down. The pain did not go away. At some point I thought, “ok this is serious. I need to go to the hospital and find out what is going on.”

I called to my wife and told her we needed to go to the hospital. She gave me a baby aspirin (as it turns out the right thing to do), and got dressed.

We made it to the hospital within 15 minutes and, as you may have already guessed, they told me I had a heart attack. They determined that I had a blockage in a posterior vein caused by plaque build up and a genetic condition where the vein was only 1/3rd the diameter it is supposed to be. I had an angioplasty on Monday December 12th and was released on Tuesday.

I live in Ontario, Canada, and because I had a heart attack I was required to go to Cardio Rehab Education to learn what happened to me and what I needed to change in my life to avoid having it happen again. Here are the points that we should all know that I did not know before I went:

Reduce your salt intake. If you can keep it below 1300mg daily you are doing your body a great favour. Salt causes your arteries and veins to harden and over time small cracks appear.
Do not assume that your genetic makeup is any different than your ancestors. My Father, Uncles and Aunts on my fathers’ side all died of heart disease in their late 40’s or early 50’s. I never worried about this because I had a healthier life style: not smoking; not drinking; regular exercise. I assumed that I was immune to my genetics. WRONG!
Your weight and stress levels play a major role in whether or not you have a heart attack. I am short, 5’5” tall to be exact and my weight was perfect for someone 6’2” but not for me. My stress level was extreme. My dog had been very ill for the 6 weeks prior to my heart attack, and I had been fighting a pre-existing medical condition. Add on top of this work, family, and so on and so on and so on…
Monitor your blood pressure. I had always had normal blood pressure but was told at my last check-up it was slightly elevated. I opted to not take the medication recommended by my doctor but to lose weight (which I never did). Pay attention to the warning of increased blood pressure.

I have decided to change my lifestyle to give myself the best chance of a long life. I am losing weight, I have reduced my salt intake to below 1300mg daily, I am taking medication to reduce my cholesterol and blood pressure, and I am exercising and reducing stress wherever possible in my life.

I have established life goals for weight and life style that I will review 4 times a year and have made a promise to myself to be better to me. My life depends on it.

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Parenting at 30 000 Feet

18 Jan

By: Marion Dyksterhuis

Take a look around the next time you travel and you’ll spot them. Frazzled, stressed-out parents who are trying to get to Point B still intact. You know the ones: they look a little disheveled and worn. They may have an extra bag or two (under their eyes!)

I live in Ontario, but in my heart, I will always be an Albertan. I had no kids when I moved here, so when I travelled back and forth or abroad I always said a small prayer in the boarding area: “please Lord, do not sit me beside THAT family!”

Fast forward a few years and now I have two busy boys who make the trek with me to my hometown a few times a year. I have become THAT family. And while my boys are now very experienced travellers, they are still kids. Kids who, like any others, have melt-downs and tummy aches and can be downright crabby and defiant at times.

When we flew home for Christmas this past year, many passengers commented on how “good” my children were. It’s true. They were, in fact, angels. But for the grace of God it could have gone completely the other way. It occurred to me that “good” children equate to quiet children and, well, the noisy ones are just plain “bad”.

My friend told me about an international flight that she was on. A mother travelling alone with two very small children was treated horrifically by the flight attendants and some fellow passengers because her baby was ill and crying.

My friend and her husband helped the poor woman out by occupying the other child and taking turns rocking the distressed baby. I’m sure that mother was so relieved to have strangers show compassion and lend assistance rather than just sitting around and judging her.

When I travel with the boys, I do my best to be as organized as humanly possible. I plan for every scenario from flight delays to drink spills. I keep everything within arm’s reach and ensure that I have new and exciting activities and loads of battery power for their games. I book flights during nap times and choose seats close to the back where it isn’t always as full.

But if Murphy’s law applies anywhere, it applies to children. The best laid plans often go out the window, and when they do I now pray: “please Lord, sit us beside THAT stranger!” A stranger that does not cast judgement on me or my kids and can offer a smile or a hand if needed. One who remembers that they were once also a child, and that we are all in this together.

Compassion and empathy when travelling through airports (and life) goes a long way.

No Comments

Posted in Guest Bloggers

Rhonda’s “Dream” Girls’ Weekend

12 Jan

By: Rhonda Stanley

Those of us involved with the travel industry, particularly leisure travel, have always taken pride in the fact that we sell dreams. In essence, we’re professional fairy godparents! Dreams differ between each person; they can be simple or complex. But whatever they are, we know they’re important.

Here is my current dream: it’s Tuesday night, and I am counting down the sleeps (3, to be exact) until I go for a girls’ spa weekend.

In October, my mother-in-law said it was her wish to do a girls’ weekend somewhere on Vancouver Island, and her only requirements were access to a spa and the ocean. If you Google ‘Ocean spas on Vancouver Island’, you will get 1.7 million results. Oh lordy, where to start! Of course, there aren’t 1.7 million ocean view spas on Vancouver Island, but it’s a lot to sift through nonetheless.

Initially, she had the ‘go big or go home’ attitude and chose a Relais & Chateaux hotel in Tofino. Not a problem for me! But after some reflection, she called me back and said, “I think I want something a little more casual than a 5 star resort. If I don’t feel like getting dressed up for dinner, I don’t want to!”

It’s my mother-in-law. I‘m not about to disagree. So I start the search over, and by happenstance I come upon a special offer that included absolutely everything we could want: a room with a view of the ocean and a spa package all-in-one! It was as if a travel agent had done it up just for us.

So on Saturday, all 7 of us ladies have spa treatments booked (a $125 spa gift certificate included the package for each person). The names of the treatments say it all: ‘Hot Chocolate Hydro Bath’, ‘Chocolate and Cherries Jubilee Facial’ …to mention just a few! Along with that, we get to enjoy the grotto mineral pools all day.

And the fun doesn’t stop there: dinner that evening is in the Treetop Restaurant and the dress code is bathrobe. So this is really a weekend pyjama party! how much better can it get?!

Working in the travel industry, we are afforded opportunities to travel just about anywhere in the world. I love to travel, and the more adventurous and exotic the destination, the better. So, like most typical travel agents, when I travel it’s long distance.

This weekend is the exception, and I have to tell you I am as excited as if I were going to a world-renowned spa. I am excited that it is local, but also that I will be sharing this experience with 6 important women in my life.

This will be us on Saturday but instead of 4, we will be 7.

Do you have a local destination you like to visit to get away from it all? I’d love to hear about it.

No Comments

Posted in Rhonda Stanley

Seasonal Serendipity

22 Dec

By Rhonda Stanley

It was Saturday morning, exactly 3 weeks until Christmas. Like everybody else at this time of the year, I had a million things on my ‘to do’ list. So I was up and out early, as I would be in Toronto working the following week, and wouldn’t have much time to do all my Christmasy stuff. It’s safe to say I was feeling the pressures of the season.

That’s when a co-worker in Toronto asked a favour of me: she wanted me to go into Vancouver (I live in the suburbs) to buy her some ‘pork’ jerky at a specialty store called Bee Kim Heng. She claimed this particular company makes the best ‘pork’ jerky in all of Canada and she would like to have some for Christmas.

I didn’t even know jerky came in the pork variety. I’ve only ever heard of beef jerky. Not only that, but my friend lives in Toronto and has never lived in Vancouver; how could she possibly have known about this place?

I knew it was important to her, so I got started. As it was the most distant destination on my itinerary for the day, I decided to go there first. I admit it was a chore. I was really going out of the way for my friend. (I know, I know. I’m awesome.)

When my daughter and I arrived at Bee Kim Heng at about 9:30am, we were greeted with the most delicious smell, but the venue itself was unimpressive. There was nothing but a cooler and ATM machine; behind the counter there was a lady grilling or barbequing the jerky, and another who should be the poster child for outstanding customer service. She was incredibly friendly, and explained the process to us intimately.

We told her we wanted to sample the pork jerky. As it happens, they offer 4 varieties of jerky: 2 beef and 2 pork. She brought us samples of all 4. My daughter and I looked at each other after trying the pork jerky: we instantly knew we had discovered GOLD.

It was absolutely amazing. In fact, the experience of visiting this little hole in the wall was a real feel-good moment. Who knew there was something so heavenly tucked away in a pretty sketchy area of Vancouver?

While the customer service guru went to the back to vacuum seal our purchases, the other lady engaged us the whole time. She told us how to store jerky, and the best way to serve it. Rumour has it that Bee Kim Heng learned from the best, a jerky Master in Singapore who taught them everything he knew under the condition that they never open shop there. Hence their move to Vancouver, where they have been in business since 1994. Recently they were on the Canadian Show ‘Dragon’s Den’.

I have lived in Vancouver since 1991 (except for 3 years in Toronto) and I have never heard of this place before. But if you Google it, it seems everybody else across North America has. I walked out of there with 6lbs of Jerky and I know I will return before Christmas; it is addictive. That day I pushed myself to do that little favor for my co-worker and boy am I glad I did – thanks Alexyss. You actually did me a favor by sending me there.

So if you’re feeling unmotivated to finish your chores as Christmas nears: power through! You never know what you’ll find.

1 Comment

Posted in Rhonda Stanley

Are your customers hurting you?

07 Dec

By Neil Hamilton

Events in the past few months should remind us that the world of travel is always changing. It’s not a matter of “if”, but rather “what” and “when.” The distribution of travel has changed at its very core because travel agents no longer have the advantage of being the sole source of airline tickets to the consumer.

This has redefined our customer base, and what they need from us. Sometimes, our clients are really our competitors. When they use internet sites to book their own travel, be it corporate or leisure, they are really the competition. These types of buyers are “opportunistic”, and usually only buy from us when they can get a “deal” that’s better than what they can get themselves online.

This is not the profile of a “loyal” customer. Loyal, or “core” customers are what every agency needs to stay competitive and profitable. To the loyal customer, we are the first choice for booking. And unless they cost too much to service, require too much support, or have too many time-consuming demands, they are the backbone of any agency.

However, some of these core clients are such a service drag that it would actually help if they went somewhere else.

In the wholesale distribution industry, customer stratification has been shown to be the single most important criterion in determining profitability.* This means that assessing customers may be the easiest way to determine the sustainability (AKA profitability) of your business over time.

There are a few questions that need to be asked about every client. Are they core customers? How loyal are they? Are they expensive to service? Are they simply opportunistic? Asking these questions is a quick way to establish which clients are important to your business, and which ones are not.

In a recent paper by Texas A&M on the subject of customer stratification in the wholesale distribution industry, it was found that the old Pareto 80/20 rule (that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers) doesn’t work when applied to profit. 80% of profit actually comes from less than 10% of customers.

Of course, we are in travel not wholesale distribution. But these two industries are surprisingly similar, especially when we consider corporate travel.

Most of the 500 wholesale distribution companies that took part in the study were surprised when they started looking at their customers with a view to cost of service. Many of their “star” customers, who were leaders in volume purchased, were actually costing them money because they required so much attention. Many others were simply opportunistic, and should have been classified as competitive accounts, because they usually purchased somewhere else, and only bought items that were discounted or on sale.

The study looked at several things that companies could do to improve their performance with “Best Practices”. The implementation of all of these “Best Practices” in a business was intrusive at best, and extremely burdensome at its worst. I can’t see most travel businesses even attempting a lot of these tactics.

But the study found that the simple stratification customers based on criteria like cost to service (CTS) could potentially double EBITDA. And it’s the easiest practice to implement,.

I believe this study and it’s recommendations, will have far-reaching effects on all business, and travel in particular.

I would be interested in your thoughts on customer stratification in the travel business. Do you think it would work in your business? How would you do it? Write in and let us know.

* Customer Stratification – Best Practices for Boosting Productivity – N.A.W. Institute for Distribution Excellence

1 Comment

Posted in Guest Bloggers

Live Your Life

21 Nov

By Rhonda Stanley

Apple genius Steve Jobs read a quote at the age of 17 that stuck with him: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” A very good friend of our family and godfather of one of my daughters came close to his last day on October 27^th, 2011. He was a passenger on Northern Thunderbird Air Flight 204, which crashed 900 meters short of Runway 26 at Vancouver International Airport.

Our friend is a successful independent business owner, and was travelling to the BC Okanagan to attend a Weekend Retreat with his CEO peers from other businesses. While some of the group elected to drive the 4 hours, another group (my friend included) chartered flight 204 so they could put in a full day at the office before taking the 1 hour flight to Kelowna.

He was fully conscious and aware during the horrific events of that afternoon. He later recalled to me: “after the crash landing, there wasn’t a sound or movement in the cabin. My first thoughts were to remain calm, don’t panic, and assess the situation for danger’.

My friend could see smoke and flames ahead of him, at the front of the craft. Recognizing the danger, he knew he had to marshal all of his energy into getting himself, and everyone else, out of the wreckage. As he tried to get out of his seat, he collapsed to the floor. He could tell something was wrong, but he didn’t know the extent of his injuries. Nevertheless, he used what strength he had to free himself.

After several attempts, he was able to force open the back door of the fuselage. Good Samaritans poured in to extricate more of the passengers before the situation became too dangerous. The fire was spreading, and smoke threatened to overwhelm the cabin.

Luckily, my friend was the first to get out of the downed airplane. He suffered a fractured vertebra and some torn muscles. The pilot succumbed to his injuries that evening, and the co-pilot remains in critical condition with burns to 80% of his body. 5 people from the crash still remain in hospital. Physically, my friend is going to be fine. Emotionally however, he will no doubt be healing for many years to come.

Events like this have a way of changing our perspectives. My friend has dedicated the vast majority of his time to building a family business. He also has a wife and 4 children. In our group of friends, we all have careers and families, so it can be difficult to find time to get together; sadly, we can usually only manage it once or twice a year.

After the crash, my friend told me: “I won’t be too busy anymore”.

Steve Jobs read that now-famous aphorism when he was 17; every day for 33 years, when he looked in the mirror he would ask himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” He said if the answer was “NO” too many days in a row, he knew something would have to change.

I challenge each of you to remember the last time you lived your day as though it was your last – and I don’t mean partied so hard one night that the next day you wished it had been your last!

Having listened to my friend and the second chance at life he has been given, it makes you evaluate your life and your lifestyle. Are you really doing what you love to do?

No Comments

Posted in Rhonda Stanley

Travel Agent Musings