News & Tips
Where Should I Vacation?
“Where should I vacation?” Where do you believe you would find the best qualified answer to that question? If you were asking the question, “Where should I vacation?”, which source listed below might you expect to find the best qualified answer in the shortest amount of time?
- The Internet
- Your Co-Workers
- Magazines
- A Travel Professional
- Family
- TV and Radio
Four of the options listed above are “one sided conversation”, the internet, magazines , TV and radio are all talking to you, none area asking you questions. They either show or tell what is best about their product and why
they believe it is best for you, their target market. But are you really their target market when it comes to the vacation you are planning this time?
The remaining three, your family, co-workers and a travel professional are real people, capable of asking questions, and sharing experiences that help to form an opinion of what vacation fits your needs best. Only the travel professional has a business devoted exclusively to planning dream vacations for other people on a day to day basis.
One of the best description of what I do on a day to day basis is, “I help people plan some of the most memorable moments of their lives delivered with the least amount of stress and best vacation value.”
Nearly every vacation is different on my end, so whether you are a new client or an existing one, your vacation request has me asking familiar questions.
- What do you like to do on vacation?
- Who are you traveling with?
- How many days do you have to vacation?
- What are you picturing in your mind when you think of your vacation?
- What is your budget?
- When do you want to travel?
- How long can you be gone?
- Are your travel dates flexible?
- Do you like to be busy or just want to relax?
- Is this a romantic vacation?
- Is this vacation about an experience or relaxing?
The answers to these questions are like pieces of a puzzle, with each piece the picture of your perfect getaway begins to take shape. I don’t choose the picture of the puzzle is, I just help clients gather the pieces and fit like pieces together.
An example: You are planning a 4 night getaway to St. Lucia and your flight pattern for the trip requires two air connections. My first question would be, “What is the purpose of your trip to St. Lucia?” If your brother is getting
married on the island and your time is very limited, enough said, but if the plan is for relaxation and romance I would definitely go on a fact finding mission with more questions.
For me, it’s all about helping clients plan the best vacation value possible with the least amount of stress and time spent.
