By Danny Almon, Travel Columnist
One question I often get asked by potential clients is “have you been there?”
Despite my determination, it is impossible for a travel agent to experience everything that clients might be interested in. Sometimes the best we can do is “sample”. By that, I mean to personally experience popular itineraries offered by a tour operator that would give a similar experience to what others offer. A Rhine River cruise for example, should be pretty similar across all river cruise companies. The same goes for a coach tour in Northern Italy.
At time of printing, I should be back from a visit to Riviera Maya, where in addition to learning how to use social media to promote this particular resort chain (Karisma), I will have the opportunity to do a detailed resort inspection of four Karisma properties.
When that three-day fam trip was finished, I added four days for some rest and relaxation. However, I have built in one full day for an intensive seven resort series of inspections which will take from 8:30 AM till about 5:00 PM during a time when temperatures will reach close to 90° F. With well over 200 different resorts in Riviera Maya and Cancun, this is a very small sampling, but it is at resorts that I think well of that I can comfortably recommend to clients.
What am I interested in seeing?
The condition of beaches. With erosion happening all over the world, Mexico is not exempt from this problem. I want to see several entry level rooms, pools at the resort, popular restaurants, destination wedding locations, and what changes have taken place over the last five years. As I enter a resort, I will take a picture of the name of the resort and every picture after that will be about that particular resort until I reach the name of the next resort. Otherwise, it will all blend together and be meaningless by the end of the day, at which point I expect I will be exhausted.
Additionally, in a couple of months’ time, we will have an opportunity to experience a barge cruise in France adding to our experience of 11 different river cruise itineraries around the world. Three days in Paris at the beginning will give us a chance to explore what I call a “pre cruise stay”: something we recommend to all clients considering a cruise. Get in at least a day early prior to boarding and have an opportunity to explore the embarkation city.
When you are approaching a travel agent, it’s not a bad idea to ask “have you been there?” and, while experience in selling certain itineraries can make a travel agent an “expert”, being there and experiencing in person takes the expertise up another notch.
While I am away on both trips, I will be experimenting with some new technology for my cell phone – eSim cards. Anyone who has traveled to a different part of the world knows the pain of trying to purchase a new sim card to install in your phone to avoid exorbitant roaming charges.
This new technology does not require that you remove your existing sim card (and that is a concern in itself – what if you lose it?) The E sim card simply requires you to download an app that is good for the area that you are visiting and install it on your phone. Then you buy a very inexpensive package of data and draw upon that while you are away. When we visited Vietnam last year, there were about five families involved and we all got physical sim cards for the area. This allowed us to easily communicate with each other while we were there. I wish I had been aware of the eSim technology at that point.
Check next month’s travel article for an evaluation of this technology: if I find it of good value, I will be offering it through my website. For a valuable list of 50 travel tips, sign up at www.AlmonTravel.ca and if I can help you with any vacation packages, please contact Danny at 902 431 4932.
