Comments on: Familiarisation trips in the Travel industry should be banned

By: Shahidah Foster

Shahidah Foster — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:56:31 +0000

I know this is very late but I came across this in my search for leisure travel in the travel industry. I have talked to a lot of travel agents lately in regards to interline travel as I work in the travel industry (not a travel agent), and I have been on one fam trip for a new destination we started serving. Honestly, trying to promote a vacation package (or even travel to, hotel, restaurant, tours or other events), without having been to the city/country in question…is like trying to sell Mary Kay and not having tried the makeup for yourself. All the travel agents who promote packages to me I ask their suggestions in traveling, how did they like the area, what are the best places to go, etc. If any of them tell me they’ve never been I wouldn’t buy from them. I would just continue my search until I found a travel agent who has been there and can tell me first hand experience. If they even thought about telling me “I’ve never been but we watched an instructional video”????? Yes, complete and utter rubbish.

I have traveled a lot (leisurely), and while I don’t sell packages (I sell air only and offer suggestions for hotels, events, etc.), I can assure you my unofficial travel experience does help when suggesting destinations, local culture, things to do, and offering help for navigating different airports, as well as other general travel information.

I understand where you are coming from in regards to “frivolous” spending but I think there should be a crackdown on companies expensing things like:

trips to the strip club
leisure travel,
items for the CEO’s mistresses

not instead of fam trips for those travel industry. Believe it or not, not all of of the fam trips are expensed by supplier or agency owner (i.e. free to the traveler). Some are just deeply deeply discounted rates for those in the travel industry. That really isn’t much different than someone who works at Foot Locker getting an employee discount at sister stores, or stores who offer discounts to Foot Locker employees.

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By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:46:29 +0000

Me and my wife’s Nikki experience was absolutely wonderful. As newlyweds we were quite excited and drew from the Nikki culture as I had my own special Naked Sushi for my husband with the help of the Chef and Chrystal. The food was excellent the housekeeping was impeccable and the 24 hour service was a great asset to the making of a beautiful honeymoon. Turks and Caicos itself is a gem but Nikki Beach Turks and Caicos was the polished diamond that we all desire to have one day!!! We will be back!!!

For more information in Nikki Beach Turks and Caicos Resort Islands visit http://nikkibeachhotels.com/turks/.

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By: andy m

andy m — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:16:21 +0000

Yes, im with you on this – in this day and age the travel industry should be trying to practice ‘green friendly’ and sustainable methods wherever possible. This typ of jolly just isnt the right thing to do – such as waste of resources.

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By: Pingback - Travel Shorthand

Pingback - Travel Shorthand — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:55:57 +0000

[...] a piece with such a snarky line about travel agents? Is it just a follow-on from Darren’s post at Travel Rants about agents that The Times featured? I hope this isn’t the start of [...]

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By: Trevor

Trevor — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:24:25 +0000

There is no substitute for experience ! Travel agents and travel advisors are professionals and, no matter what age they may be, never stop learning or acquiring knowledge. The blogger has a short sighted view of a professional industry. Would like to see whether he would be happy to visit a dentist who had learned everything from a book but had no ‘practical’ experience !!

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