On this episode of the Modern Travel Agent podcast, I cover some of the latest and most relevant travel news from the past few weeks which includes:

-Record numbers of arrivals in the Dominican Republic.  

This episode is brought to you by our partnership with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism. Visit https://www.godominicanrepublic.com to learn more about this beautiful destination.

Record Arrivals in the Dominican Republic

Stay up-to-date on the Dominican Republic

Playa Resorts & Hotels Reopening Dates for Resorts in the Dominican Republic Impacted by Hurricane Fiona

Removal of Covid-19 related Entry requirements for Anguilla

Removal of Covid-19 related Entry requirements for Bahamas

Covid Entry Rules for the Caribbean

Secrets Impression Moxché delayed Opening December 1, 2022

US State Department Pilot Program for Online Passport Renewal

IHG Hotels & Resorts, Sunset World (owner), and Playa Hotels & Resorts (operator) announce a new endeavor for the boutique brand Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants with the signing of Kimpton’s first all-inclusive resort.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Palladium Hotel Group Sign Strategic Alliance to Expand Registry Collection Hotels with 14 All-Inclusive Resorts

Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian assumes leadership of ALG as former Apple Leisure Group president and CEO Alejandro Reynal leaves company https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Hyatt-CEO-assume-leadership-Apple-Leisure-Group

In order to have a successful travel agency business, you have to be able to open, close, and scale. You have to open the opportunity, typically with a pitch explaining how you can solve your client’s problem. You have to close the sale, because the longer you wait, the more likely they’re going to fall off and take their business elsewhere; and you have to scale, because you can’t run your business the same way with 500 clients that you did with 5. This episode is a quick look at how you can improve at opening, closing, and scaling.

On this episode of the Modern Travel Agent Podcast, I sit down with Daniela Ocampo Morales and Stefany Jones of Palladium Hotel Group. Daniela is Regional Weddings Sr Manager América, and she has 15 years of experience in the wedding industry. Stefany is the Director of Retail Affairs, and she has 18 years of experience at prominent travel providers with a focus on account management, marketing and business development. We discuss destination weddings including some of the top wedding venues at their properties. We discuss wedding trends and how agents can better sell destination weddings, and we discuss Palladium Hotel Group’s wedding optimizer which is a great tool that enables agents to check wedding availability online in real-time.

This episode is sponsored by Palladium Hotel Group, a great travel-agent partner with beautiful resorts and hotels in Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Italy, and Spain. To learn more about how you, as a travel agent, can partner with Palladium Hotel Group to grow your business, please visit: https://pro.palladiumhotelgroup.com/en/

We can all be set in our ways, but when it comes to business, being rigid can mean losing customers and money. In this episode of the Modern Travel Agent Podcast, I discuss some of the most common ways I was leaving money on the table by being stubborn, but more importantly, I share how I started to make more money in less time by realizing my mistakes, changing my mindset, and adopting a more flexible approach when working with my clients.

This episode is brought to you by our partnership with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism. The Dominican Republic is a lush tropical island paradise with nearly 1,000 miles of coastline, 250 miles of the world’s top beaches, gorgeous resorts and hotels, and a variety of sports, recreation and entertainment. Visit https://www.godominicanrepublic.com to learn more about all that this wonderful destination has to offer you and your clients.

The first thing I tell every travel agent starting in this industry is, “It’s all about relationships.” It’s about our relationships with our clients, because they have other options to book travel. They have to choose us. It’s about our relationships with other agents, because travel agents, more than any industry I’ve seen, are about community over competition with an understanding that there’s enough for all of us, and that we’re all way better off collaborating and supporting one another than we are on our own.

This industry is all about our relationships with our suppliers, hoteliers, and partners, because we don’t control the entire process. Ultimately, when it comes time for our clients to travel, we have to hand them off to our partners, and it’s up to them to deliver on the promises we’ve made to our clients. And because this industry is all about relationships, it’s all about reputation, so in this episode, I focus on how you can grow your reputation the right way, with your clients, with other agents, and with your suppliers and partners, so that you can take your business to the next level.

This episode is brought to you by our partnership with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism. To learn more about the different ways you can partner with the Dominican Republic to offer your clients incredible experiences, visit godominicanrepublic.com.

The most common challenge for travel agents and travel agency owners is getting new clients, and while there are a million different ways you can market your travel agency, the most consistent and proven method I’ve found is word of mouth. It’s all about giving your clients a great experience, and then having them refer their friends and family to you. In this episode, I’m going to share a three step process you can implement to increase the number of referrals you receive for your travel agency business.

This episode of the Modern Travel Agent Podcast covers 10 experiences that you can recommend to your clients visiting Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We all have clients who visit a destination but never step foot off the resort, and ultimately, it’s their vacation and their choice; but as a travel advisor, if you’re not pushing your clients to get out and experience what the destination has to offer, then your clients are going to end up missing a huge part of what it means to visit that destination. I hope this episode will help you recommend incredible experiences for your clients.

This episode is brought to you by our partnership with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism. Visit www.godominicanrepublic.com to learn more about all that this wonderful destination has to offer.

For those of you who struggle to set boundaries with your clients, I’m going to share some tips that will make this process much easier. This isn’t an episode on mindset where I tell you to fake it ‘til you make it. That type of assertiveness training can work, but it takes much longer to implement. I’m going to share some simple ways for you to frame your boundaries to your clients, which will make it easier for you to do and make it less likely that they’ll try to bulldoze. I’m also going to share some examples of specific situations where you might find yourself setting boundaries like work hours, availability, or number of destinations and resort options that you send, so that you can apply these strategies directly to your process.

This episode is brought to you by Palladium Hotel Group, and if you’re looking for an upscale, luxury hotel for a romantic getaway, for yourself or your clients, then the TRS Cap Cana is the perfect choice. It’s situated in the heart of Cap Cana, an exclusive zone on the east coast of the Dominican Republic. Turquoise water, breathtaking wedding setups, amazing food and drink, and a perfect location make this an incredible adult-only sanctuary. To learn more about the TRS Cap Cana or how you can partner with Palladium to grow your agency business, visit https://pro.palladiumhotelgroup.com/en/.

Background Photo: Suite Jacuzzi Terrace Ocean View at TRS Cap Cana

Communication is everything, and using the “Show & Tell” Method of Communication is a great way to insure your clients can envision your product and service in a tangible way and understand why each component is relevant specifically to them. I discuss the “Show & Tell” Method of Communication and how you can use it to help grow your business on Episode 15 of the Modern Travel Agent Podcast.  

This episode is brought to you by Palladium Hotel Group. One of the reasons we love working with Palladium Hotel Group is that we know they'll be there for us if there are any hiccups throughout the process, and finding a great partner like Palladium Hotel Group is a fundamental part of growing your travel agency business. To learn more about Palladium Hotel Group, their products and offerings, and how you can partner with them, please visit: https://pro.palladiumhotelgroup.com/en/

This episode is all about streamlining the process for how you and your team reply to emails and inquiries. Whether you're answering questions about passport requirements, safety while traveling internationally or you're explaining the value of your services, you’re probably answering many of the same questions over and over again. 

This is why I recommend that you create an FAQ document of frequently asked questions, where you and your team share your answers to the most common questions that you receive every single day. Then when it’s time to answer those emails, you can just copy & paste the answer from your shared document, make a few small adjustments tailored to your specific client, and you've saved yourself a ton of time. This also gives you an opportunity to consistently review your answers which means you can consistently improve upon them little by little.

Before you know it, you’ll have the perfect answers to all of the most common questions at your fingertips. On this episode, I’m going to explain the exact process you can use to create an FAQ for your agency.

This episode is brought to you by Blue Diamond Resorts. As agents, we’re always looking for ways to improve our process and save time, and one of the best ways to do that is to partner with resort brands that are responsive and attentive to the travel agent community. That means not having to wait ages for the resort to reply to your requests; not having emails to the wedding department go answered; not having clients return from trips, unhappy about their experience or the level of service they received.

All of those things add to your plate by requiring extra time and attention, so when you have a resort partner who goes above and beyond to make sure everything is taken care of, your life becomes much easier, and you can focus on doing what you do best, which is booking incredible vacations to beautiful destinations. To learn more about Blue Diamond Resorts, you can visit: https://www.bdagentrewards.com