Francis Contreras opened Travelworld in 1979 and has been specializing in the art of upscale leisure

What makes a top travel agent? Is it something easy to measure sales volume, perhaps? Or is it something less tangible pure dedication and willingness to go above and beyond for a client? Or is it some combination of the two?
Looking to find answers to this query, Travel Agent invited our readers to tell us why they were the top of their field. Some agents were home-based real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook and part of a larger parent company. Some were in small, independent businesses. Some were part of huge corporations. All of them had wonderful stories about the challenges and triumphs of being a travel agent, making it very difficult for us to select just 25.
Collectively, we have visited just about every safari lodge that most Americans ask about, Beal explains. Two of our consultants managed the Africa department for our competitor before joining us. Two of our consultants have worked at lodges in Africa . One consultant was a guide in Botswana and South Africa (the actual guide driving the vehicle, not the escort). It is this group of experts that allows us to be extremely flexible and creative with our clients and offer them options they did not know existed. If I don t know something, one of my coworkers does.
Beal s staff weathered the recent tough economic times. When repeat and referral business dropped from 80 percent of inquiries to only 50 percent, they launched an all-out Internet real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook and social media campaign to grow his company despite the sluggish market. Their hard work paid off: Not only did they manage to increase their volume by 50 percent in 2009 versus 2008, their campaign garnered them a four-page story in Newsweek magazine in April 2009.
Craig was a miracle worker and got us exactly what we wanted with no sacrifices. real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook It s been years since I ve worked with a travel agent and in today s generation of Internet booking, I admit I was skeptical. But Craig proved us wrong.
Sometimes, the numbers speak for themselves. Nancy Bogert has been with Cruise Planners since 1996. For the past eight years, she has been their top agent and Millionaire s Club Member . With over 700 franchise owners at Cruise Planners, I have been number one agent for Princess Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook Lines for almost 10 years, she says.
She has also frequently been number one for Royal Caribbean , Holland America and Celebrity . Bogert bagged an Outstanding Achievement Award from Princess last year, has won the Carnival Pinnacle Club award twice, and Cruise Planners was once named Carnival s Northeast real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook Agency of the Year .
Such plaudits didn t come by accident. Vicki Freed , SVP, sales and trade support services for Royal Caribbean, says that Bogert knows that the best vacations are one size fits one, and she uses her extensive knowledge to tailor every experience specifically for the client she s serving.
It was very difficult to convince people to book their cruise from someone working from their home, she recalls real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook of the early years. They were not comfortable calling someone to book a cruise over the phone. I immediately got my certification just so I had something to tell or show people that I really was a qualified real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook travel agent. I attended every Seminar at Sea , every inaugural, anything I could do to make sure I knew the products I was selling. Once I gained their trust, they ve been coming back and sending referrals ever since.
Kim Caudill believes that any agent who can increase business real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook almost doubling it in a down economy has to be at the top of their game. I found ways to create new business and new relationships, she says. I have been recognized real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook as an expert in my niche and one of the best honeymoon agents in Indiana .
Her greatest challenge, she says, is being a small fish in a big sea, trying to compete with the bigger, more established agencies and making a name for myself. Caudill has been in the industry real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook for 18 years, but getting people to recognize an agent as an individual once they go out on their own is a battle, she says.
I started my own agency 10 years ago, and getting people to trust a new name is tough, she explains, Making the right decisions and partnering real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook with the right tour operators, suppliers and host agencies have made me more successful, and I owe much of that to people who took a chance on me. You are only as small as you dream so I dreamt big!
Caudill certainly comes up big in the eyes of Jackie Friedman , president of Nexion , who says that what makes her exceptional is her willingness to share her expertise and encouragement with other Nexion agents who are interested in exploring a similar specialization. She does not see them as competitors, and takes pride in helping others to become as successful as she is.
A full-time travel industry professional since 1985, John Clifford real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook feels that connection is key when dealing with clients. With the rise of what Clifford terms the Internet information overload, he takes the time to craft experiences around real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook a personal knowledge of his clients interests.
I always say that the value that I add is offering real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook wisdom, which is the advice that comes along with the information, says Clifford. Clifford s wisdom has served him well. After being honored in Travel Agent magazine s Meet the Next Generation in 1994, he went on to become a Virtuoso travel advisor.
An example of his prowess real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook is the dream trip to Cambodia he created for a professional photographer. Including a private visit and showing at the Le Popil Photo Gallery , which focuses on Cambodian photojournalism and art, Clifford arranged visits to Lake Tonle Bati , The Killing Fields , Ta Phrom and Yeah Peau temples and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha .
Jon Makhmaltchi of Small Luxury Hotels of the World says that Clifford is not only a consistent top producer for the SLH brand, but also someone who is on the forefront of new design and boutique hotels, always looking out the the next big thing, long before it s on the radar of mainstream travel magazines, or spoiled.
Francis real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook Contreras opened Travelworld in 1979 and has been specializing in the art of upscale leisure travel ever since. Many of my clients have been with me from the start, and we now service their children or even grandchildren, she says. One of the most sacred things real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook to me is trust, and this is the main reason I believe I am one of the top in the business. It is not something you earn overnight, and it is something so fragile, it can be broken in an instant. My clients know that I will not only create the best possible trip for them, but that I will be there if something happens.
A regular client echoes Contreras theme: We trust her implicitly to find not only the best of what we want, but if something happens (like the Icelandic volcano), she is there. We wouldn t even consider letting anyone else handle our vacations.
Contreras feels that people innately want to travel. As such, she says, the challenge lies not in convincing them, but in making sure that if an agent says it s safe to go, it actually is safe to go.
The role of the travel agent has changed drastically in the past 30 years, she says, and world events real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook have separated the mice from the men, as they say. It has made us even more prepared and stronger in that we have to be on top of every little thing, and we do it with the help of our on-sites and suppliers, making sure we travel as much as we can, train and speak to our suppliers on a regular basis.
As an agent specializing in travel to Australia and Africa, as well as adventure travel, eco-travel and sustainable tourism, Donna Evans puts a creative spin on each itinerary real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook for her clients. This philosophy means putting aside any set notions she has about a destination and opening herself up to looking at it, and selling it, in new ways.
For example, Evans, for whom Australia is all about wildlife, scenery and culture, real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook once had to design an itinerary to the land down under for a couple who were just not interested in those things. Despite Evans expertise in designing programs to Australia, this trip was a challenge because it forced her to consider a familiar place in a different light.
Working with [this couple] forced me to look at the country in a completely new way. Sometimes, when you sell a destination you can quit thinking. I was determined to please real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook this couple, finding the right combination of activities and experiences to make their vacation theirs, not mine, and it would not work for anyone else.
Another client of Evans recently wrote her to say that their New Zealand trip went like clock-work. We loved all of the activities, especially the Black Water Rafting and the Dart River Safari real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook . Milford Sound was pretty spectacular as well.
Ovation Travel President Jack Ezon relies on his network of personal connections to create experiences that appeal to a hip, Gen-X clientele. With a seat on several advisory boards, including Orient-Express , Fairmont , Sofitel , Virtuoso s Next Gen committee and the Park Hyatt Leadership Forum , Ezon is well placed to form the kind of connections that lead to one-of-a-kind deals for his clients. Ezon describes his team of travel professionals, with an average age of 33, as chic, trendy, in-the-know travel consultants with access to it venues, fashion shows, celeb-parties, screenings and more.
While most of his clients may be Gen-Xers, Ezon has extended his appeal to even younger generations. In one memorable event, Ezon choreographed a celebrity experience for a client s 12-year-old daughter, who was a guitar player and an avid fan of a certain real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook teen-sensation musical group.
When the Jonas Brothers were playing at the Atlantis , we flew her extended family down [to the Bahamas ] for her Bat Mitzvah celebration, where she not only got to meet with her favorite band, but she got to play with them in front of her friends and family.
It s this instinctive ability to pull a rabbit out of his hat and wow us every time, as another client put it, that inspires Nikheel Advani real estate virtual tours in bolingbrook , managing director of Grace Bay Resorts