Become a Home Based Travel Agent

The Home Based Travel Agent Show
 & CruiseWorld2011 in Review
By Tom Ogg

Mid November came so quickly this year it wasn’t even funny and it was time to start packing for the show in Ft. Lauderdale. Years ago, Travel Trade’s Cruise-a-thons seemed to be the epicenter for cruise agents to gather for education, ship inspections, supplier engagement, per-to-peer networking and social interaction. And, with Joel and Lenore’s death, there was an immense vacancy left in the world of travel and cruise agents to find a similar experience. Many trade shows were full of card mill agents, some were too expensive, some just not fun to go to and the void was recognized by everyone.

I am quite happy to report that Travel Weekly’s shows have filled the gap left by the demise of the Cruise-a-thons.

Education
The educational content is world-class. Instead of seminars bought and paid for by suppliers that are nothing more than sales pitches guised as travel agent seminars, Travel Weekly is peer-to-peer training. You learn from highly successful agents that share exactly how they built their profitable business. The panels are peer-to-peer and the break out seminars offer different tracks that will fill everyone’s educational objectives. In fact, the only complaint that I heard was that agents couldn’t attend all of the seminars that they would have liked to. Basically, the educational segment of the trade show makes it worth attending even if there was nothing else added.

Trade Show
While the educational component was wonderful, the trade show was just as outstanding. When was the last time that agents experienced an open bar at a trade show? The exhibits were active and the suppliers were doing land office business. Agents were treated to a substantial number of key executives from all aspects of the industry in a friendly and informative environment. The trade show was excellent.

Social Functions
There were several highlights during the four-day convention, but I liked the “Barefoot Think Tank” the best. First of all, there was an open bar with appetizers before it started so that agents could relax and get their brains going. Then, the ideas started flowing. One idea would spark two more and agents didn’t hold back sharing their successes and ideas with the group. The meals and receptions were all wonderful and overall, it was the best Travel Weekly show yet.

Ship Inspections
Being able to inspect a couple of ships a day throughout the convention was a major draw for many of the agents. Ships, both in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, were visited by hundreds of agents each day and were the highlight for many of them. There is nothing quite like doing a physical inspection of a ship to really understand its value proposition.

One Negative
One travel agent delegate was actually a representative of a competing trade show who was clearly there to take notes on what was happening. Her activities went from tacky to downright sleazy in my opinion when she started approaching speakers at the show to also speak at their show. This soured many people, as anyone would know that it is not only unprofessional to attend a competitor’s show for the purpose of soliciting their speakers and copying their content. It left people with the feeling that if this was the ethical foundation of the competitive show that few wanted to be associated with it. I am sure that isn’t the result that the gal was looking for.

Coming Up
If you missed the show in Ft. Lauderdale this past November, be sure to mark your calendar for the up[coming show that will take place in Seattle this coming June 18 – 20^th, 2012 and Ft. Lauderdale in November 7 – 10, 2012. As soon as they have registration available, we will be offering a discounted rate to attend so stay tuned! Hope that I see you there.