Posted: 07 May 2012 02:17 PM PDT

There has been growing concern about the sustainability of the Professional Travel Agent/Agency/Counselor Distribution System. The latest alarm was rung by some recent sponsored research that indicated that only 2% of “Leisure Storefront Agents” in our industry are under the age of 35.* If, indeed, this research is indicative of the true nature of “Retail Travel Distribution’s landscape”…it is high time that those of us who have been afforded careers, lifestyles and all the other benefits that come from employment in this category take some serious affirmative action.

The following are 5 relatively simple steps that industry veterans can adopt, rather painlessly. Each is titled with a classic song, most of which should be familiar (at least to many of you), according to the average travel professional’s age, as noted by the survey.

1. Respect: For as long as there have been manufacturers and distributors of products, goods and services, a love-hate relationship has existed between the parties involved, our industry notwithstanding. Let’s make a deal starting today that any in-fighting, issues or other “less than newsworthy” happenings that exist in our industry stay where they belong – within the 4 walls of our industry.

Charity and respect begin at home. Accordingly, the days of divisiveness, finger pointing and “the blame game” would be well served to cease. All of us who are still standing, after surviving the many challenges our industry has collectively endured in the past 20 years, would be well served to “play together nicely.”

2. Teach Your Children – Be a Mentor: industry veterans should adopt a mindset of responsibility if our legacy is to endure. A great way to begin is to “Adopt a Newbie.” Whether we realize it or not, the 20+ years of tenure (again, according to the recent survey) that the majority of travel distributers possess brings with them a plethora of knowledge and “know-how.” Much of this was accumulated by trial and error. Shouldn’t we give “the next generation” the benefit of NOT replicating our mistakes? It only seems fair.

3. Talk to the Animals: Take every opportunity to articulate the benefits and rewards that stand to be derived by industry professionals at every opportunity. These would include: career nights/fairs at the elementary (you can never start them too young), mid school, high school and college/university levels. Remember: “A scream in a vacuum is silence.” Let’s get the word out early and often.

4. Working for a Living – Internships: This is, perhaps, one of the best ways to cultivate our next generation. I have utilized over a dozen outstanding young individuals in the past decade in this capacity; some within the confines of my consultancy, others during my tenure as Marketing Director for CLIA. Without exception, these bright, energetic and eager-to-learn young adults (without realizing it) contributed much to my on-going passion for our industry. They will be among our rising stars of tomorrow.

5. Light Up or Leave Me Alone: Let’s face it – we all have our occasional “bad days.” Here’s a tip: if you find your bad days becoming bad weeks, bad months, etc., you may wish to consider a change of venue. This great industry deserves no less than genuinely engaged, committed Advocates. That and life’s too short to be unhappy.

*“The Once and Future Agent, PhoCusWright’s Travel Agency Distribution Landscape 2009-2013.”

Editors Note: The Travel Institute offers some of the finest Professional growth and skill set enhancement curriculum available to Travel Industry Professionals. If you are currently a Travel Industry Professional or would like to consider the Travel Industry as a career vocation, please visit them @

http://thetravelinstitute.com/

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In 2012, Jim Smith, CTIE celebrates over 40 years as a Travel and Tourism Distribution System Subject Matter Expert (SME). He has enabled Travel Agents and Agencies – along with scores of Industry Suppliers – to achieve greater results from proprietary sales, marketing and cost efficiency programs.
He can be reached @ 561.362.3887 or by visiting www.jimsmithctie.com

copyright 2012 jimsmithctie, inc® All Rights Reserved

Now, ask yourself a question: how many times do you hear that phrase in any given week?

Chances are you hear it…a lot. You hear it around the office water cooler, you hear it at the dinner table, you hear it as you pick up the kids from school, at the 19^th hole after a round of golf and you hear it (from that little voice inside your head) after clearing your 118^th email of the day. Fact is…you hear it almost every time you socially integrate and…it’s not accidental.

Let’s be realistic; we live in a pressure cooker of a world. Forget about the “normal” responsibilities that come with day-to-day living. The information intensity that our society has experienced (over a relatively short period of time) has rendered many of us to monitoring at least 4 channels of information daily. Social Media, Professional “Social Media”, business emails, personal emails, voice mails, text messaging, land lines, newspapers, magazines, Blogs….just pick your 4 favorites and feel free to add snail mail & faxes to the list.

Is it any wonder we could all use a vacation? Take heart, gentle readers because there’s never been a better time to start planning your next, much needed, vacation.

Circle your calendars because National Plan A Vacation Week is right around the corner, March 18^th – 24^th http://www.planavacationweek.com

This powerful and broad-reaching initiative will showcase a world of Vacation options with something for everyone’s tastes, budget and time constraints. From American Discoveries to Extraordinary Europe; Family Fun, Pacific Paradises, Tropical Adventures, Viva Mexico and Occasions for Amazement, National Plan A Vacation Week promises to bring value for your dollar and things far more important.

Those things are re-connecting with family and loved ones; friends or just going solo on a sojourn of self-discovery. It’s about rejuvenation, revitalization and experiencing the things that enrich our lives, our souls.

It’s about making memories; the kind of memories that last longer than your hard drive after it’s fried and your picture folder goes to cyber sanitation heaven. It’s about taking care of you.

When it comes to planning a getaway there’s nobody better to turn to than a Professional Travel Agent. Like Lawyers, Accountants and Hairdressers/Barbers…you want to find a good one and hang on for dear life. While their demise was trumpeted by many (all of the pundits, as It happens, had no fundamental understanding of their role, skill sets and value) Professional Agents have adapted, are thriving and generating more business than ever before.

Professional Agents have endured because they add value. They have the expertise, the skill sets and an appreciation for not only what to do, where to go and what to see. They can offer counsel on the things that an individual who isn’t a Travel Professional would never know; the types of things that could quite possibly result in a less than great experience.

Remember…”Without a Travel Agent, You’re on Your Own”.

I would even suggest that you look at a Professional Travel Agent as your personal GPS on the highway to vacation happiness.

Luray Caverns, VA. 2004

Now out and make some memories…and while you’re at it, I hope have the time of your life!

Rock Band
What was the first thing that popped into your head when you read that? Led Zep? Queen? The Stones? Jethro Tull? Lynyrd Skynyrd? Rush? Metallica? Eagles?

Are you beginning to get a sense of where this album is coming from?

Peter Wolf Explores Roots of Rock

Rock is a by-product of diverse musical styles, varied geographic influences, and a melting pot of ethnic origins. More than anything, as a relatively young art form, rock is driven by artists’ influences. Read an interview with any rocker and if the topic surfaces, your average performer can reel off five major influences in less than ten seconds. Most performing rockers are as much fans of other artists as are their fans who buy their music and merchandise. It’s the nature of the beast.

Ironically, artists who are now considered classic rockers didn’t have rock to listen to as they were coming up. Their influences came from earlier musical forms. Like Muddy Waters said, “The blues had a baby and they called it rock n’ roll.” And country, soul, Motown, jazz and a few other genres found their way into rock’s DNA pool as well, and all of their influences can be found interwoven in the fabric of most contemporary and classic rock.

These wildly diverse musical styles all coagulate quite tastefully on Peter Wolf’s definitive homage to musical convergence, Midnight Souvenirs, his seventh solo effort in 26 years and his first in the past eight. Meticulously produced by Wolf and three time production collaborator/keyboardist Kenny White (check out White’s “Comfort in the Static”, a rare gem of a find) and Wolf’s frequent songwriting partner (and multi-Oscar and Grammy winner) Will Jennings co-wrote several cuts.

Tracking the Tracks

Much has already been written about the three duets that appear on this body of work. There’s “Tragedy”, with some heavy moaning and soul-searing vocals from Shelby Lynne; “The Green Fields of Summer”, a haunting, almost ethereal recording that showcases the angelic voice of Neko Case; and the album’s closer, “It’s Too Late For Me”, a late night honky tonk tune best played after two too many. This stunning track finds Wolf exchanging harmonies with country legend, American treasure, and idol of Wolf’s, Merle Haggard.

Wolf has a history dating back to his first solo effort of bringing his influences and heroes into his music-making mix. Mick Jagger appeared on Wolf’s 1984 debut solo album, Lights Out and on 2002’s Sleepless. Keith Richards, Steve Earle, and even Magic Dick from the J. Geils Band are a few others who have collaborated. My take on it is that Wolf has an uncanny knack for going to the bench and selecting the right player at just the right time. The duets here represent diverse styles, are genuine to the core, and are the kind of songs that could each chart in their respective genres.

Influences like Don Covay, Bobby “Blue” Bland, James Brown and Mario Medious can all be heard — in one song! “Overnight Lows” is a kaleidoscope of blues and jive layers, with our hero being Lola-ed in the end. Wolf’s wit is never too far below the surface. Humor and funk are resplendent in a re-work of “Everything I Do (Gonna Be Funky)” and “Lying Low” (a song that could be a first cousin to Sleepless opening track “Growing Pains”.)

All This and Pure Rock, Too

What could be called straight ahead rock cuts, “The Night Comes Down (for Willy DeVille)” and my personal favorite, “I Don’t Wanna Know” (which begins like something straight off of Exile on Main Street then takes a subtle turn and finds its own space) grabs you and doesn’t loosen its grip easily. If you opt for the iTunes download, there’s a bonus track that is patented Wolf sarcasm scat, “How Do You Know”.)

There are ballads, soul songs, blues numbers, country, raucous rave-ups and extra helpings of Wolf’s introspection. The songwriting is heartfelt — you can feel the authenticity. The players on this album include drummer Shawn Pelton, guitarist Duke Levine, keyboardist Kenny White, and multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell. There’s an Uptown Horn sighting and some of the most well-placed strings ever to appear on a rock album, each seemingly dropping in from out of nowhere on just the right downbeat and mixed in the studio to perfection. This album, as a cohesive body of work, has a musical depth and richness unlike anything Wolf has ever laid down.

I admit to being an unabashedly out of the closet Peter Wolf fan. But, in all candor, I was prepared for nothing like what I found on Midnight Souvenirs. Since the first time I saw Wolf with the J. Geils Band at the Fillmore East in 1971, he’s made some pretty amazing music. But never like this before.

Release date: April 6, 2010, Verve Records

by Nick Verrastro

January 19, 2012

Cruise passenger safety will be foremost in leisure clients’ minds in coming weeks, and the cruise industry – and travel agents – must be ready to respond.

The travel industry’s immediate response to last week’s Costa Concordia tragedy has been one of uniform concern and empathy for those harmed by the disaster, commented travel marketing consultant and former CLIA executive Jim Smith, CTIE.
Jim Smith

Going forward, the cruise industry, including cruise sellers, should focus on passenger safety, including by highlighting cruises’ exemplary record, advised Smith, a former travel agent who stepped down as CLIA’s director of marketing in 2011.

“Concern about safety is going to be the first reaction people have. It is the understandable reaction, particularly among clients who already have bookings and among first-time cruisers,” Smith told Travel Market Report.

Travel agents can expect their clients to bring up the safety issue. “However, experienced cruisers realize this is really a safe vacation choice,” said Smith, whose Brand Congruency consulting firm is based in Boca Raton, Fla.

Let the numbers talk
The industry as a whole should let the numbers do the talking, advised Smith. Between 15 million and16 million passengers cruised in 2011, Smith noted.

“When you look at these numbers, they underscore how safe passenger cruising really is.”

The cruise industry can stand on the merits of its own history and track record of safety, he added.

Closer monitoring of ships
But the industry will need to learn from this disaster and adapt accordingly, Smith said.

One possible change may be that ships’ operations will be monitored more closely at the corporate level, he said. “Maybe this will result in course-tracking oversight – that could be one thing that comes out of this.

“From everything we are seeing, this was a deviation from the approved navigational charts. The Concordia was sailing on a routine itinerary – what happened was far outside the parameters for that routine.”

Added safety measures
Additional safety regimens likely will be put in place, and that would be good for the industry and for consumers, Smith said.

“We probably will see new protocols, not the least of which will be greater frequency of lifeboat drills in the European theater, because their regulations are very different from those for US-originating sailings.”

Controlling the damage
The challenge will be to mitigate potential damage for the industry as a whole, said Smith.

For Costa, protecting brand reputation will be a concern, but Smith predicted that the cruise line will emerge with its reputation intact.

“Costa is one of the most established brands in Europe. The line’s history will help them withstand this – even in the short term.

“As the facts come out, they will benefit Costa, because this truly is isolated to human error. The information coming out has pointed toward the captain as having almost total culpability in the incident.”

In any case, Smith pointed out, people have short memories. “We are in such an information-intense society. The reality will be determined by how much brain space this occupies in the average consumer in six weeks or so.”

Empathetic agents
Smith also remarked on the industry’s empathetic response to the disaster.

This became apparent to Smith the morning after the Concordia went aground, when he participated in the best practices discussion on a Facebook page limited to travel agents. (Smith said he is still a travel agent at heart.)

In addition to expressions of concern, the agent exchanges focused on how to reassure clients and how to provide clients with information to allay their concerns, he said.

As fate would have it, our lives became inexorably intertwined. Over the years somehow, inexplicably, his family members came into my life from the weirdest and most unexpected of angles. One brother (unbeknownst to me) was a key decision make at a coveted account back in my Car Rental days. Another brother (also off my radar) was firmly ensconced as “THE sales guy” at a company that was the largest revenue generator for a company I subsequently joined in late 1987 and remained for 11 years. The airline, once the icon of American commercial aviation, disappeared less than 3 years later.

Pat once asked me, back in 1986, if I could assist in finding his nephew a summer job (a good kid, St Agnes grad, on break at Farleigh Dickinson) .. End’s up ( again…totally off my radar) that the lad was the son of Pat’s airline brother. It just so happened that a car rental colleague was more than accommodating and hired the young man. It was a mutual good fit; a real “win-win” if one ever existed.

ps..The “lad” is now that company’s Senior Vice President of Operations. Good gene pool.

Dr. Pat Murphy introduced me to Dr. Albert Ellis when I was 17 and undertaking a leadership role in Molloys’ vanguard Peer Group Counseling Program. I studied with Dr Ellis, sporadically, for a number of year, and continue to re-visit his body of work. To a large extent, this body of work helps to sustain some personal “value pillars”.

Pat’s last email to me came on April 10th, 2008 less than a month prior to undergoing the surgery that he ultimately would not survive.

His email congratulated me on the launch of my website. He indicated that both “he and Leo” were proud of me. (Leo….his picture sits in a frame, on my desk, looking over my shoulder …….Leo…the bear of a man infamous as Pat’s partner in crime and Peer Group Counseling co-conspirator; a fellow shaman at Molloy…and a massive “impact player” in my life)…. I guess Leo, who passed away a few years back, must have given Pat the “head’s up” that Pat was in Heaven’s “on deck circle”.

The lessons Pat and Leo imparted have lasted, to this point, a lifetime (and counting).

Pat never mentioned his impending May surgery in his April 10 correspondence. He never complained; at least not to me. He had been battling intestinal disorders for decades and was the recipient of a permanent colostomy over 10 years ago. He never mentioned his condition; what I learned, I learned from others.

(And, for the record, I’ve had a temporary colostomy. We’re not talking a sore throat or seasonal allergies; the words “invasive/obtrusive/unwelcome” were created to describe its existence).

My admiration for the man’s humanity and dignity grew to new heights as the years passed. Back in 1973, as I was winding down a most memorable 4 year run through the halls of AMHS, deeper respect for a man hardly seemed fathomable, much less possible.

Dr. Ellis passed away in 2007. Pat died at 5:35am this morning. I started emailing Pat’s nephew, John, at 4:19 this morning. For some unknown reason, last nite resulted in an extremely rare bout of unsettled sleep. I looked at my Blackberry at 4:15am (something I religiously refuse to entertain prior to 6am). There was an email from John time-stamped at 4:03.

There’s rarely such a coincidence in my world.

Attempting to describe the impact Pat, Leo and Ellis made in my life would be akin to pissing in the ocean in an attempt to fill it. Grammatically, physically and emotionally impossible. Political correctness (or lack thereof) not withstanding.

In the words of Kurt Vonnegut Jr: “We are what we only pretend to be. So we must be careful about what we pretend to be”.

The same “Molloy induced/read it or die” author stated (ever so eloquently): “We are here on Earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you differently”.

and so it goes…

The second florist was relatively quiet. In fact it was without any customers. A young gentleman appeared from the back “prep room”. He offered a handshake, said: “Hi, my name is Ray” and pleasantries were exchanged. I learned that he had recently purchased the business. I bought some flowers, wished him luck and didn’t give it a second thought.

In between, for over 30+ years, Ray was my Florist. Ray did my wedding, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Funerals…if I needed flowers, Ray was my “go to guy”. Over the years he got to know me, my tastes, and my customary price threshold on an “occasion by occasion basis”. In the early days of our relationship, while he was growing his business, Ray would pick up the phone and remind me if we were getting close to a special occasion and he hadn’t heard from me.

It was CRM in the purest of forms.

Over the years, Ray automated. I started getting emails instead of personal calls. As the years went by, the emails became graphically dynamic and they even allowed me the luxury of purchasing online; something I do often, just never did with Ray.

Why?

Because when I called for flowers be it 10, 20 or 30 years after our first transaction, Ray insisted on jumping on the call to say hi, catch up and basically keep the relationship valuable – to me. Ray made me feel like my business mattered; like I mattered.

Enter Heidi of Eden Florists in South Florida. I met Heidi at a Chamber of Commerce business mixer, once, about 5 years ago. She was a neat lady; outgoing with a shock of red hair and a passion for her vocation that permeated the room. We got to talking (notice a trend here, sales types?) and she asked me if I had a florist. I went on an “I love Ray rant”. She listened, smiled and handed me her card “just in case I ever got in a pinch”.

One of life’s many ironies unfolded shortly thereafter. In a subsequent order/conversation with Ray, I mentioned Heidi. He knew her! They met at a Florists Convention where she conducted a workshop. Ray was blown away by her passion, her zeal, knowledge and enthusiasm.

During the ensuing 5 years I ended up on Heidi’s mailing list for her business. I rarely opened the emails. I just smiled and admired her attitude and her foresight. Her email frequency was “just right”; often enough to remind me that she existed (even though I had no use for her services) but not overwhelming to the point where I considered opting out.

Recently, Ray sent a hand written note to thank me for my business, our friendship and to advise me that he had sold his business. I moved off Long Island over 8 years ago and the thought of using another Florist never crossed my mind. Until yesterday.

Valentine’s Day was looming and it would be my first without Ray in my back pocket in many years..

Guess who got my Valentines Day floral order?

I have a new Florist. Her name is Heidi. She took my call personally and thanked me for Joke of the Week (something I’ve been inflicting on a bunch of folks for over 6 years). Then she took my order.

Guess who will be getting my floral business for the foreseeable future?

Our Industry needs more Ray’s and Heidi’s. Hands – on CRM never goes out of style. Neither does a commitment to sales, marketing, personalized service and recognizing the value of a customer

xxx

Industry consultant Jim Smith, CTIE is President of Market Share, Inc and Brand Congruency. A 40+ year Business veteran, Smith’s company serves clients in the leisure travel and entertainment industries. He can be reached by email @ jim@jimsmithctie.com