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Travel advisors Emer Coughlin, Carol McKee and Wendy Chambers (all within the Gifted Travel Network) are a prime example of how travel agents can use their personal networks to better their businesses. Despite the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trio has successfully planned agent-led travel using a "come away with me" approach to booking groups.
In this episode of Trade Secrets, the three advisors join Emma Weissmann (Senior Editor at TravelAge West) and Jamie Biesiada (Senior Editor at Travel Weekly) to chat about all things group travel.
Traditionally, Gifted Travel Network has advocated for a “pied piper” approach to group travel. Find your leader, and they’ll find your travelers. But that shifted during the pandemic to the aforementioned “come away with me” strategy, encouraging advisors to market trips as "agent-led" to inspire confidence. The three will answer a question posed by travel advisor Stef Katz of The Travel Super Hero (and of the Team Travel Agent Facebook group), who wants to get into the nuts and bolts of travel advisor-led group trips — not just “I did this” stories, but “Here’s how I did this” stories.
The travel advisors will also offer business sales strategies and marketing tips for advisors interested in leading groups with this unique approach.
Carol McKee, Emer Coughlin and Wendy Chambers of Gifted Travel Network
Credit: 2021 Jenn Martins
Resources Mentioned in This Episode and Related Reading
From Travel Weekly
From ‘Pied Piper’ to ‘Come With Me’
The ‘Come With Me Strategy’ in Action
Other Resources Mentioned in the Episode
Smartbrief for the Travel Professional
Travel Is Back — and So Are Travel Scams
Have a Question?
If you're a travel advisor with a question about the latest travel news, trends, social media, best business practices or more, please send an email to [email protected]. Bonus if you send a recording of yourself asking your question — we may play it on the podcast.
About Your Hosts
Emma Weissmann is a Senior Editor of TravelAge West, a print and online magazine for travel advisors based in the Western U.S. She is also the co-host of Humans of Travel podcast, where she interviews notable individuals in the travel industry about their lives — the highs and lows that make them human.
Jamie Biesiada is a Senior Editor with Travel Weekly. She is an award-winning journalist, including being named the American Society of Travel Advisors’ 2019 Travel Journalist of the Year. Her roots are in community journalism, where she was the editor of several local newspapers and a regional entertainment magazine.
About the Show
Trade Secrets, a podcast from the editors of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, is where travel advisors ask — and answer — questions. On each podcast, our editors will ask a veteran travel advisor to join them and field listeners’ questions. Topics will range from business advice to industry trends, history and more — as long as it’s travel-related, we want to address it! Find Trade Secrets wherever you get your podcasts, or at www.travelagewest.com/podcasts/trade-secrets.
