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If you read Internet chatter, there are so many people who just want 2016 to hurry up and end, whether it's for personal or business reasons or because of the political turmoil. There are others, however, who found 2016 to be a banner year, especially in their travel agency business and who want the success to continue into 2017.
Take Pique Travel Design, a member of the Virtuoso luxury travel network, as an example. Profiled earlier in the year by Robin Amster, they are a travel agency with 40 percent of their staff who are Millennials and, as a result, they are having significant success attracting the Millennial generation.
"We have all different age ranges; we did that on purpose for a more holistic approach to travel but also for a different perspective on how to do travel," said Jim Bendt, CEO and owner of the agency.
This year has also been a banner year for many travel agents as well, who have been recognized for their accomplishments. For the fifth year in a row, MickeyTravels has received the Earmarked Award by Disney and, for the second year in a row, they have also been honored with Platinum Earmarked status. "Only about a dozen travel agencies in the world have earned Platinum earmarked status for 2016," said Greg Antonelle, managing director. "We booked more than 10,000 Disney vacations in 2016."
When Gary Smith,Dream Vacations Franchise Owner and Vacation Specialist, looked at his bottom line for 2016, he was happy at the productivity. "Overall, we should finish the year up over 15 percent," he said. "This increase has come pretty much from across the board. Overall our percentage of land vs. cruise stayed fairly steady. We attribute our growth to our continued emphasis on consistent marketing and our heavier focus on social media."
Margie Lenau of WonderLand Family Vacations measured her success by achieving a personal goal that she set out for herself. "At the beginning of 2016, I set the intention to write a book," said Lenau. "I wanted it to be a good book, not just to say I wrote a book. I believe that mindset is everything, and am persistent."
In early March, she received a call from an agent for Jack Canfield, the best-selling author of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series. He wanted Lenau to contribute to a book, "The Road to Success."
"This resulted in more sales, but more importantly, more respect," said Lenau, who was invited to the Thought Leaders Summit in Hollywood, California, where she met other business owners who had written books for the company.
Twenty-seven-year-old Eric Grayson, the founder of Discover 7 in New York City, has also crushed it this year. His company has a global reach, and has established a successful network of global partners through a program called Local Footsteps, where he partnered with local guides who, he calls, are eyes and ears on the ground.
"We really focused on expanding our services and member benefits in 2016," he said. "We have expanded access to our local footsteps program with more than 50 guides around the world, as well as expanded membership benefits like our door-to-door luggage service and access to Morton's Members' Club in London. We're up almost 100 percent year over year with 70 percent by referrals from existing clients. To me, that is the greatest testament a company can have. This year was also exciting as we planned trips for clients to exciting, first-time destinations like Rwanda and Iran."
Have you crushed it this year? Let us know how in the comments!
Robin Amster contributed to this story.
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