Taking the Leap to Luxury

Aspirational is a term often used to describe the desire to indulge in luxury travel. For agents, selling luxury travel is aspirational as well—an appealing goal, but with challenges involved because by definition, luxury travel sellers are an exclusive group.

The good news is that high-end travelers consistently turn to agents to navigate the overwhelming amount of information online. Becoming a luxury agent takes "a combination of self-travel, research and knowing when to ask questions," said Leslie Tillem, with Eltee Travel Group, a division of Tzell Travel Group.

Tillem suggested agents ask themselves these questions: Do you know some destinations well? Are you willing to ask friends and relatives if you can make their arrangements? Are you willing to work at all hours to help someone stuck in another city?

"Travel is about passion—whether doing it or working on it," Tillem said.

Personal Passion

Being successful at selling luxury often emerges from personal passion. As Lynn Rudin with Luxe Travel Design, an affiliate of Montecito Village Travel, a Virtuoso agency in Westlake Village, Calif., said, "Luxury is the style of travel I’m drawn to—personally and professionally."

Eric Hrubant of CIRE Travel, a division of Tzell, said that for his clients, luxury has to do with personalization and "getting to experience something you would not have access to on your own."

Investing in Luxury

For Sandy Grodsky of Greenwich, Conn.-based SG Travel Advisors, an affiliate of Brownell Travel, a Virtuoso agency, it is important to personally partake in luxury experiences. When Grodsky travels on fams she will take one day to splurge on something like a private boat tour or a catered lunch on the Great Wall of China. She called these splurges "an investment" in inspiring clients to enjoy the same experiences.

Travel means different things to different people, said Angela Muso of New York-based Valerie Wilson Travel. It may mean renting a private villa on the beach in the south of France, sleeping in a treehouse in the middle of a South African safari lodge, staying in a penthouse suite in Hawaii during the Christmas/New Year holidays or chartering a private yacht in the Mediterranean, she said.

The Value Equation

Agents can keep clients loyal by offering them perks that make them feel they are getting a good deal. That is why agent networks focus so strongly on those extras, Tillem said, adding that Tzell SELECT amenities like as complimentary breakfast and food-and-beverage credits are highly appealing to upscale travelers.

When it comes to selling luxury, creativity is key. "You must be willing to think far outside of the box and realize there is nothing that can’t be offered to a client to create the trip of a lifetime," Muso said.

Getting Started

For Sandy Grodsky of SG Travel, her career as a luxury advisor began with a blog, which, because of the way she herself traveled, had a luxury slant.

That led to an introduction to an agency owner where she became a travel advisor and eventually moving on to become a Virtuoso agent. The blog provided her with a foundational client base.

Before Lynn Rudin of Luxe Travel Design was a Virtuoso advisor, she was a Virtuoso client. Because she loved to travel, she completed a two-year program at a community college. After starting small with friends and family Rudin said she now gets all her business through referrals.