Scott Ludlum had been working for a not-for-profit association when he and his wife decided to take his parents, his best friend and his best friend's wife to Panama on vacation.
"Panama was my wife's native country so we knew Panama well enough to serve as their tour guides," said Ludlum, Chief Travel Advisor, Panama Travel Consultants and Travel Journeys of a Lifetime in Riverview, Florida.
"We all had such a wonderful time during the trip that I started thinking about how great it would be to start a business that would send clients to Panama."
A few years later, Ludlum incorporated his business, Panama Travel Consultants, after being invited as a hosted international buyer to a Panama Tourism Expo in Panama City, Panama.
"It was my first introduction to how a destination management company (DMC) works, as they were responsible for providing our transfers to the Expo and social events during our three days there," said Ludlum. "It was really an incredible experience meeting with representatives from the best hotels and other tour operators and I knew instantly that my future would entail sending clients to Panama.
Approximately two months after he returned from the Expo, he formally incorporated his business.
"Immediately after incorporating, we sent our first clients who had a wonderful time on their 11-day vacation," he said.
Ludlum became a travel agent because traveling internationally is a true passion of his.
"I am actually surprised that I did not become a travel agent earlier in my career since it really is my true calling," he said. "I had been working as the Director of Strategic Business Initiatives for a not-for-profit membership association for about 13 years so I was getting bored and burned out. I was also wishing that I had an opportunity to travel more frequently and leverage my Spanish language and cross-cultural negotiation skills."
His undergraduate degree was in International Business, with a graduate degree in International Commerce and Policy.
"Once I realized that, by starting our business, I would be traveling to Panama and other international destinations in addition to working with locals in many different countries, it really seemed like the job that I was born to do," he said.
"I developed the marketing materials and Ray promoted our tour, with him accompanying the group in addition to the local Scottish guide," said Ludlum. "I had been very keen to organize my first small group tour, and Ray had always wanted to be hosted on a trip to Scotland. It was truly a mutually beneficial partnership. The group just returned recently and, by all counts, the tour was a huge success."
When he's not working, Ludlum loves visiting Panama, of course, but also loves traveling to Latin America:
"I also have many places on my travel bucket list still to cross off that include, but certainly are not limited to, South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Belize and the Galapagos Islands."
He said he's proud to consider himself a Custom Travel Specialist.
"As such, I customize vacation packages and itineraries as travel agents do but I also provide custom itineraries and pay commission to travel agents who have clients interested in traveling to Panama," he said. "I thoroughly enjoy working with other travel agents and really appreciate their professionalism. It's true that travel agents sometimes get bad press, but my experiences working with fellow travel agents has been nothing but exceptional."
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