More often than not, trusting one's instincts pays off.
"Call it a sixth sense, but I think I understood immediately that handling the pandemic was not going to be a short-term endeavor," said Ashley Morris of Alpaca Your Bags Travel. "Knowing that our circumstances unfortunately wouldn't be changing anytime soon, I decided to take the 'let's learn and adapt' approach."
That approach led to eight trips to Mexico beginning in June 2020, and culminating in a 30-day trip to Playa del Carmen that ended in late February 2021.
"Traveling right now is a personal choice, but it was important for me to experience changes in protocols firsthand so I could advise my clients," she said. "My business is primarily destination wedding groups. Those couples (and their guests) put their trust in me to guide them through the process. I felt a strong sense of obligation to get out in the world and educate them on these new experiences."
On the evening prior to her first trip to Mexico, Morris was admittedly a bit nervous.
"But upon landing in Cancun, it was immediately evident that our destination partners had very quickly taken great care to adjust their procedures to keep guests safe," she said. "When I checked-in at my first resort, I actually got emotional. There had been moments in the previous months where I wondered if people would ever travel again."
Morris began sharing her experiences on social media on Day One of the first trip. "Most of my sharing has been done through Instagram Stories so people were getting a live play-by-play of each trip," she said.
The response from clients has been overwhelmingly positive. "So many of my followers replied and said, 'Thank you for showing us how this works - keep sharing.' Sometimes followers would ask questions and I answered them on the spot with short videos."
Keeping it real is part and parcel to Morris' social media strategy. "Authenticity is important to me. I try very hard not to curate a 'perfect' experience," she said. "I show the good and the bad so people can be educated about what's out there."
The decision to spend 30 days in Playa del Carmen was a case of "making lemons out of lemonade - or margaritas out of limes," Morris said, adding that she was accompanied by Kathryn Potter of KP Travel Group.
"In October, we looked at our calendars and realized we didn't have many clients traveling in February. Instead of stressing about it, we decided to make the most of the situation to tour resorts and meet with our destination partners," she said.
Morris and Potter's arguably made good use of their time. "During our stay, we had a mix of office workdays, site visits and overnight stays t resorts that were brand new to us," she said. "We rented a condo and got the best of both worlds - some 'real living' in Playa del Carmen and also touring more than 25 resorts during our visit.
The first day of their trip was Jan. 27, the day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirement for negative COVID-19 tests from air passengers entering the U.S. took effect.
"Just one week into the testing process, we were able to show the entire testing experience on social media from beginning to end," Morris said. "We received so much positive feedback from that -people just wanted to see what it was like."
The extended stay also enabled Morris to experiment with her Instagram content. "For example, we typically recommend four- and five-star properties. However, clients always ask about three-star properties," she said. "They want to know the differences and what they get for their money. We stayed in a 'mystery three-star resort' - we didn't reveal the name - to illustrate the differences in star levels. That was eye-opening for many of our followers."
Morris and Potter began their planning process with complimentary consultation calls. "Our requests for consultations have gone up three fold since people started following our journey," she said.
When they received their COVID-19 tests before flying back to the U.S., they shared the process on social media as well.
In the final analysis, Mexico trips reaped rich rewards. "Those trips literally saved my business, Morris said. "Clients saw me traveling and felt they could do it, too."
Furthermore, the trips translated into new bookings while also saving existing bookings. "For example, many of my wedding couples decided to postpone versus cancel once they saw me traveling," she said. "I actually did have six wedding groups travel in fall 2020. I attribute this entirely to my travel experiences."
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