Suffice it to say that agent Lori Swinderman has not let the pandemic stand in her way when it comes to entrepreneurial pursuits.
Swinderman, Owner of Upon A Star Travel & Concierge, launched Mexico FamTrips late last year, and from there created Te Amo, a charity/foundation providing donations - food, clothing, baby items, personal hygiene items and money - to Mayan villages.
"The purpose of the donations is to reach out to this community that has been forgotten or neglected," she said, adding that Te Amo stands for Travel Agents In Appreciation of Mexican Origins, she said.
"Te Amo is a reflection of the efforts of travel professionals and their generous hearts [to give back] to local communities surrounding the tourist areas all across Mexico. It's our way of giving back to the people that need it the most and who are the origins of Mexico, the indigenous communities."
To date, Te Amo has received well over $6,000 in cash donations alone since its launch. "We have had agents from our fams who do fundraisers on their own and one has donated over $1500," Swinderman said.
To date, the donations have been from travel professionals. "Agents can either make a deposit via PayPal on our website or bring a piece of luggage with physical donations whenever they attend any of our Mexico FamTrips," she said.
Te Amo is well into the process of distributing donations. "Since Mexico FamTrips was launched a couple of months ago, we've made donations at the Mayan villages south of Tulum and also by the villages close to the Mayan ruins of Coba," she said.
Villager's response to donations has been extremely gratifying. "It is overwhelming. They surround the cars by the dozens, and they are always so happy and thankful," Swinderman said. "Many of the children don't have shoes or clothing. In some cases, these villagers don't even speak Spanish, as they only speak Mayan dialect. We have encountered communities that ask us if we are from a governmental party or from a TV station - they can't believe that we are just a group of people wanting to help."
Mexico FamTrips, meanwhile, is proving to be a great success, with many fams already sold out. "It's a great initiative not only for travel agents, but also for the destination and for the hoteliers," Swinderman said. "It gives the agents that don't necessarily specialize in Mexico [the chance to] become specialists by getting to see, experience and learn about several specific resort partners and the destination, allowing resorts and agents to partner to grow their mutual business together."
In the end, Swinderman attributes its success to "creating that liaison between agents and resorts."
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