Travel is a People Business

Ladies and gentleman, this is a people business…

That phrase has become a bit of a motto of mine during my tenure leading TravelPulse. We are a lot of things here at travAlliancemedia: a travel company, a media company, a sales company, an internet solutions company, a training company and so much more.

However, when I look at who this company is and what we hope to do for the travel agent community and travel suppliers, I always settle on viewing us first and foremost as a people business.

That message was never any clearer for me than at the 2018 Travvy Awards.

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Roughly 300 of travel’s finest professionals gathered at Gotham Hall in New York City to celebrate travel’s best, as voted by travel agents—the people who know travel the most. It was my first time at the event and I (like many in attendance) was amazed by the size and scope of the event.

From the voting process to the venue itself, it was an honor to be associated with such an awesome event.

That said, I was equally as floored by the connections being made throughout the evening.

These people love each other.

READ MORE: Complete List of 2018 Travvy Awards Winners

It makes sense that anyone connected with hospitality or customer service is also a good people person, but a glance around the room at the Travvy’s was a masterclass in “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Warm, friendly handshakes and hugs, discussions about family and life outside work, genuine care for how other people are doing—this was less of a trade function and more of a family get together.

Networking seems to mean so much more when one is actually, you know, building a network rather than just throwing business cards at the wall hoping they stick.

For a travel agent, this is common knowledge but perhaps also too often overlooked. In the grand scheme of everything a travel agent has to do on a daily basis—from the grand planning to the tiniest minutia—sometimes it’s easy to forget this is people business.

One of my favorite faces I see at travel events is Scott Koepf, Senior VP of Sales for Avoya Travel. In an interview with TravelPulse, Scott once had this to say about focusing on people: “The primary reason people get into this business is because they fell in love with the product. They are travelers at heart. There’s this huge love and passion for travel.

However, the reality is that we don’t control that product. We don’t own that product. Our passion need not be as focused so much on the product as it does on our customer.”

Watching Scott work a room, it’s impossible to think those words might just be lip service.

For suppliers, the focus on people can be entirely crass and transactional, sure, but it becomes transformational when actual care is applied to the process. Often times, the companies that are the best at what they do, are the ones who treat people (customers and employees) the best.

It’s no surprise Amawaterways took best River Cruise company at the Travvy’s when one understands the culture that executives like Rudi Schreiner and Kristin Karst have built at the company. It’s a brand that doesn’t just do cruise well (they do!) but values employees who in turn value customers on their behalf.

Moreover, they’re a company that truly cares about travel agents—something, it seems, other travel companies could be reminded the importance of.

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At TravelPulse, we’re not just here to churn out the day’s news or good content. We do that in spades, yes, but that’s not what we’re here for. We are, at our core, a people company—here to serve travel agents and suppliers and ultimately to ensure people across the globe travel, travel more and travel more enjoyably than ever before.

Everything we do is in service to travel professionals and their customers, in line with one of the core beliefs of our company:

“We believe that travel is not an off-the-shelf commodity, but rather a highly valuable experience made greater through the guidance and personal touch of a trained professional.”

This, my friends, is a people company that is at its best serving other people companies. At the Travvy’s, I got to see that up close and personal, but it’s equally a pleasure working in that atmosphere each and every day.