I was sitting in a diner with some newly found friends. Someone brought up the idea that we should all go on a cruise together since we got along so well. One of the friends had already been to a travel advisor to collect brochures and get pricing for the very narrow window of time he liked to cruise (in October because he didn’t like to return home to very cold weather). He said that he was leaning toward the Caribbean or Canada for a fall foliage trip.
Another friend said she didn’t really want to go on a cruise because she didn’t want to travel far from home. Another preferred cruising the Mediterranean but couldn’t really commit to a time because she had little flexibility with her schedule. She did say that she had booked cruises through Costco in the past and gotten a lot of free amenities. She felt that Costco had provided good customer service on every occasion. Another friend said he was going on a cruise with his family and therefore wouldn’t be going on a cruise with us at all because that was enough cruises for one year. Honesty is sometimes a good thing when you’re trying to get eight people to do one thing.
I was going to let drop my specific preference for suites with balconies but that wouldn’t have moved the conversation along. I try to be sensitive that way and, besides, my Swiss cheese omelet and French fries were getting cold. Even though it was appearing more obvious that this group wasn’t going anywhere together soon, the friend who had been to the travel advisor proceeded to talk about the value of getting a drinks package vs. not getting one. That ignited further discussion but, in the end, the group was mixed as to the benefits. Once it was blatantly clear the conversation wasn’t really going anywhere, someone said, “The funny thing is, if we went on a cruise we could all book whatever we wanted and still end up having meals together; it’s not a bad idea.” Everyone agreed that that was true and continued to enjoy their lunch specials.
I’ve never been at a table where several people were all trying to decide on a singular vacation together. The takeaway for me is that if you’re a travel advisor who’s got groups of clients that like to travel together and do the same things, you’ve struck gold. People are looking for all sorts of reasons not to travel; if your clients have broken through that barrier you are very fortunate.
So, I encourage you to nurture your small travel groups and find ways to create new ones. You can send them on a cruise or any sort of a trip. The best part is if they all enjoy the arrangements you made for them they’ll keep coming back to you. Avanti Destinations said it expects 30 percent growth in its custom groups department in 2024, with a high level of repeat bookings. They’ve noted that travel advisors are telling them they’re seeing a surge in people wanting to travel together, both personally and through affinity groups.
I sure hope my new group of friends agree on a trip some day and when we do, we’ll go to a travel advisor to iron out all of our wants and needs and to assuage our concerns and to simply create the best time ever. In the meantime, it’s the diner for us but for now that’s just fine.
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