I just got back from a week-and-a-half-long trip to Italy with my family. In tow was my immediate family, including my parents and siblings, as well as an aunt and a significant other. None of the older generation had traveled internationally in about 20 years, with one of my siblings having only ventured to Canada for their first international trip earlier this year.
The trip was in the works since before the pandemic, but the planning only started maybe 18 months ago. In those initial days, I suggested we book through a travel advisor (or with a DMC at the very least). Nearly overwhelmingly, however, my family wanted to book direct. What do I know, right? But, since my parents were willing to pay for a large chunk of the trip, I figured it’s their money, let them spend it how they will.
While I love traveling, I admittedly don’t love planning travel. That’s probably why I am on this side of the page, while you are on the other. That said, during the planning process, I did lend what insight I could—having been the only one of the seven of us to visit Italy for an overnight trip before. But since it was most everyone’s first time, we visited the top sites—Rome, Florence and the Amalfi Coast (we were technically just north, in Sorrento). During the trip we visited the Colosseum and Vatican, enjoyed some wine tours in Tuscany, saw Michelangelo’s David, and toured Amalfi and Positano via boat.
In the end, I think all seven of us would say it was a success, but it wasn’t without some stress and arguing and probably everyone not getting to do at least one thing they wanted to do—not to mention us trying to plan too many things one day and missing our tour of Pompeii. Whoops! And I’m sure there are plenty of sites, restaurants or experiences we missed because we didn’t know it was even an option.
I say all this so that you can relay this message to any prospective clients you may have. I work in the travel industry; I have plenty experience traveling internationally; I even had experience traveling in the country we visited. If anyone is in a position to book such a trip—excluding a travel advisor, of course—someone like me would be able to do it. I would not recommend it.
If you know of anyone who’s on the fence about using your services, show them this. Travel advisors have the experience, insider knowledge and connections to make every trip worthwhile. They can deftly curate an itinerary so everyone feels heard and enjoys their time. They will direct clients to the proper destinations, hotels and experiences. I’m just thankful we had direct flights and arrived at the airports in plenty of time. If I had to be the one waiting on the phone or online at the airport due to a missed connection, handling seven people’s boarding passes, I would have had a breakdown.
Would I go on another extended family vacation again? Yeah, I would. It was a blast getting the entire family to travel so far together and all went nearly according to plan. Would I do it without the use of a luxury travel advisor? Absolutely not. Simply, I want that expertise and peace of mind in my back pocket. I won’t make that mistake again.
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