WISE COUNSEL BY BARBARA CHARLTON California dreaming
BARBARA WAS VOTED MOST HELPFUL TRAVEL COUNSELLOR OF THE YEAR FOR TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS.
BARBARA.CHARLTON@
TRAVELCOUNSELLORS.COM T: 0845 0587 290
I'M A CALIFORNIA SUPER FAN! How do you turn a SuperFam agent into a Super
FAN agent? Easy, you send her to California! I have just returned from an amazing trip, ran as a fam should be run, by showing you the destination and what is available for your clients to experience – not the inside of two dozen hotels! It was my second trip to California
in four years with Visit California and British Airways, although I covered different areas each time. This time, the itinerary took me from San Francisco to the state capital, Sacramento, the beautiful wine region of Napa Valley and then south to San Diego for the fi nale, where 55 agents met up to listen to each other’s presentations on all fi ve, very different journeys. I was so pleased with my culture and entertainment itinerary, which was as diverse as this great state itself. We covered so much in such a short
space of time, from a fun duck ride tour in San Francisco to picking and carving our own pumpkins in the farmlands outside Sacramento. We sampled the region’s gourmet food and wine aboard the Napa Valley Wine Train and watched a production in a wooden theatre hidden in a forest. The Americans say they don’t know what pantomime is, but their melodrama is not too different, with great audience participation making it perfect entertainment for the whole family.
CAPITAL SURPRISE Sacramento was a nice surprise. it is often overlooked on self-drive itineraries but there is plenty to see and do just on one block in this nice town – and big-name hotels to book. But walk a few paces and you’re in suburbs that have a real neighbourhood feeling. Outside the town you will fi nd great
expanses of farmland – the area is famed for its ‘farm to fork’ produce. Families are well catered for at these out-of-town farms, with plenty of ‘pick
CHECK ONLINE FOR DAILY TIPS AT
SELLINGLONGHAUL.COM
Hot tips galore!
“Reassure nervous clients that Gulf cities like Muscat or Dubai are developed areas where locals welcome
Barbara came across a mountain of Halloween pumpkins in rural California
your own’ activities. I was particularly thrilled to be in the USA during the run up to Halloween, and doubt I will ever see so many pumpkins again!
SPREADING THE WORD Without a doubt, the worst part of my trip was arriving back at Heathrow to looming grey clouds and rain! Winter had defi nitely fi rmly taken up residence in southern England, which was a real shock to my system after the glorious clear blues skies of San Diego, where I had spent that morning at a pool party followed by a trolley tour in 27C heat. But I am looking forward to telling
my clients all about where I have been, so that the seeds are planted when they are thinking about more than a beach holiday Stateside. With a Travel Counsellor on each
of the fi ve different SuperFam itineraries, I have plenty of fi rst-hand knowledge to call on.
SELLING WITH CONFIDENCE Winter usually brings us lovely long haul tailor-made bookings to far fl ung exotic places, which although time consuming are often high- revenue bookings.
With all the training available
on Travel Uni, no destination need be beyond reach and it’s certainly possible to advise and make
"OUTSIDE
SACRAMENTO YOU'LL FIND AN
AREA FAMED FOR ITS 'FARM TO
FORK' PRODUCE"
recommendations with confi dence, even if you haven’t been there. With the 'conference season'
well advanced, it’s time to dig out the posh frocks, bow ties and the dreaded heels. This is a particular ordeal for the
travel professionals who work from home all year, in the warmth and comfort of painless footwear.
It’s
worth it all though, just to get away for a few days and get together with our colleagues, suppliers and head offi ce staff. Then it will be full steam ahead to the festive season... a time to recharge our batteries before the all-important annual stampede of enquiries in January and February.
“If you have clients who loved the limestone karsts of Guilin in China, recommend Laos, which has the same dreamy scenery”
LAURA GELDER, TRAVEL WRITER SELLING LONG HAUL
“The Seychelles yields high revenues and is accessible from the UK with flights via Dubai with Emirates or Abu
Dhabi with Etihad” LOUISE TURNER, VIRGIN HOLIDAYS
tourists" KAREN THORNTON, PERSONAL TRAVEL SPECIALIST, EXPRESSIONS HOLIDAYS
74 November 2013
www.sellinglonghaul.com
JOE ROUTON
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78