by Brian Major
Last updated: 2:10 PM ET, Wed October 9, 2024
Luxury tour operator Journese this past week lauded the
outstanding achievements of its top-producing travel agencies with a three-day Curators
Celebration 2024 event at the Sandals Royal Curacao resort.
The Curators Celebration forum spotlighted the deluxe tour
operator’s most successful travel sellers, but also recognized Journese’s
coterie of experienced advisors and presented the assembled advisors with updates
on new and existing Journese programs.
The celebration also provided the advisors, nearly all of
whom were visiting the island for the first time, with an up-close view of Curacao
and the year-old Sandals Royal Curacao.
The advisors also participated in a variety of excursions offered
through Caribbean tour operator Island Routes. Overall, the celebration recognized
23 of the company’s top national advisors based upon increased revenues with
Journese, according to company officials.
“Our Curators are strong partners with Journese, are true
Journese ambassadors, and excel at exceeding the desires of their discerning
clientele,” said Amy Terada, Journese’s vice president of marketing.
A Productive Partnership
The luxury division of large-scale tour company Pleasant
Holidays, Journese provides travel advisors with an array of products and services
that enable clients to effectively serve today’s demanding high-end travelers.
“We really want to make it as easy as possible for the
advisors to book,” said Amy Comparato, Journese’s senior brand director. “We
want to give them the tools they need to be the experts because it's so hard to
know the whole world.”
Added Comparato, “We have a nationwide sales team, with BDM
(business development managers) across the country. We encourage new and
seasoned advisors to connect with their BDM, who will walk them through anything
they need,” she said.
“They [offer] a wealth of knowledge with resources in terms
of educating [advisors] on Journese but also working with you to brainstorm on
how to best grow your business,” Comparato added. “Our BDMs know what works for one
advisor is not going to work for another.”
“We really want to make it as easy as possible for the advisors to book.” - Amy Comparato, Journese senior brand director. (Photo by Brian Major)
Journese’s comprehensive in-house products and services support
its national sales network, Comparato added. “We also have all sorts of
education and training [including] our Elite Training program with on-demand
webinars with full-blown Journese training, three-to-five minute tutorials
[and] full website training,” she said.
Advisor Access
The advisors recognized this week by Journese attribute their
success to their partnership with the deluxe tour operator, particularly as
they worked to navigate pandemic-driven travel disruptions.
“[The pandemic] was actually the period of time when I
transitioned to Journese because their service was so great,” said Alicia
Kingston, owner of Alicia’s World of Travel in Chester Country, PA. “They weren’t letting the ball drop and other
places were,” she said.
“I used to book with another tour operator and I just I
started trying out Journese probably like four or five years ago,” said Kingston.
“They were very prompt with response times and I found that I could just work
really fast. I could work on other things while [Journese] was taking care of
my request.”
Said Kingston, “It was such a huge impact on my business.
It freed me up. I want to be on the phone doing consultations with my clients. That’s
what we excel at. Working smarter and faster is the key to more sales and more
success.”
Links to global luxury resorts and destinations are also a
part of the Journese offering. This week’s event provided attendees with an
exclusive opportunity to experience a deluxe property and destination they can
potentially market to their discerning clients.
“We are very intentional with who we work with,” said
Melissa Sangster, vice president of tour operator partnerships at Unique
Vacations Inc., a Sandals Resorts affiliate.
“Journese is a very high-end, luxury travel company whose consultants
have a high-end client they’re focused in on,” Sangster said.
“[Tour operators] who know what their clients need and how
to interact with their clients, are an important piece of the equation.” Sangster
said Sandals works closely with the tour operator to ensure travelers return
“to Sandals, to their travel advisor and to Journese.”
Solid Support
The advisors recognized by Journese professed considerable
motivation to continue their ties to the luxury tour operator. “They know
everything,” said Tracie Dillon, a Journese Curator award winner and advisor
with Segale Travel in Stockton, California.
“Having one person that you can always reach out to as your
destination specialist [is] like an extension of me,” said Dillon.
“Any time I have questions about whether a resort is going
to be right for my client or I’m trying to decide between two properties, [her
BDM] knows the answer,” Dillon said. “Not only does she know, but there's also
that personal connection. Working together for so long, it’s one of those ‘well
remember this and remember that’ [relationships].”
While Journese offers advisors a slate of advanced digital
tools and training to deliver efficiency enhancements to their businesses, the
organization has indeed retained the personal touch that won its partner agencies’
loyalty.
“We have a lot of resources at our disposal and that's one
of the reasons we're able to embark on so many technology projects, said Dal DeWolf,
Journese’s senior vice president and chief financial officer.
“But the company is really all about the personal
relationships we build with advisors,” DeWolf said. “Hopefully people don't
ever lose sight of that because I think that's what makes Journese different from
almost any other tour operator.”
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