New Premium Brand Launched in Days as Company Continues to Fulfill Mission of Launching Profitable Micro-Segmented Brands.
13.02.2024 - 19:34 / travelpulse.com / Claudette Covey
Corina Johnson. (Source: Corina Johnson)
Success Stories focus on veteran advisors and how they achieved success. Here’s a look at Corina Johnson, owner of All Points Travel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
How did you get your start as a travel advisor?
I always knew I wanted to go into the hospitality industry, and my college career path led me to study hotel front office and rooms management in college. In 1992, my mother – with her airline knowledge as a corporate agent, and I, with my understanding of the workings of hotels and group management – decided to combine our skills and open a travel agency. Thirty-two years later, the rest is history!
How did you build your business over the years?
We made the commitment from the beginning to remain small so that we could provide the utmost in personalized service to our clients and build lasting relationships. This was a successful strategy. Long-standing client relationships and their referrals are the bedrock of our success over the years. But building trusted commitments with suppliers is also key. Having their support to help build our business – they see our hard work and honest commitment to them – has been crucial for continued growth.
What characteristics make you a successful advisor?
I think different advisors can bring different strengths to an agency. For me personally, with my love of puzzle and problem solving, my strengths lie in attention to details. I book a lot of custom groups of all sizes, and complicated itineraries with lots of pieces and parts. Being able to help people understand their options and wrangle in the details so they can make a decision is one of my keys to success.
What have been your greatest challenges been?
After more than three decades of working in travel, we have seen our share of industry challenges. On an agency level, surviving through the complete downturn of travel in 2020 and then the overwhelming tidal wave of 2021 was a test I hope none of us ever have to experience again. We are all still recovering from industry PTSD.
On a personal level, I think as a small business owner it is difficult to set boundaries and help clients learn that you are not on call for them 24/7. This has been a major focus for me during the past few years, as I have gained confidence that they will be okay and not leave me if I reply to their emails or messages at reasonable hours, and that everything is not an emergency.
What have your greatest accomplishments been?
I am very proud of our awards and recognitions that we have received over the years for being top producers with various hotel and wholesaler brands. It is nice to know that even though we are small compared to most, we are mighty! That said, it may sound cheesy, but when I
New Premium Brand Launched in Days as Company Continues to Fulfill Mission of Launching Profitable Micro-Segmented Brands.
The world's elite had a busy year of jet-setting in 2023, spending thousands of dollars to fly private to events like Burning Man, the Super Bowl, and Sun Valley, Idaho's annual "summer camp for billionaires."
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The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) is calling on travel agencies and advisors to contact their respective members of Congress to make their case as to why they shouldn't be on the hook for issuing airline refunds to clients."For the first time since 2018, Congress is reevaluating federal aviation policy through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization process. This is our opportunity to influence sound policy that recognizes the value of the travel advisor in the greater travel industry," the organization states. "Travel agencies sell 40 percent of all air tickets, and travel agencies are considered ticket agents under both federal statute and government regulations."ASTA points out that the House version of the FAA Reauthorization bill contains clear language that travel agencies are not responsible for providing airline refunds if they are no longer in possession of the client’s funds. However, the provision was left out of the bill passed by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation earlier this month.ASTA is hoping to change that and is encouraging advisors to email their members of Congress—one House Representative and two Senators—through its grassroots portal.
Success Stories focus on veteran travel advisors and how they achieved success. Here’s a look at Becky Smith, owner of Becky’s Travel Biz Inc in Gainesville, Ga.
In what may be a last ditch effort, JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines have filed an appeals court brief asking that the merger between the two airlines be allowed to proceed.The brief, filed today with the Boston 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asks that the court overturn a recent judge’s ruling that stopped the proposed $3.8 billion, according to Reuters. In the brief, the airlines argued that the merger was improperly blocked and pointed out that the same judge who ruled against the airlines joining forces also recognized that such a merger would: ”improve competition, and thus reduce prices, for the vast majority of consumers."
In July 2026, the FIFA World Cup is coming to North America, with games played in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The World Cup is held every four years and is one of the largest, if not the largest, sporting events in the world. Sixteen cities will host the 48 teams. But where the biggest game will take place, the final, won’t officially be announced until February 4.
Brazos Valley, located in central Texas where the Southwest meets the Southeast, covers seven counties over 5,000 square miles. About 380,000 people call the region home. While Texas A&M University in College Station is the biggest name in the area, Brazos Valley is most defined by the small towns that dot the landscape. It’s here where you’ll find Navasota, the Blues Capital of Texas, as well as another side of Texas wine country east of the better-known Hill Country wineries.
What ski culture in the US has historically lacked is the idea of community-based après-ski activities. In the US, après-ski is usually no more than grabbing a drink in the ski lodge bar, and lacks the kind of scale and excitement that makes it a vital part of the ski day, as you’d find in the Alps.
The news that American Queen Voyages (AQV) had ceased operations on Feb. 20, canceling all future cruises, did not come as a shock to the trade.
When the Ranch at Malibu opened in 2010 as a luxury health resort on 200 acres in California’s Santa Monica Mountains, its approach was somewhat radical: Guests signed up for a full week of group hikes, fitness classes, spa treatments, nutrition consults and communal, organic meals without caffeine, gluten, soy or dairy. The goal, says its founder Alex Glasscock, was “for people to mentally and physically reset and recharge.” On April 15, a second location, the Ranch at Hudson Valley, is scheduled to open near Tuxedo Park, N.Y., in a slate-and-stone lakefront mansion surrounded by state parks. Glasscock hopes the 25-room property, which he describes as “like a big, luxury dorm,” will facilitate connections between those who stay. Guests will do yoga under the ornate plaster ceiling of the former ballroom and, in Glasscock’s ideal world, come to dinner in their pajamas and robes. This new outpost offers a few additional treatments including colonics and energy healings — which incorporate techniques such as hypnosis and sound therapy. In winter, guests can sled or snowshoe, and in summer there’s paddleboarding on the lake. The Ranch has also relaxed a few of the restrictions: You can book three nights at the Hudson Valley property instead of the seven required in Malibu, and, in concession to the most common request of all, caffeine is no longer taboo — organic Nicaraguan coffee is served at breakfast in both locations.