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.
How did you get your start as a travel advisor?
My original career was as a high school and middle school band director. Part of that role involved planning many group trips to various locations. I also did a great deal of personal traveling. Many of the teachers I taught with along the way asked me about a variety of travel options, as they knew that I had been to many different destinations.
I enjoyed talking about the options and providing them with some guidance, but I finally realized it was time for me to tap into a second career as I neared retirement from education. There are times when a person goes after a career, but there are other times when a career finds you, and in the case of being a travel advisor, that is exactly what took place for me.
How did you build your business over the years?
While my initial clientele was based more on friends/family and fellow teaching staff members, when Facebook and other social media platforms came to the forefront is when my client base had a considerable (and very rapid) increase. We have many clients who have been gracious enough to provide our contact information on social media as a referral, which helps to drive up our sales. Subsequently, the repeat business and additional referrals from our satisfied clients have been the main driving force for our agency.
What characteristics make you a successful advisor?
Prompt customer service has been a big contributor to our agency’s continued success. Our agents have been to a variety of destinations, so we are able to assist our guests with personal insights to help them have the best travel experience possible.
What have your greatest challenges been?
For about the first 13 years that I worked as a travel agent, it was under a host agency, which helped to give me a good foundation for the travel business as a whole and also to build my client base. In September 2016, I took a leap of faith and opened my own company. So, taking on the role of owner/president of a company, as well as continuing to work with our valued guests, has been challenging but also rewarding.
What have your greatest accomplishments been?
In 2019, Becky’s Travel Biz Inc. was recognized by Carnival Cruise Line as the eastern division travel partner of the year. In 2019, I was also selected as the winner of Carnival’s Why Use a Travel Agent (WUATA) contest from about 5,000 submissions from all over the country. In 2023, I was selected as a NEST Network of Entrepreneurs Selling Travel Award winner. I was also invited by Carnival to join a panel of travel agents that [provided] insights and suggestions on how to help improve the company.
But beyond the accolades, for me as an advisor, our agents and our company, the personal satisfaction of providing customer service to our clients and seeing that they enjoy their vacations gives us our greatest joys.
What tips can you provide advisors new to the industry?
For those individuals who wish to become a travel advisor, definitely traveling to and on the products that you intend to sell is one of the best ways to be able to work with guests to help them have the best travel experience. Finding a host agency that is willing to provide the training that can assist you is also very helpful. Understand that building a client base is very time-consuming and it will not happen overnight – so patience will be key. Do all that is possible to network with the individuals in the various travel companies as they will be very helpful along the way. And providing top-notch customer service will keep existing clients coming back to you, along with referrals to help you grow your business.
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