Fashionistas go to Milan to see what’s new in fashion; travel advisors at THE TRAVEL AGENCY head to Las Vegas, to the world's largest Luxury Travel show, Virtuoso’s Travel Mart!
This year the traditional Micato breakfast is replaced by a new initiative
One thing that always stands out when you ask someone what they would like to do the rest of their life, given time and money, nine out of ten times the answer is TRAVEL. Yet travel comes in many different disguises; for some it means exploring the best beaches or ski slopes in the world, for others it’s cruising the oceans or the cultures and ancients and yet others like to explore the path less traveled. In order to make the experience of traveling pleasurable AND memorable, Travel Advisors need to stay on top of the best and newest that is offered, something that goes far beyond one or two dimensional experiences online, but requires relationship building, often over many years.
So, just like a fashionista with any measure of self worth goes to Milan to see what’s new in fashion, the travel advisors at THE TRAVEL AGENCY head to Las Vegas every year, to the largest Luxury Travel show in the world, Virtuoso’s Travel Mart! Once there they will be exposed to what’s new in travel. Thanks in large part to their affiliation with Virtuoso®, an organization of the top travel agencies, the finest travel providers, and premier destinations in the world, the ladies from THE TRAVEL AGENCY will meet with a world of resources to plan your future travel dreams. Unlike traditional travel agents, these well traveled advisors reach far beyond the status quo, orchestrating imaginative vacations customized especially for you. By taking the time to get to know your individual interests and preferences, they are able to match you with with travel providers who design vacations that offer you the greatest Return on Life™. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, they can arrange it — down to the tiniest details or leaving you room to make your own explorations.
The true value of Travel Mart, both for the advisors and their clients, are the relationships that are made in the face to face meetings, the meals taken together, the seminars and networking venues,. These are relationships that are built on the trust and integrity of friendships and deepened through the years of doing business together. These relationships allow the advisors of Virtuoso agencies to be able to say with confidence, ”It is not just what I know or even who I know, but rather who knows me that allows me to plan unique, personal travel experiences anywhere in the world. These same relationships can be called on whenever I have a client traveling in any part of the world that needs some kind of help. These are global relationships that make our world so interconnected.”
Another aspect of Travel Mart and our Virtuoso involvement is a true belief in Environmentally Sustainable Travel. This is travel that supports the flora and fauna, the geography, the culture and the people of any region visited. To this end, each year many suppliers come to Travel Mart with information on the amazing projects they are involved in around the world. Our own Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island is very involved in giving back to the community that delights their guests and keeps them coming back and bringing more. Look at the great projects they have supported in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club of Nassau County! One of the greatest programs shared each year at Travel Mart is Micato Safari’s America Share.
This program includes many projects now including a boarding school where for $1500 a year Safari guests, travel advisors, other travel company representatives “adopt” and sponsor a child through their school years, through high school and often on into University. They also have Harambee Centers- community centers where the populace can come together to help each other and this year they began sending one student to government schools (paying for their books and clothes) for every safari they sell. Now this year at Travel Mart, all of us connected with Virtuoso will embark on yet another project designed to raise the quality of life in Kenya. Click on the link and you will see the launch of the new Virtuoso/Upchurch Endeavor for a truly uplifiting moment of what is “right with this world.” And know that the ladies at THE TRAVEL AGENCY are drawing pictures and supporting this new “Endeavor”! They also support a now 11 year old student in Kenya in her endeavors to better herself first and then her community in the slums of Mukuru.
You can learn more about the adventures of Travel Mart by following THE TRAVEL AGENCY Blog at www.the-travel-agents.com . Also look forward to the “TEST DRIVE THE WORLD” Luxury Travel Show coming to the Talbot Ballroom at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Nov. 4th. Here the Travel Agency will introduce 26 of the companies they are meeting with at the Bellagio to meet directly with YOU!! The event is open to the public with a $10 per person donation to the Boys and Girls Club of Nassau County Foundation .
