Summer school was in session for KHM Travel Group Agents that attended this year’s Destination Success live event, July 12th-14th, 2017. This event brought together some of the industry’s leading suppliers to provide the best product and sales trainings exclusively for KHM Travel Agents.
Based on agent feedback from previous events, there were also KHM Travel-exclusive sessions to help agents take their business to the next level. These included expanding agents’ understanding of compliance, helping them boost their sales and marketing strategies, and further developing a business mindset.
Much like the New Agent Boot Camp sessions held this year, the event venue was split between KHM Travel’s corporate office and the Holiday Inn in Strongsville.
We were fortunate enough to have Rob Cook, our Business Development Manager with Disney Travel Company, here for two optional sessions on Tuesday night. He discussed the importance of the College of Disney Knowledge as a primary learning resource, the highlights of Disney Travel Company’s products, and additional tips for cross-selling and marketing.
For the first half of the day on Wednesday, agents came to our home office to meet our staff, get to know our home office and hear from two of Preferred Cruise Suppliers, Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean.
Our visit from Carnival Cruise Line was extra special, as Vice President of U.S. Field Sales Mike Julius, Regional Vice President for Canada and U.S. Justin French and our Business Development Manager Chris Schutz gave a toast to KHM Travel Agents to celebrate our earning Carnival’s 2017 Outstanding Travel Partner – Host Agency Network award. More to come on that award in the coming weeks!
Our Supplier Showcase on Wednesday afternoon featured many of our Preferred Suppliers, including several newer suppliers, plus KHM Travel-sponsored tables. Carnival was also generous to host a taco bar reception after the trade show, and give away an 8-night cruise to one lucky agent, Marianne.
Wednesday wasn’t over yet, though! Will Medina, our resident romance travel specialist, held a Destination Wedding workshop to help agents grow their businesses in this profitable segment. Over the course of more than four hours, Will discussed how to qualify destination wedding couples, work with wedding groups and suppliers, tips for streamlining the sales process, and how to market yourself to couples.
Thursday was dedicated completely to highlighting our Preferred Suppliers, with sessions from our top cruise and tour operators, plus our consortia Travel Leaders Network. Afterwards, agents had the additional time to network at a reception sponsored by The Mark Travel Corporation.
After breakfast Friday, the final day of Destination Success kicked off with Norwegian Cruise Line. From there, agents broke into sessions with suppliers and KHM Travel Group staff. Sessions were repeated twice, so agents had multiple opportunities to attend each break-out course.
Marie Smith and Will Medina’s Know Your Number course debuted on Friday. The new session guided agents through the process of laying out their expenses, and determining what their sales needed to be in order to reach their financial goals.
We are grateful to all the travel agents who invested in their education and business development during Destination Success. It was a pleasure hosting you and learning more about each of your businesses. We hope to see each of you at future events!
View more of the fun from Destination Success in our Flickr album! Current KHM Travel Agents can learn more about our upcoming live events and the 2018 Crystal Conference and Awards cruise on travelagentmeeting.com.
Interested in becoming a travel agent from home, and having access to valuable educational opportunities like Destination Success? Learn more about KHM Travel Group with our free information packet – just call 1-888-611-1220 or fill out the form on the right to request it.