Top 3 mistakes Travelers make when planning a vacation!
Rav: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the BNI success link Podcast. Today, we will talk about the top three mistakes people make when planning a vacation.
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Hello again, everyone. I’m your host, Rav Mendiratta from Sociosquares, when landing leads is where my business leads. Today we are going to talk about a very interesting subject. The top three mistakes travelers make when planning a vacation, and I have an expert on this space is Isabelle Choiniere-Correa.
Isabelle: Thank you.
Rav: I know you’ve been in the travel space for a very long time. But why don’t you introduce yourself and tell us about your business as well?
Isabelle: Certainly.
History of Business: So the name of my agency is Isabel travel Genie. And I’ve had it since 2008. I design immersive itineraries for active travelers who seek to experience the history, culture, nature, and local flavors.
Nature of Business: I primarily focus on premium wellness travel, wellness for the travelers, companions, and the environment’s destination, where they’re going, and the local communities they’re visiting. My goal and my mission are to redefine the term all-inclusive, meaning everyone is included, celebrate diversity, and promote deep connections between human beings worldwide.
Rav: So that’s pretty cool. And so just seen the space for a while pre-pandemic and during the pandemic and now post-pandemic. What would you say were the most popular destinations last year? And how do you see that changing this year?
Isabelle: Last year, we had a lot of Mexico travel. Because Mexico was the easiest destination to travel to during the pandemic, and indeed is now Hawaii since they have lifted the entire entry requirements. Certainly, not that you don’t have to participate in the safe Hawaii program. Now, people are flocking back to Europe. It’s been out of reach for all these two years. So now people are going back to Europe in droves.
Rav: Nice, nice. Are there any specific countries within Europe, or is it pretty widespread?
Isabelle: I would say Western Europe. Iceland, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany. Yeah, these are the main destinations.
Rav: Great. Great. Now let’s come to the subject of this session, right,
what are the top three mistakes you’ve seen people make when they’re planning a vacation.
Isabelle:
1.Trying to plan their travel by themselves:
Like fixing your car or giving themselves a deep massage in the back. It’s very clumsy, and so it’s sad to see people waste so much time looking for a deal. And so I would say invest in your vacation and also consult Travel Advisor way quick to make your travel as smooth as possible.
2.People are booking non-refundable items like hotels:
Once you book a non-refundable hotel, you can do nothing about it. So if you have to change your plans by a day or so, it will incur unnecessary costs.
3.Biggest mistake is for people not to purchase travel insurance:
It’s such an amazing tool to give people peace of mind to be prepared, no matter what happens if they have to cancel their trip. They can use their travel insurance to rebook at some other time later.
Rav: Interesting. I never thought that trip insurance would be such a big issue. I’ve always received mixed feedback about what insurance to buy and whatnot. Have you seen any gray areas in trip insurances that do not provide the coverage they promise?
Isabelle: Well, pre-pandemic, the insurance companies did not provide pandemic insurance. So you know, if you know you’re in a pandemic, too bad, we don’t cover it. And now that we have gone through this time, they do provide this; they consider it an illness. And so because it is an illness, and if you don’t have it when you book your child insurance, it is an unforeseen event. And therefore, you can protect yourself when traveling. So they’ve gotten much better at offering better coverage.
Rav: That’s great. Let’s talk about post-pandemic travel and how it’s different from the pre-pandemic trip.
What would you say are the top things people should know and ask before planning their travel this year?
Isabelle:
Proper Planning:
Plan early, and think about where you want to go, when you want to go, because it really will affect, you know, different factors, whether there’ll be a lot of tourists or less. And what do you want to experience when you’re there? Also, remember that less is more. So I recommend that travelers who are so eager to go back to travel not think about hitting every single place in a destination, but rather go more slowly, really sink into the experience, and enjoy connecting with the locals.
Flexibility:
And the second thing, I would say, be flexible and interested in your Travel Advisor to make the smoothest plans possible. Again, don’t try to do it all by yourself; really consult a professional, which will save you time and money. And then the last thing is wellness is all-inclusive. So I’m saying Be safe, keep yourself safe. And also think about you, your fellow human being you’re visiting was placed here exploring and taking the measures to protect them.
Rav: That’s, that’s pretty cool. Those are some great insights. Thank you so much for sharing that as well. I have one final question for you. And that’s sort of a tradition since I run a digital marketing company. So what is the best digital marketing strategy that has worked for your business?
Isabelle: Social media for sure. And also, again, consulting an expert such as yourself, someone who can really help a business person find the best, holding their best message and find the audience to match that message. And that is something again, that one should not do on their own to be very efficient.
Rav: I appreciate that. And I’m glad to hear that social media works for your business. And I think it’s a favorite destination for travelers to share their pictures and their memories. And they can find you there as well. So great. Thank you so much, Isabel. This was a great session, and I’m sure many travelers can benefit from this information and reach out to you for their future travel planning.