By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
This might seem like a strange topic for our blog, but in reality, it may be the most important—who is our ideal customer? In my lifetime I have been a career Army Officer, a teacher and a travel advisor. These 3 careers have one item in common-it’s all about relationships with people. We think our best asset, while advising you about travel, is our relationship with you—we are your trusted travel advisors. We will do the best for you and match you with the right trip so you can experience the joy of being in a wonderful place and learn all about it and share these experiences with family and friends. So I would like to boldly tell you who you are, what you want from travel and how we can help you achieve your travel goals.
Who You Are
First and foremost you are active folks. You have succeeded professionally, physically and socially in your lifetime. You are a college graduate and you are married. You may still be working or just recently retired but you have been in the workforce for over 40 years. You are reasonably affluent and willing to spend $10,000 or more on a trip that matches a travel experience you want. You are well traveled—you probably have visited Alaska, Hawaii or Europe, or all three. You might have even lived for a while in a foreign country. You probably have been on a 7 day ocean or river cruise. You have realistic expectations—you know great trips are expensive. You seek great value in your trip—the best experiences for your money. You know geography and world events—chances are you read a lot. You like art and history. You like both big cities and small villages and historic sites. You really like good food and wine. You want to be pampered—you want to have a temporary lifestyle that exceeds your daily lifestyle. You want to mark milestone celebrations with unique travel experiences. You have worked very hard in your lifetime and you want to reward yourself for your past and future achievements.
Some of the Great Folks We Have Helped Achieve Their Travel Dreams
What You Are Seeking From Your Travels
You want travel to enrich your life with experiences. You want to travel with friends and family to share these experiences. You have done your research before you seek us out and you want to turn your dreams into reality (according to Google, 62% of all leisure travelers use the internet to research their trip and the average traveler visits 20 different websites prior to making a purchase—you may be one who has done such extensive research). Sometimes it is a new experience. Sometimes it is a familiar place. Sometimes it is an escape. Sometimes it is pure luxury—the best the world has to offer. Sometimes it is active and full of adventure. I’ll bet if you close your eyes and start thinking about where you would like to go and what you would like to experience, you can quickly think of 3 or more places—your own personal bucket list. You want a vacation that is fun, safe, hassle free and a good value for your money.
How We can Help You Achieve Your Travel Goals
According to Google, there are 5 distinct stages of travel. They are 1) Dreaming; 2) Planning; 3) Booking; 4) Experiencing; and 5) Sharing. We help you in all of the 5 phases of travel by turning ordinary trips into extra-ordinary experiences. How do we do this?—we really know who you are! We know what you like and do not like. We do not want your trip to be okay or good—we want it to be the best vacation you ever take! We are not Hank.com or Anne.com—we do not work for a cruise line or a resort or a travel company—we work for YOU! There is no booking engine on our website—we need to talk with you, really know you and then plan and book your trip. We have been in business for 20 years. We know what a great value is in travel and will find it for you. Ask yourselves—who do you know that has been on 27 ocean cruises, 12 river cruises, visited over 80 countries and written 49 city guides for European destinations? We really know our stuff about travel and we use our experiences to enhance your trip. Maybe, most importantly, we don’t want to be one and done with your travel—we want to be your trusted travel advisors for life. You aren’t our customer—you are our friend and we treat all our friends with respect and will do the right thing to help you achieve your travel goals. Almost every time we plan a trip for someone, we ask ourselves why would anyone try to do it themselves, especially since it cost nothing extra to use us and you will pay the same regardless if you use us or not. The bottom line is we know what you are seeking from your travels and we can help you achieve your travel goals so we can get you the right experiences on all of your trips.
Did we get it right—are you our ideal customer? We are pretty sure you are! The next time you are thinking about traveling, why not contact us to help you achieve your travel expectations? Let us make you member of the Dream Destinations Traveler Hall of Fame. We hope this will inspire you to give me a call at 713-397-0188 or send me an email (hschrader@dreamdestinations.com ) so I can help you:
Savor life . . . make memories . . . visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
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