By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
http://www.dreamdestinations.com
We have done a lot of traveling lately and had many clients traveling in the first six months of this year. It started me thinking about our purpose as travel advisors. Why are we in business? What is our purpose? What should we provide to our clients?
There are many ways to look at these 3 questions—in my MBA classes, we studied economists and business advisors and their thoughts on businesses. Perhaps the two most famous, Milton Friedman and Peter Drucker, have their definitions of the purpose of a business. Friedman states the purpose of a business is profit maximization. Drucker states the purpose is to create and keep a customer. While I think there are merits in their definitions of the purpose of a business, I believe there has to be more. Here is our business purpose–we want to improve your standard of living by helping you experience different places–we want to help you have happy travels!
So, let’s explore this together and see if we make people happy when they travel.
What Our Mission Statement Means to You
In our mission statement, we state we are “certified travel advisors who specialize in cruises, Europe river cruises, and European vacations for discriminating travelers.” We further state “we provide customers with highest quality, expertly planned leisure travel.”
These are lofty words, but what do they mean to you? Maybe a shorter way to say this is “we make people happy when they travel.” I think we try to do this in two ways. First, we want the planning experience to be pleasant—no stress, no worries—only solutions to your travel desires. Second, we use the right vendors that will provide you great experiences—happy travel is the result. It is our combination of experience planning travel and dealing with people in the right way that results in happy travel experiences.
Put another way, we have tried to create a company that we would want to do business with and use over and over again.
Happiness is Vital in our Business
Happiness for me is an emotional state of well-being. It is living a good life, one with positive emotions, finding pleasure in living, satisfaction and joy.
No one wants hassles in their lives but we still have them—it is just part of life. Since there are always obstacles to happiness in our lives, we are determined not to be an obstacle—we want our dealings with you to be easy and fun. We want to improve your emotional state of well-being—in short, make you happy. When we make your travels happy, all else falls in place.
It is our golden rule—we treat you like we would like to be treated!
How Travel Creates Happiness
I think there are 3 main reasons travel creates happiness. They are 1) experiencing different cultures and places, 2) enjoying the food and wine when dining on a trip, and 3) to connect or reconnect with friends and loved ones.
One of our goals when planning your travel is to create happiness by helping you achieve these 3 factors on your vacation. Travel planning is both an art and a science. To get the best experiences and memorable dining, we must know our products completely—this is the science of travel planning. While that is important, we also have to match these to your expectations—this is the art of travel planning.
If we do it right, we are certain to create happy travel results and this is both your and our goal.
Our Business Interactions with you—Happy Experiences are our Goal!
We want to become or continue to be your trusted travel advisors of choice for discriminating travelers who want a good value for their travel budgets. We are really aware that our clients use us because they know us, hopefully like us, and most importantly, trust us.
I think there is one other aspect—we always treat you with kindness and fairness. Basically, we want to make you happy you decided to conduct business with us and we made your trip a happy experience.
Some Examples of Happy Travel from 2017 & 2018
Often it is the voices of others that really tell the story. Do we really make people happy? Here are two communications from our trusted clients:
“I wanted to express my appreciation for you organizing and delivering one of the most wonderful travel experiences of my life! The AMA Waterways “Danube Cruise” was a truly amazing and educational trip! This was my first river cruise and I must say that working with Dream Destinations throughout the travel planning process made my trip come together flawlessly! Your professionalism and expertise earned my TRUST and I can’t wait for you guys to plan my next adventure on one of the many rivers of the world! I love you guys and the way you go about your business!!!”
Jeff Rock 2018
Thanks, Jeff—sounds pretty happy to me!
“Hank and Anne at Dream Destinations are truly the best, bar none! My wife Denise and I first met them on an Ama Waterways Rhone River cruise back in 2013. Their knowledge and passion for all things Europe is truly infectious and the reason why we have booked travel with them every year since. Some of our favorite places to visit are Paris, Prague, Bruges, Nuremberg, Strasbourg, and Lucerne. From river cruises to rail passes, accommodations and restaurant recommendations, they are our “ambassadors to Europe” and our first choice in travel agents. These two travel professionals will thrill you with their ingenuity and exceed your every expectation by designing a one-of-a-kind trip tailored to your dreams and desires.”
Mark Thomas 2017
Thanks Mark and Denise—we are proud to help you have several happy trips!
My Final Thoughts
Happy Travels! And Happy first day of summer 2018!
We are in the business of making people happy when they travel. Sure, we would like to also make a profit, but our focus has always been on making your trip a great experience that brings you joy. You can’t imagine how good it makes us feel when we succeed—it makes us happy!
When you are spending your hard earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip. You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience. And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process. We think we have all these qualities. And, we want you to be happy during the planning process and on the trip.
Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com. We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 45 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
- AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
- Viking River Cruise Specialist
- Scenic River Cruise Specialist
- Emerald Waterways Specialist
- Avalon Waterways Specialist
- Brit Agent
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