Not too long ago one of the owners of our agency posted something on Facebook that really made me think. She recommended that all of us agents market ourselves as concierge agents; the idea being that we differentiate ourselves from others by providing free concierge services.
But what does that actually mean? What is a concierge travel agent as opposed to a ‘regular’ travel agent? As I see it, the answer boils down to service. A concierge travel agent provides a level of service that other travel agents do not. Being a concierge service is what sets Dreamers Do Travels apart.
The Concierge Principle
Step outside the arena of travel agencies for just one minute and think about what a concierge does in a hotel setting. Let’s say you’re staying at a ritzy New York hotel offering complimentary concierge service to all guests. You could stop at the concierge desk first thing in the morning and tell staff where you’d like to eat dinner that night. They make the reservations for you and arrange transportation to the restaurant.
Do you want tickets to a Broadway show? Not a problem. The concierge will get them for you. The concierge will even make arrangements for your laundry to be picked up in the morning, cleaned, and returned to your room later that same day.
A concierge essentially takes care of all of those little details so that you don’t have to worry about them. This is true whether your concierge works at a New York hotel or provides personal service in a business or residential setting. A concierge does those things that you don’t want to do, so that you can focus your attention those things you deem more important.
The Concierge Travel Agent
This brings us concierge travel agents and what we do. I can’t speak for other agencies because I’m not familiar with their services, but I can speak on behalf of Dreamers Do Travels. As concierge travel agents, we specialize in handling all of the details that add up to make travel so magical. Just as a concierge in any other industry would do, we strive to make sure that nothing is left undone on behalf of our clients.
As far as my wife Ellen and I are concerned, we consider ourselves experts on Walt Disney World in Florida. We also book Disneyland, Disney Cruises, and many of the other destinations Dreamers Do Travels is known for, but our expertise is Disney’s Florida property.
We visit Walt Disney World literally every weekend. We make it our business to know everything there is to know – including where all the bathrooms are! We make it our business to keep up with all the changes, in real time, so that we can assist clients with every single detail.
Our concierge service includes making FastPasses and dinner reservations. We assist clients in making itineraries that enable them to make the most of every minute of their vacations. We handle transportation to and from Orlando International Airport (MCO). We book extra excursions and package tickets – like the annual Halloween and Christmas parties – as well.
We handle changes to client packages when circumstances dictate. For example, we recently had a client whose flight to Florida was canceled by a snow storm the day before she was due to arrive. We got on the phone with Disney and switched her package to the following week so that she didn’t lose her money. The client didn’t have to do anything but call and tell us of her problem.
It’s All At No Charge to You
The best thing abut the service we offer at Dreamers Do Travels is that it costs nothing extra. You don’t pay a dime for it. Just like the concierge at the swanky New York hotel is paid by the hotel, we are paid by the venues that we book. The price you would pay by booking your own trip online is the exact same price you pay booking through us. The difference is that you don’t get free concierge service when you book by yourself.
I can speak for my wife and I when I say that we love being concierge travel agents. Working with clients to make sure they have a truly magical experience is what we do. We take great pride and satisfaction in hearing that a client had a wonderful time, days and weeks after they’ve traveled.
I don’t know what you’ve heard in the past about travel agents. I’m not sure what your opinion of travel agents is. But I can tell you there’s a difference between a concierge travel agent and one who simply takes your money, books a room, and then leaves you to your own devices.
If you’d like to know what a true concierge travel service is like, we invite you to book your next trip with Dreamers Do Travels. You won’t be disappointed.
Matt and Ellen Gerwitz – Travel Agents from Dreamers Do Travels
