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| Kimberly Daley, senior vice president of sales strategy for Pleasant Holidays, addresses attendees of the Journese CURATORS event at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa. // Photo by Joe Pike |
KAUAI, Hawaii – Despite the ongoing Zika scare in the Caribbean, Kimberly Daley, senior vice president of sales strategy for Pleasant Holidays, told Travel Agent that Journese, Pleasant Holidays' luxury division, is still performing well in the region this year.
As part of our recently-concluded coverage of the Journese CURATORS event, in which the luxury leg of Pleasant Holidays rewarded its top 25 advisors with a three-night stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa, we had a chance to sit down with Daley and chatted about everything from Zika's effect on travel to what additonal destinations Journese would like to have a presence in.
Daley told us that the Caribbean region as a whole has still performed well for Journese this year and heading into next year. Daley said although some islands are taking a hit, many clients are not cancelling their Caribbean trips. At the very worst, they will simply re-route their original vacation plans to another island.
“Puerto Rico is taking its lumps, but the Caribbean is doing incredibly well,” she told Travel Agent. “We are seeing a huge surge in interest in the tropic parts of the Caribbean. Part of that is because Journese has grown exponentially. We have a lot of Californians who are making their way to the Caribbean. There is also great lift coming on board and it's creating more exposure for islands like Turks and Caicos, St. Lucia and the British Virgin Islands.”
Daley also says Central America has “been a little softer” because of the Zika scare, but noted that Costa Rica is still doing very well. Daley says Zika as has not had any impact on Hawaii bookings.
“The Millennial set is the worried one,” says Daley, noting that this is the generation most likely to be having children soon. “We have just been focusing our teams in educating advisors on how to help a client relocate his or her trip. We have had very few cancellations, but we have had a lot of movement with destinations.”
What Destinations Are Next for Journese?
Daley told Travel Agent that she would like to see the Journese brand continue to aggressively expand to hot, luxury destinations throughout the world, with an immediate focus on the Maldives.
Journese recently expanded to Dubai and Abu Dhabi and feels it would make sense for the company to add the Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius to its portfolio, Daley says.
“We are also looking to get into Asia in the next year and a half and we would like to expand more into Central America and then South America,” she says. “What we also need to do now, what our advisors are seeking from us, is to expand our coverage of Europe in 2017.”
Next Year’s CURATORS Event to be Held in Panama
Daley told us that she would like the CURATORS event to be hosted in Hawaii every other year since “Hawaii is what really put us on the map.” But with the event hosted in Kauai this year, next year’s event will be one of those bi-annual years outside of the Aloha State. So, where will the event be next year? Daley announced to attendees on the last night of the event that next year’s gathering will be in Panama.
Visit www.journese.com and www.pleasantholidays.com. Keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for all your latest travel news and be sure to follow Travel Agent’s Joe Pike on Twitter @TravelPike.