Travel industry sales reps are perpetually balanced on both sides of the business. They must know every detail about their company, and know exactly what travelers need so that an agent can properly sell that resort/hotel/cruise/tour to their clients. They are a vital, and often underappreciated, part of the industry, keeping both their companies and their agents happy and in business.
This past spring we ran a survey on TravelAgentCentral.com, asking our readers to nominate their picks for the best supplier sales reps in individual sectors of the travel business. Nearly 800 votes were tallied and, after sorting the ballots and crunching the numbers, we're pleased to bring you the results. Join us in congratulating the top supplier sales reps for Airlines.
Read our reports on the top supplier sales reps for All-Inclusives, Hotels & Resorts, and Ocean Cruising. Read the entire report on all of the winners in our September 1 cover story next week.
 |
| |
Joy Cain
Area Sales Manager
AIR JAMAICA
#1 Joy Cain currently serves as Air Jamaica’s Area Sales Manager, responsible for sales and marketing for a region that spans from Delaware to Philadelphia. With a passion for service, she started her career at Air Jamaica in October of 1989 in the Reservation Center at Valley Forge and quickly worked her way through the ranks, starting from lead agent to supervisor.
Her drive comes from interacting with agents, whether through a product update seminar or an informational session that gives her more reasons to “sell Air Jamaica.”
Cain believes that a hands-on and practical approach is a key ingredient for building a great relationship with clients.
She is a member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Eastern Travel Association. Her philosophy is: Hard work! Lots of humor! Quick response!
“If this is my Oscar in the industry,” Cain says, “I would like to thank Robert Shand for believing in my potential when he hired me in 1989. (It took me a while to understand this airline language, but I got it!)”
Paul Campbell
Account Executive
AIR JAMAICA
#2 Paul Campbell started his career with Air Jamaica as an Account Executive in the New York Region in September 2003. In January 2005, He expanded his career in the travel industry with TNT Vacations based in Boston. After a brief stint in the tour operator business, Campbell rejoined Air Jamaica in March 2006 as an Account Executive covering the Maryland/District of Columbia/Virginia and West Virginia territory.
As a member of both Chapters of the Caribbean Tourism Organization in Maryland and Washington, DC, Campbell prides himself with not only the sales aspect of his job, but service as the key to the success of the organization.
Katie Larson
Key Account Manager-Entertainment
UNITED AIRLINES
#3 A Southern California native and UCLA graduate with 20 years at United, much of Katie Larson’s career has been in sales with territories in Fresno, San Diego and Los Angeles. She spent two years as the Regional Manager responsible for sales training, automation sales and analysis in LAX/SAN/HNL. As a Business Development Manager, she traveled the world selling line maintenance to other airlines in a global territory. “There’s nothing better than solving someone’s challenge,” she believes. When not promoting United, Larson enjoys her home in Long Beach and planning that next scuba-diving or wine-tasting trip with her husband.
Stan Price
Global Accounts Sales Manager
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES
#4 Stan Price is based in Houston, where he is responsible for a portfolio of Global Corporations and affiliated TMCs. Price held many positions at Continental before being promoted into Global Sales. His extensive background provides an edge at creative problem solving to the benefit of the customer.
He believes that “when you work with great customers who become friends, coworkers who are friends and your company delivers an excellent product, it’s not like work.”