The Home-Based Travel Agent Expo and Conference opened Wednesday morning
with a rousing address from Kerry J. Cannon Jr., group publisher of Travel
Agent Media Portfolio, Questex Media Group, who said that there were more than
4,000 delegates pre-registered, and combined with the collocated Luxury Travel
Expo, Travel Week attendees were on track to be part of the "largest
gathering of travel agents in North America in a long time." The show will
be "a home run" for everyone attending, Cannon predicted. After
welcoming attendees, Cannon announced prizes: five $50 gift cards from Staples,
10 Cabin Cuddlers ($350 value) and a Hewlett Packard iPAQ RX5000 Travel
Companion (a $599 value). Cannon announced the new Hometown Heroes program,
which will award one trip every month in 2007 to clients nominated by
home-based agents, who will be able to go to the magazine's web site,
[www.homebasedta.com], as of next week to suggest a deserving family for the
first trip-a Beaches resort in Jamaica. February's trip will be to a Sandals resort.
Cannon then introduced the first keynote speaker, John Severini, president of
Trafalgar Tours, who gave an engaging presentation on ways to attract new
customers and trends in the business of which agents should be aware. Debbie
Maier, vice president of MailPound, gave the second keynote presentation,
"Seven Secrets to Success!" "Success" was used as an
acronym for: Seek out suppliers, Utilize your resources, Create a personal
connection with your clients, Control your costs, Elevate your enthusiasm,
Specialize your talents and Service sells. The third keynote presentation was
from Bryan Dockett, director of travel agency sales for Disney. Referencing
Disney's Year of a Million Dreams promotion, he said, "It's up to you to
be a dream merchant. Isn't that why you got into this business in the first
place, to make dreams come true?" He reported that Disney awarded 150,000
dreams since the promotion began in October.
