2020 has be quite a year here in the travel industry! Business has shut down and the pandemic continues relatively unabated. Perhaps we're turning a corner with vaccines on the horizon. It's hard to tell.
Yet there's lots to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving holiday season.
First up:
The good new is that break in travel business allowed me to celebrate our young grandson, Henry (pictured above at about 3 months old). I'm very thankful for the joy he brings each and every day. But baby Henry is a stand in for my whole family. They are wonderful and I so very much appreciate my ever growing family.
I'm very thankful for you, my clients. Sure, I value and appreciate your business. Especially the repeat business. But I've grown to know many of you pretty well, enjoy our conversations and always look forward to hearing from you again. In many cases, we've traveled together, experiencing the thrills of a new locale together.
I get a lot of support through Avoya, my host travel agency. They take care of: invoicing, interface with travel suppliers, computer infrastructure, special deals and training. Avoya is my back office and without them, my job would be so much harder. So thank you Avoya. Here's a blog post I wrote a while ago describing Avoya.
At the end of the day, my clients are happy when they have a great experience. And that only happens when the travel supplier I use performs well. Over time, I've learned which ones perform well and which ones don't. I use AmaWaterways a lot because....well, they perform well. Rarely have I had a complaint from a client that AmaWaterways can't address. And they are very fair commercially as well. I really do give thanks for the great folks at AmaWaterways.
I'm thankful just about everyone I know has stayed healthy. And of course so thankful for all my friends and relatives. And that the health care professionals have advanced their knowledge of COVID 19; perhaps soon a vaccine will become available.
I'm also thankful for all the great memories we've created on our our trips.
Traveling with friends, exploring the world, experiencing new activiteis and people - this is what I'm very thankful for. And I truly hope you are thankful for the travel memories you've made as well.