We recently connected with Rodney And Alicia Saulsberry and have shared our conversation below.
Rodney and Alicia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Our mission is to assist clients with travel at a reasonable rate while providing a personal touch.
With everyone utilizing Online Travel Agencies, many have moved away from what could be seen as a traditional travel advisor. Our agency focuses on our clients and their needs and wants. We tailor their vacations and experiences to their desires. We have advisors on our team with different life experiences and areas of expertise. We offer a personalized touch to clients by providing customized gifts upon request. We also host VIP events for our clients.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Rodney and Alicia are both educators with over 25 years of experience and insurance producers; he is a high school mathematics instructor and she is an elementary school assistant principal. Rodney is also a high school head football coach. As a very active coach, he travels a great deal. When their children were younger, Alicia and the kids traveled with him. She generally researched the locations and planned his itineraries. While he was coaching or at an event, Alicia planned activities, museum visits, or sightseeing visits for the kids. Alicia realized that she enjoyed planning for trips, and she would like to have credentials to do the same for others. Alicia considers her start as 2011 as she planned for family and friends. However, the official start as a Travel Advisor was in 2022. Alicia took an online course from Ashworth College and obtained a career diploma as a Travel Agent and combined the experience with their personal travel experiences. Alicia also took and passed the test administered by The Travel Institute for Travel Agents. After completing the coursework, Rodney and Alicia decided that they wanted to serve as a host agency for other independent advisors while assisting others in enjoying travel at a reasonable rate just as they had the pleasure of experiencing. Discount Vacation Planner currently works with local clothing designers, personal care product makers (lotion, lip balm, sugar scrubs, and scented body butter creams, etc.), a candle maker, a sweet treat and cake maker, an event coordinator, and a specialty gift designer; all have items on online. If you are planning a staycation or would like to surprise someone on your next vacation, we are always pleased to add the special touches. As insurance producers, we partnered with Allianz so we can also offer trip insurance; therefore, you can have one company complete all of your travel needs.
Our agency, Discount Vacation Planner, is a member of ASTA, Cruise Line International Association, Travel Leaders Network, and a partner of Allianz Travel Insurance. Rodney and Alicia are also certified Specialists for Sandals Resorts, Excellence Resorts, Marriott’s Hotel Excellence, Hilton, Expedia, Carnival Cruise Line, Oceania, Virgin Voyages, Royal Caribbean, Shore Excursions, Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, and many other suppliers. Alicia is also a Gold-Certified advisor by the Wellness Travel University.
Discount Vacation Planner is proud that they have independent contractors, each having a niche from ages 23 to 60; therefore, the different travel preferences of our clients can be catered to by someone within your generation with the support of experienced advisors. Discount Vacation Planner works with groups and individuals for cruising, vacationing, family reunions, destination weddings, vow renewals, and birthdays. Discount Vacation Planner had clients that originally saw travel as being out of reach, and Discount Vacation Planner worked to help them experience the joys of traveling without breaking their budget. Discount Vacation Planner also has clients who enjoy having everything taken care of so that they may bask in all of the luxuries that vacationing can offer. Alicia loves travel, and she especially loves travel with her best friend and husband, Rodney, and they hope to assist others acquire their travel desires.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Discount Vacation Planner’s best source for acquiring new clients has been word of mouth referrals from previous clients. Our previous clients typically share their experiences which peeks the interest of those in their sphere of influence.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Within the travel industry, we believe that taking our educational and insurance producer backgrounds and applying ethical travel advice focused on our clients is what helped to build our reputation. We provide one on one assistance where we listen to the client and provide sound itineraries. Information is not given in a rushed manner to move on to the next client. We actually take the time to get to know our clients and their preferences.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Discountvacationplanner.square.site
- Instagram: @Discountvacationplanner
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083102692158&mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Twitter: @DVPSaulsberry
- Other: Travel Leaders Sitehttps://www.travelleaders.com/agent/436057
Image Credits
Khalil Johnson
Reeldealkhalil.com
@RDK_PRODUCTIONS