We recently connected with Alexis Pettway and have shared our conversation below.

Alexis, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to change traveler’s perspective of the Caribbean. I want to show and educate travelers that the Caribbean has over 30 islands to explore and experience. I also want to show them that there is luxurious experiences to be had in the Caribbean, and that each island is unique has cultural differences, history, landscapes and more. Lastly, I want to educate travelers on the many lesser known islands in the Caribbean that are hidden gems waiting to be experienced!

The average traveler sees the Caribbean as a handful of islands with all-inclusive resorts, parties and drinking. Since I decided the focus on luxury vacations, retreats and destination weddings in the Caribbean, my eyes have been open to see the Caribbean is so much more that is perceived.

In 2023, I decided to rebrand to focus on luxury travel in the Caribbean with a few select destinations outside of the Caribbean. To ensure I was giving myself a solid foundation, I took certification courses from the Travel Institute to become a “Destination Specialist for the Caribbean and Certified Lifestyle Specialist for Luxury.”

These certifications required a deep dive into each topic. For the Caribbean, this entailed a training of 27+ Caribbean islands learning everything from the history, culture, food, celebrations, travel information, the clientele for each island, what makes it unique, why travelers should visit the island, the many experiences on each island, the ways to reach each island and much more. To become certified, I had to display my experience with planning Caribbean vacations as well as pass a proctored test. This intense training made me fall even more in love with the Caribbean and lit a fire for me to share all of this knowledge with my audience to open their eyes, as mine had been open to this beautiful collection of island destinations that we call the Caribbean.

For luxury, this entailed diving deep into the psychographics and demographics of the main types of luxury travelers. Learning about what they want to gain from their experiences, the service level they expect, the exclusivity and seclusion they seek when traveling. To become certified, I had to also pass a proctored test and display my experience with either planning a luxury vacation or my knowledge/connection with 3 luxury travel partners (hotels, a destination management company, etc.)

Alexis, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Connecticut native with a love for the creative world. Growing up I developed a love for poetry and food as I lived with one grandmother who cooked all the time and my father was a professional chef. Both are in the realm of being creative and I fell in love with being able to create something from my mind. My mom will tell you, I used to sleep with notebooks and pens under my pillow in case I had poetic inspiration while sleep. My family will tell you, I was always experimenting with cooking. Both of these passions contributed to where I am today.

I attended Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island and majored in culinary arts and food service management. This led me to a 10+ year career in the food industry.

From the age of 12, I wrote poetry and many of my family and friends came to know me for this. In 2014, I published my first book, Journey through Love. During this time I met a woman who advised that I should become a travel agent to help with the costs of traveling to events in different states with my books. This was the start of something I didn’t know at the time would grow into the business and brand that I have today.

I signed up to be a travel advisor and started training and planning any trip that came my way. As I delved deeper, I started to formulate why I was in this industry, the possibilities in the travel industry and the type of vacations I wanted to plan. I decided to focus on the Caribbean, it’s where a lot of travel advisors start in the industry. As I began to get more experience in Caribbean travel, work with different hotels, resorts, tourism board, and travel more, my wheels started to spin again about the clientele I wanted to work with, the types of vacations I wanted to focus on, the type of experiences I wanted my clients to have, and thus the 2023 rebrand began.

Today, AP Travel Services is a travel company that specializes and focuses solely on luxury vacations, retreats, destination weddings and sailings to the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica and the Maldives.

We provide full service planning for each of the niche’s we specialize in. This includes accommodations, transportation, destination education, in-destination experiences and concierge service such as coordination dinner reservations, arranging special celebrations and more in partnership with our travel partners.

Adding a focus on luxury travel is something that I am passionate about because I myself like to have luxurious experiences when traveling, even before becoming a travel advisor. When growing up if a lot of kids had the same type of coat or shoes that I didn’t want.

I always wanted something exclusive or something not everyone else had. This thought process is part of being a creative, I suppose and it spreads into multiple areas in my life such as travel. With travel, I no longer wanted to inform clients that because of their budget, the food would be just ok, they wouldn’t have top notch service or a personalized stay. In the travel industry, we call it, “setting expectations.”

I craved giving client’s itinerary options with butler, pool and beach service, with preferred room categories, with private transportation, private destination experiences, personalized stays even before they arrive. and ultimately providing them with the best of the best because that is the experience they deserve and the experience I like to have for myself.

The best of the best is different for everyone, so I defined what luxury means to AP Travel Services which is shown in a short video on our website https://aptravelservices.com/about.

Review: “Alexis was patient, professional and quick to respond. Booking our first trip out of the U.S. was quick and seamless. Thank you for everything! – Jennifer Gonzalez

Destination weddings are special to AP Travel Services and was a natural niche to add to our services as I have been working weddings by way of catering for over 15 years (how my passion for food contributed to AP Travel), I also have been writing wedding vows and poems for over 10 years, and in 2020 I published my this book, Wedding Season Chronicles: An Quick Etiquette Guide for Brides Grooms, The Bridal Party & Guests.” With destination weddings, honeymoons, anniversaries and vow renewals follow as well.

REVIEW: “I wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for organizing such an amazing trip to Costa Rica for us. From the moment we arrived at the Secrets Resort, we were in awe of the beauty, luxury, and the seamless experience you arranged. The all-inclusive stay allowed us to fully relax and enjoy every single moment without a worry. One of the most memorable highlights of our trip was the vow renewal ceremony. It was a dream come true, and their attention to detail made it even more special than we imagined. The setting was perfect, and everything went smoothly, allowing us to focus on the joy of the occasion.” – Anthony Figueroa.

Retreats are something I more recently began to take interest in, especially after hosting my first entrepreneur retreat in 2019. Group travel is very popular amongst friends and families and I like planning those but retreats add another element that I really enjoy, which is working with retreat hosts to curate a transformative experience for their audience/community. My most recent retreat hosted by a therapist took place in Barbados in September and the ladies had an amazing time bonding, and doing some unique wellness experiences in Barbados.

We use the word sailings because in addition to cruises there are yacht charters and luxury sail boats that offer different and unique sailing experiences to travelers. Planning sailings are super fun, from the large cruise ships with all the bells and whistles of entertainment, amenities and multiple restaurants, to the sail boats and yacht charters that are able to dock in smaller areas for exclusive experiences.

We help our client’s plan their vacations by providing them our expertise, high level of service, and our experience to make their travel planning a smooth, less time consuming process, while giving them the experience they wish and deserve to have as well as an elevated experience they sometimes don’t even expect to have. Our commitment to educating ourselves, creating relationships with our travel partners and experiencing the destinations sets us apart from others.
I am proud that my audience takes in the education I provide to them, they know what I specialize in and what I’m going to talk about on any given day.

I want potential clients, and my audience to know that I specialize in the specific areas and types of travel that I specialize in not only because I am passionate about them, but I am driven to be the expert in them to add value to my client’s experiences. I also want them to know not only from myself but from my clients that AP Travel Services goes the extra miles to provide high level service to my clients.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Travel is all about the details, small and large. One time a client’s name was misspelled on their itinerary. She informed me of this. (I always tell client’s to review their names and dates of birth on the initial confirmation)

I immediately called and had my supplier contact the airline to change her name. They said it will be done in 3-5 business days. I informed the client of this and advised her to use her confirmation code to check the airline.

As the client was doing her online check-in she informed me her name was misspelled. My heart dropped as she was leaving in 24 hours for her trip. I called both the airline and my supplier to inform them that this was supposed to be updated months ago. Thankfully the airline was able to update the misspelling right away, well after speaking with two customer service representatives. That was a real close call!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy in my business to date is referrals. When clients plan a vacation and talk about how amazing it was, they also talk about who planned it. Even when traveler’s vacations don’t go exactly to plan, they still rave about the service from AP Travel Services and how we did everything in our power to resolve any issue.

Client’s also post and tag AP Travel Services on social media, leading to followers and referrals.

Group trips, especially provide an increased amount of referrals. When a group trip comes back, a lot of those individuals then look to plan their own vacations with AP Travel Services.

Contact Info:

• Website: aptravelservices.com
• Instagram: @aptravelservices
• Facebook: @aptravelservices
• Linkedin: @aptravelservices
• Youtube: @aptravelservices
• Other: [email protected]