We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jamie Owens. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jamie below.

Hi Jamie, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

I had my first “real” client reach out to me via a questionnaire on my website. His wife had put him in charge of planning their honeymoon and he was looking for help from a travel advisor. I didn’t know this at the time, but I wasn’t the only travel advisor he spoke to. Luckily, he chose to work with me and the first step was deciding on a destination. They were looking to relax, snorkel and experience the local culture on their honeymoon. They ended up choosing Ambergris Caye in Belize, which is a great spot for snorkeling and immersing yourself in the local culture. Belize is also one of my favorite countries I have been to, so much so that I have been three times in the past decade. I set them up in a honeymoon suite, booked them a couple snorkel tours and rented them a golf cart for the duration of their stay. They were able to explore the island and all the local restaurants by golf cart, the main mode of transportation on Ambergris Caye. After they returned from their honeymoon, I sent out my usually request for a review. In his review he mentioned that it was his top travel experience so far and I was, “not pushy like other travel agents [he] spoke with.” This totally made my day and is still one of my favorite things anyone has said about me and my business!

Jamie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

A little bit about myself is that I’ve been all over the world, exploring both above and underwater, with a camera in tow and on the hunt for the local good eats. I pretty much only thrive when the sun is out, so I hang my hat in San Diego, CA, where I also teach paddleboarding to dogs and humans alike. My mantra? “Fill your life with adventures, not things!”

In my past lives, I studied Environmental Science and Marine Biology, was a PADI Divemaster in the Florida Keys and did pricing/graphic design for the family beer business. When my love for travel and planning itineraries blossomed and my new found distaste working for the family business emerged, I decided to make some big changes. When starting TropEco Travel, I decided to pool all my previous life skills to make my travel niche. At TropEco Travel, I specialize in adventure, dive and sustainable travel. I love to build custom independent travel itineraries for clients or find them the perfect small group tour for their travel needs. But one of my favorite things that I offer on a yearly basis are hosted (by me) small group expeditions. So far we’ve been to Peru and Belize, my next one is heading to Borneo, Malaysia in July 2024. These are active adventures, bringing you to places you wouldn’t normally go and doing things you may not do on your own otherwise.

What sets me apart from other travel advisors is my niche, most agents sell cruises and all-inclusives. I want people to know that adventure travel doesn’t have to mean trekking Kilimanjaro, it can be as simple as experiencing the local culture and tasting the local food. I want to make sustainable travel the new norm and turn tourists into travelers. I like to think of myself as the anti-agent, no pushy sales tactics with a casual, yet professional service.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Word of mouth, hands down. I have a large family and with that large family comes a lot of cousins who are mostly younger than I am. Many of which have joined me on my small group expeditions, others who have booked their honeymoons with me. They have had friends join them on my group trips and they have referred me to all of their friends when it comes time to plan their honeymoons. I started sending gifts to people who have had multiple referrals book through me, just to show my appreciation.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

After just two years in business, when business should have really been taking off, the pandemic forced travel to come to a standstill. I could have just called it quits, but I decided to ride it out and be resilient. I picked up a part-time job and used the extra time to learn all that I could about the travel business (destinations, marketing, systems, etc). It was the first time I had to cancel a clients trip, which became a great learning opportunity. I had to fight for my clients when airlines didn’t want to give them their money back. But most of all, I had to trust that travel would make a big comeback and oh, did it ever. 2023 has been my best year yet and I am looking forward to what ever 2024 holds!

Contact Info:

• Website: tropecotravel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tropecotravel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tropecotravel
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-owens-cta/

Image Credits
Carolyn Okon (basket photo)