We recently connected with Tareq Salahi and have shared our conversation below.
Tareq, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Its all about horse polo and the equine industry. As Polo TEAM USA Captain and heavily involved in our community we support our friends & partners in the world of polo. We market exclusively to the polo luxury markets for both enthusiasts and those involved in the sport.
Tareq, 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?
I got into the cruise industry by accident. After graduating from UC Davis in Enology, I was approached at my vineyards in Virginia from a executive in the cruise industry to train their staff in wine basics. From there, one thing lead to another and I started hosting wine cruises for our winery guests. We then opened up a travel wine club program at my winery and it became hugely successful. Before we knew it, the cruise travel wine cruise biz became a significant part of our business revenue wise. We soon thereafter opened Hotels at Sea Luxury Cruises and started doing more & more with the cruise line industry.
From there we started playing polo for the ultra-luxury cruise line industry to attract the luxury market that the cruise line had a challenge to tap into. We had the access and they wanted to exposure & branding.
We are very proud not only do we continue to offer our luxury cruise lines we partner with the opportunity to co-mingle with the elite polo market, but we have also won numerous world cups & USPA National championships for our luxury sponsors and our team. #TEAMWORK
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I will elaborate more during the actual interview, but in short, when Covid hit the cruise industry very hard, we never gave up. We stuck together and continued to work hard.
In fact, the cruise lines we were partnering continued to have us market in the horse polo space since several Governors such as Texas & Virginia allowed polo matches to continue with spectators attending since it was an outdoor activity spread over nearly 10 acres of land. This was a game changer for us.
We were able to continue to market & sell luxury cruises well into the future, during the darkest hours of the pandemic and we remained resilient during this most challenging time.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
The same story above is perfect example
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TareqSalahi.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tareqsalahi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tareq.salahi/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tareqsalahi/
- Twitter: https://x.com/SalahiTareq
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HotelsatSea
Image Credits
Image Credits: International Polo Tour & Hotels at Sea.com