Are you seeing nothing but tales of travel woe when you read the news or browse online this season?
Lost luggage, canceled flights, long lines, missed connections, aggressive passengers, delayed flights — this year is worse than any other year, according to the Wall Street Journal, not to mention several airline CEOs.
It can be easy — reading those headlines and dreading the worst case scenarios — to want to crawl into a hole and avoid the masses and the headaches.
But I’m here to tell you NOT to do that.
Travel is vital.
On a personal level, travel expands your mind, increases your confidence, and helps you create memories for a lifetime — but travel experiences can also affect you on a professional level, helping to shape how you think, act, and lead.
Given the impact travel can have, it’s not surprising that our Luxury Mindset research study revealed that leaders use luxury experiences as a reward for hard work with 78% purchasing airline tickets and 50% purchasing luxury vacations.
What did our leaders say was the impact those vacations had? Well, they said travel:
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Expands their thinking
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Exposes them to new situations
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Encourages creativity
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Increases confidence
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Improves quality of life
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Provides greater satisfaction
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Creates memorable experiences
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Provides unique opportunities for growth.
These all sound like GREAT reasons to schedule that long-overdue vacation — you need recovery time, and your team might need a break from you too! Let me be your gentle reminder today.
Great leaders know that vacations are the perfect time to empower team members to step into new roles and responsibilities. It is also a great opportunity to allow someone to shine while you are away.
Do you provide luxury travel services?
If you do, I hope that the information we’ve shared above will help you shape how you can interact with your clients and shape their experiences (and, if you want more quick insight into each mindset, check out and subscribe to our YouTube playlist!)
What kind of experiences did the leaders in the study define as luxury? They all said they considered a thing or experience to be luxurious if it was:
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High-quality
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Long-lasting
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Indulgent
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Unique
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Authentic
These words can be used to describe vacations — but they can also apply to us as leaders too (except maybe not indulgent… although I am here for that!). How are your experiences hitting each of these benchmarks? What could you adjust to make it even better for your client leaders? Send me an email and let me know!
Neen’s Travel Tips
There is so much advice for travelers: like don’t travel without these 5 apps, the only 16 items you need to pack, or how to avoid lines this summer when travelling — this is all great knowledge, but it’s missing a few reminders.
Remember privilege – It’s an absolute privilege to be able to travel and see the world, don’t lose sight of how fortunate you really are.
Avoid D.I.Y. – You may think you are really good at finding a deal, booking direct, using points… until your flight is canceled and you are on hold for hours or worse, standing in line with the gazillion others at the airport — don’t do it!
Use professionals – Especially now. I have lost count of the number of times my Virtuoso Travel Advisor has rescued me during my travel adventures: she has helped me get home every single time. The small fees paid to these life-savers are worth the peace of mind while traveling. Just like you need a financial advisor, your luxury travel advisor is someone you want to add to your team. I recommend Virtuoso.
Buy Insurance – You are going to need it, especially now. Work with your travel advisor, and ask for Travelex to have an additional piece of mind for a small fee.
Don’t be a jerk – Choose to be a kind, zen traveler no matter what happens. Your family and clients will appreciate it, the staff will value it, and you will be happier — I promise.
Extend grace – Everyone is doing all they can right now under challenging circumstances with short staffing and short tempers — don’t lose your temper on someone who is just trying to make it through the day.
At this time of year, let’s be even more kind and gentle with those on our travel journey:
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Smile at a stranger
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Be patient with a young child
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Use the staff’s names
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Say please and thank you as often as you can
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Take a deep breath
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Meditate a little longer
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Read a fun book
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Hold the door open for someone
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Help someone with their luggage
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Keep an eye out for elderly people traveling alone
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Give your fellow passenger the armrest
Let’s all take an extra few minutes to choose to be kind travelers this season.
