HOW I CARRY ON
AIMING HIGH
With over 35 years of experience , Angela Hughes shares her tips for breaking into the luxury travel market .
WORDS / JENNA BUEGE
The daughter of industry pioneers , Angela Hughes ’ passion for travel can be traced back to her youth when , at the early age of 14 , her father invited her to work at their family-run travel agency . What started as basic office duties , like filing brochures , soon evolved into more significant responsibilities , like ticket delivery and booking charter flights . Then in 1994 , the duo co-founded Trips & Ships Luxury Travel , a boutique travel company serving customized itineraries that are a departure from the norm .
GETTING STARTED WITH LUXURY TRAVEL While Hughes is a leader in the luxury travel space today , she says that it wasn ’ t always that way . If you ’ re looking to make luxury your niche , Hughes recommends growing in the arena that you specialize in . “ Ten years ago , I wasn ’ t so much in the luxury and premium space because you really need to be socializing with the types of people that you ’ re selling to and targeting them ,” says Hughes . “ When I was a younger mom and my kids were teenagers , a lot of my colleagues and acquaintances were doing all-inclusive and cruises and sun , sea and sand destinations , so that ’ s what I focused on . But , as people age , they have more money and they evolve and become more of a target for a premium market .”
However , that doesn ’ t mean that younger travelers should be ignored . “ I just traveled to Egypt and there were quite a few millennials ,” says Hughes . “ Millennial luxury travel is a trend that should be watched really closely . But , the thing that makes it tricky is that they don ’ t really know what a travel advisor is , they grew up booking their own travel so you need to educate them on what you can do as a service .”
CUSTOMIZING YOUR SALES APPROACH Something to keep in mind about luxury travelers is that they aren ’ t your average Joe . “ These people are busy , they ’ re doctors , they ’ re private equity advisors , they ’ re CEOs , they don ’ t have time to go back and forth ,” says Hughes . “ You need to vet your clients and really understand what they want because they don ’ t like to have many conversations after the initial meeting . So , you want to understand your customer and then you want to stay as low key as possible and get the job done for them .”
But don ’ t fret , even if you have clients who don ’ t have a big budget , they can still experience a taste of luxury . For Hughes , the secret lies in cross-selling and upselling . “ I always tell other agents , if you want to make 10 % more next year , upsell your clients one category ,” says Hughes . “ Upgrade them to an oceanfront versus a garden view , add on some day tours , add some experiences — make the trip more than just air , hotel and transfer .”
TRENDS TO WATCH By now , we ’ ve all heard the term ‘ revenge travel ’ in some form or another and Hughes agrees that it ’ s making a huge splash , especially in the luxury market . “ The luxury traveler is the first to rebound because , honestly , they have the discretionary income ,” says Hughes . As for specific destinations , “ I ’ ve been seeing a big increase in the African market for its open space and safaris . People want to be alone in places so we ’ re seeing a swing in the Maldives and a really heavy swing in Tahiti . We ’ re also starting to see an increase of people traveling back to Europe , I ’ m crossing my fingers that it continues .”
WHAT ’ S IN ANGELA ’ S CARRY-ON ?
Angela shares what she can ’ t travel without .
“ I learned from a mistake … I think that everyone should carry compression socks . I put on about one million miles a year and traveling from Egypt to Costa Rica , just sitting for so long on a plane , I actually thought that I was going to develop a blood clot . I didn ’ t think I needed to worry about that , but now I ’ m that person bringing on compression socks .”
Water and packing cubes are two additional travel must-haves . “ Packing cubes are always key so that you don ’ t overpack . I ’ ll try to do a 14-day trip in just a carry-on . We pack light , we move fast and we don ’ t drag a lot of stuff with us .”
24 / THE COMPASS / SUMMER 2022 vaxvacationaccess . com / thecompass