What is important to you when you travel?

When helping new clients plan their vacations, I will ask a lot of questions. I will try to find out what they like to do, what type of accommodations would like, what they expect in terms of service and of course for what budget they are looking to spend. Why do I ask so many questions? If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing my job and wouldn’t get as many repeat clients and as many referrals as I do.

By asking so many questions of new clients, I can get a better idea of what they want from their vacation, what expectations they have and then I can make some recommendations. The last thing that I want is a disappointed client.

We just got back from a 7 night vacation to Punta Cana to a beautiful newer resort that got fabulous reviews on TripAdvisor. My associates who stayed at this resort last year also loved it. I had clients there last summer shortly after it opened and they hated it.

Travel agents, obviously, can’t visit every hotel in every destination so we rely on feedback from clients and associates. Interesting though, that the feedback on this resort was great, my associates felt the same way but my clients disliked it.

What were the answers to the questions I asked------
Great beach
Spa
Lots of relaxation
All Inclusive
Really nice resort - at least 4*
Under $3000 for all 4 of them, including airfare.
(This last part is where the problem came in. The budget was a low for a really nice property but since this client is a doctor, I wouldn’t consider anything less.)

What did I recommend to them?
A brand new, gorgeous deluxe resort on a fabulous beach with a spa. It was all inclusive. The price was a bit over the budget since he booked so late and they needed 2 rooms.

What was the end result?
I got a complaint from the wife (I had dealt with the husband as she was out of town). She hated the flights that he approved. Their luggage was delayed which set everything off on a bad note. She hated the food. She hated the service. In short, she was not happy.

What did I do for them?
I put through a complaint with the tour operator and they sent me a $50 future travel credit for these clients. I also sent them the same, if they book another vacation with me.

Could this have been avoided? I’m not sure that the all of it could have been avoided but there were a couple of points to consider here. My friend, who is a patient of this doctor (the new client) said that he got exactly what he asked for- relaxing, great beach, all inclusive and in his budget, but he didn’t realize how important food is to the vacation. They didn’t like eating at the buffet for dinner. This was a major issue for them.

In the future, I will definitely make sure that all clients understand the limitations of all inclusive restaurants, such as the number of times they can eat in the specialty (sit down) restaurants and the reservation process. Will this doctor and his family book through me again. He said he would.

Just a side note: We didn’t love the resort either. The food was good- at the specialty restaurants but not so at the buffet. The resort was too quiet for us. We like to travel where English is the primary language spoken. We like good entertainment. We are used to cruises so we got spoiled.

Would I recommend this resort to clients? Certainly- as long as the resort fits their criteria . Would I recommend an all inclusive resort to this doctor again? Probably not- if food is a big issue, most all inclusive resorts wouldn’t fit the bill unless it was way over his price range.

We visited 13 resorts while in Punta Cana. Add that to the 2 we saw a couple of years ago. I feel confident that I can recommend the right property for clients looking at Punta Cana.