Travel Channel’s Samantha Brown Connects With Travel Agents

“Our jobs are similar,” said Travel Channel host Samantha Brown, speaking to about 900 travel agents and suppliers at the recent American Marketing Group’s Got Talent international conference at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida.

Brown, host of the Travel Channel’s “Samantha Brown: Passport to Europe,” “Passport to Latin America,” and “Passport to China” and celebrity host of the conference, said, “We know that travel is more than the sum of informational facts. It is the emotional value…how you feel and what you do about it.”

Seeking a Personal Connection

“In an age where information is big, it is the story and the connection to that story makes you invaluable to this process,” she told travel sellers. “People crave personal experience and want to relate on a human level. They want that connection [from travel] and that connection is felt strongest when it is coming from other people.”

Regarding trends, Brown said that one of the best trends is the search for “life-altering experiences.” People want to personally achieve something in their travels, she said, noting that this goes beyond adventure travel. 

Brown pointed to 60-year-olds traveling in Latin America who “wanted to see what they were made of.” She noted that at luxurious hotels in Asia, she saw people going beyond spa treatments and cooking, and taking excursions to remote fishing villages and orphanages where they bring notebooks and pencils and connect with people in a real way.

“The biggest trend is that people are not just traveling for pleasure but for meeting other people.”

Tuning In, Not Tuning Out

“Vacations are traditionally a way of tuning out, but vacations also are a way of tuning in,” she said. Her advice to travelers: “Do your life a favor and take 15 minutes to think about an issue that never seems to resolve itself. When you’re looking over the Grand Canyon or the ocean and understand what it is to feel extraordinary, you think differently and solutions arise.”

Brown said travel agents can inspire their clients.

For her, shooting an episode on the Great Wall of China was a breakthrough experience. Shooting there was filled with tension, she said. “When we were done shooting, I looked at my feet and at the rest of the Wall and it hit me where I was.” She said that when she was in third grade, she never would have thought that this was possible. “The third-grade Sam and the adult me came together and here we were. And suddenly anything seemed possible.”

“Remind your clients to take that moment on vacation to realize where they are and ask themselves what else hasn’t been possible in their own imagining of their life,” she advised. What most of us do is “take pictures, scroll, scroll, scroll, and as we say ‘you’re eyes were closed’ in that shot, we miss the bald eagle flying by. It’s only when these travelers get home and look at the photos that they realize where they were.”

“People are using travel to make things happen in their life,” she said. Her next statement, “That’s why ‘staycation’ was the worst travel trend I’d ever heard of,” was met with thundering applause. “We know that accommodations [away from home] are expensive, but we also know that the room isn’t connected to a garage that we have been meaning to clean out since 2002.”

“Everyone needs that fresh start, that new beginning that travel gives us. If there is one thing that I’ve learned, it’s that travel is not just for some, but for all of us,” she added.

The most important thing an agent can do is help people ask themselves more questions. “What do you want to get out of this trip? The computer doesn’t ask you questions. That’s why a travel agent is so important.”

Brown also answered audience questions. Some highlights:

What’s your favorite place?
“Brooklyn, NY [where she lives],” adding that she has favorite spots in each region, such as Berlin in Europe, Nicaragua in Latin America, Cambodia in the Far East. She said that people in places that have gone through struggles are so happy to have pulled through and are receptive to travelers, offering a more immersive experience.

How do you manage to sleep with all the time changes?
“I’m a good sleeper and can sleep on a plane like that. I find Europe is more difficult than Asia.” Two days before departure, she said she refrains from caffeine. “Then, when I get to the destination, I have a few espressos, and I’m good to go.”

With all the problems in the world, will there ever be a time when people are afraid to travel?
“My show is meant to be an antidote to MSNBC, CNN and Fox,” she said. “Americans are not hated in the world. People will always travel and connect with other people.
 
Do you have a travel agent?
“We’re a production company so we go through tourist boards and film boards, but I will get your card,” she said.

How do you deal with not speaking the language?
She advised not asking the question “Do you speak English?” Instead, acknowledge that you don’t expect them to speak your language by saying “No Spanish,” pointing to yourself, then “English?” That way you’re acknowledging that you’re in their country.

What has been your favorite dining experience?
“A barn dining hall in Austria. You go to kitchen and they cook everything from their farm. Wine is from apples from their trees. That was one of the most amazing eating experiences I’ve ever had. You love it when you’re right there with the family who makes it…when it’s from the heart.”

Admitting the glamour of her job, she shared that, for example, the massage treatments on screen are fake. “I get one arm massaged, probably best considering there’s a camera crew in the room. But,” she added, “when I eat, I eat.”