Four Ways To Market Your Travel Provenance And Achieve Recognition, Respect, And Reward

In a world of fine wines, rare antiques, and treasures of the art world, the term “provenance” refers to the history and lineage of an object: who owned and cared for it every step of the way from the time it was created up to the present. It is what it is, because of this provenance, which is in every way a celebration of its uniqueness.  

And in this sense, travel consultants are the unique guardians of a “travel” provenance that defines who they are, how they got that way, and why a client should purchase travel products and services from them today and tomorrow.

Here are four ways to market your travel provenance with results that matter: recognition, respect, and reward.

1. Know who you are.
It sounds Zen and philosophical, but it helps to know your travel roots. How did you get interested in travel in the first place and who influenced you (parents, friends, teacher, travel agent, others)? In my case it was a small tiki object that my father bought me when I was six or seven years old, which he told me symbolized “the god of the waters.” I was fascinated and started to think of travel as places where I could discover secrets and mysteries that other cultures held.

When I visited Easter Island about 40 years later, I found myself face to face with the Moai statues, looking a lot like my tiki. Afterward, when I gave talks on Chile and Easter Island, I showed the audience my tiki (and lots of photos) and wound this into the story of discovering the island’s culture, people, food, and history. In other words, I made the destination come alive for them through my own experiences. This is exactly what travel consultants can do when marketing their own enthusiasm and passion for a destination.

2. Feel the vibe.
Your provenance includes your own niche (special interest) travel needs, many of which you can incorporate into the promotion of a travel experience. Food travel is a natural conduit for having your clients connect with and experience a destination before they leave your office. A sip of Malbec wine, a bite of dark chocolate, a sniff of lavender, a touch of a carving from the Black Forest, a photo of your Kobe beef dinner, a recording of a festive folk song…all promote the allure of travel, and at the same time promote your creativity, thoughtfulness, and experience in having traveled to the destination, sharing your excitement for the destination and also for having developed a people-centric way of selling. Over and above everything else, you are marketing your people skills.

3. Show your credentials.
While you may not want to show off your Grade Six Volleyball Championship Certificate (I have one somewhere), you may want to show off your professional designations (CTC, CTIE, etc.). But remember that your travels, too, are part of this important aspect of provenance. Hard-copy photo albums or visuals on a smart phone can be part of the sales process where your photos, selfies, and home-made videos show where you’ve been and what you’ve done. And the more experiential, the better. Standing next to a pool only shows off your “standing” skills. Taking a scuba lesson in the pool shows your “destination-engagement” skills. Eating a great meal shows the client the type of food and/or restaurants available. Helping to prepare the meal shows the client they could do this activity too if they choose to.

4. Explain your “bio” metrics.
We often downplay our individual accomplishments in the travel industry in favor of our agency or chain as a whole. Yet travel consultants are on the front line with the clients and have a direct effect on the agency’s bottom line, through their skills, actions, and personality. Therefore, when a travel consultant attends a fam or earns a certificate or reaches a milestone (75 countries visited and explored), this is news not so much for the industry but for that other group that we refer to as clients. This is great content for newsletters, window dressings, newspaper announcements, tweets, blogs, Facebook posts, and more. Travelers who may have wanted the DIY control in the past are returning to the “save time and money and give valuable advice” benefits of a travel consultant. So why not educate them about the consultants who work in the agency or chain? Knowing that Sally has just returned from her 15^th trip to Myanmar would be comforting news to travelers who are a bit nervous about going there for the first time. Knowing that Alan is an admitted chocoholic would be great news to a culinary club looking for someone to arrange their trip to Belgium or Switzerland.

A travel consultant with a strong provenance provides confidence, support, enthusiasm, and person-ability to the client, and exudes passion, competence, comfort, up-to-date information, and a sense of reliability and value. Provenance is not something you acquire and then hide. It is something you need to show every time you interact with a client, a supplier, or a colleague. Recognition, respect, and reward will be the inevitable offspring of your actions.