Travel Women We Love: Jordana Botting
by Marsha Mowers
Jordana Botting easily stands out in a crowd with her infectious laugh and warm welcomes, so it was easy to find her during the lunch at Travel Market Place Vancouver last month. She also epitomizes luxury, as in her own words, “luxury is anticipating your needs before your needs come up.”
I learned this firsthand years ago when we first met on a conference on a cruise and commented how rocky it was. Within 30 seconds I was given anti-nausea patches, and tips on how to feel better.
It’s difficult to think of Botting doing anything other than working in travel, but there was once a time when she was an appliance salesperson.
“I was working in a store selling fridges and freezers and one of my brother’s friends bought a Cruise Ship Centre. I’d had enough of selling freezers and they hired me on as a manager. I’d never been on a cruise in my life, I had no idea what a ship looked like. I just had a dream I wanted to work on a cruise ship. It was then I saw the Princess Cruise rep come in and the minute I saw her, I knew that was exactly what I was meant to do for the rest of my life.”
Botting said she went to her brother’s friend afterwards and said, “how do I get that job?”
Though she had done a number of sales courses, Botting had never gone to school for tourism. She believes that sales skills are transferable across industries and success relies heavily on building relationships.
“Sales is a talent and I think sometimes because people forget that sales is fundamentally about relationships. It’s that one on one, face to face. I mean you can email or text all you want, but it’s when you actually talk to that person, and then have those shared experiences that significantly strengthen relationships.”
After many years with Viking and NCL, Botting joined Crystal in January 2025 as Regional Sales Director, Canada where she’s excited to be working with travel advisors. She says advisors are the “bread and butter” of everything Crystal does, responsible for 90% of the cruise line’s bookings.
She’s also seeing a growing trend: older women travelling with their female friends.
“We’re seeing a growing number of women aged 50+ travelling solo or with friends – statistically, husbands usually pass away first, plus it seems, as men age, their desire to travel becomes non-existent. At Crystal, we pay careful attention to the wishes and needs of our solo travellers. On every cruise, we make sure there are sociable experiences to enjoy, such as our friendly get-togethers. These solo guests are booking longer voyages like our 135-day World Cruise and love it because we are welcoming. Often, they’re repeat clients, and our staff knows them, so it feels like coming home to family.”
That special touch is what Botting says makes the difference with Crystal.
“When I was on last on board, it was so interesting to talk to people, because the special touches are what they remember the most. One lady I spoke with asked her butler for a martini before dinner. And then, every night afterwards when she’d return to her room to get ready for dinner, he would knock on her door with a martini. That’s luxury.”
“I wouldn’t have worked for Crystal if I didn’t believe in the company. Growing up, Crystal was the ultimate in luxury and I wanted to make sure that if I joined the team, I would be representing a brand that supports our trade partners. That’s why I’m here.”
