Meet Phyllis Dale: From Riverboat Entertainer to Travel Entrepreneur
by Judy Jacobs |
Few travel agents know the major rivers of the U.S. better than Phyllis Dale.
The co-owner of Great Escapes Travel in Lake Mary, Fla., Dale created a career around U.S. river cruising—but not just as an agent. She began her career as a performer aboard riverboats.
The musical career of the 75-year-old agent began long ago, at the age of nine when she started singing with her father’s trio.
At age 12, she performed on a television show in her hometown of Cleveland, and during the 1960s began to play at piano bars in hotels and supper clubs throughout the country.
Life on the river
In 1990, Dale was approached by the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. to play piano on the Mississippi Queen. Six months later she was transferred to the Delta Queen, where she played in the boat’s late night piano bar for 11 years.
During those years she accumulated countless friends among passengers and crew, as well as in the many river ports visited by the Delta Queen.
Those friends would help form the core of her initial client base. Dale had decided to become a travel agent after long bouts of sitting at the piano led to back problems, forcing her to give up her musical career.
She investigated a variety of travel agent training programs and ended up taking a home-study course from a school recommended by ASTA. She finished the two-year course in two months while still working on the boat.
Job search
During a vacation, Dale returned to her home in Orlando, where she paged through the yellow pages ads for travel agencies.
“The first one I saw was a huge half-page ad for Bon Voyage International. I called them and left a voice mail message with Bill Applebee, who’s now my partner.” she said.
“I gave him my name, and he called me the next day and said, ‘Can you come in tomorrow?’
Applebee also asked, “Are you the Phyllis Dale who used to perform at Freddy’s Steak House?’ I said, ‘yes.’ He said, ‘I know who you are.’” And he hired her.
One million in sales
Dale had kept in touch with hundreds of friends she met cruising the rivers, sending them birthday and get-well cards.
“That paid off,” she said. “I let them know that I was going into the business and started out with two couples. Then they started telling [other] people.
“My partner said he’d give me six months to get a booking, and at the end of the first year I had $1 million in sales.”
That was in 1998, and Dale has been selling travel ever since.
Her specialty, not surprisingly, is American river cruises, which is about 90% of what she sells. Her clients come from all over the world.
So many of those clients have become friends that she sponsors “Phyllis Dale Reunions,” which used to be annual events but are now a bit less frequent.
Last July she created one for her 75th birthday. After a pre-celebration at the Hilton St. Louis Airport Hotel, a group of 150 clients and friends cruised from St. Louis to Cincinnati aboard the Queen of the Mississippi.
Dale even had a theater troop from Boonville, Mo., come on board to perform Gumbo Bottoms: a Big Muddy Musical.
“It was the highlight of my life,” she said.
