Brian Bobroff
International Travel Consultant
Independent by Flight Centre
“Those folks who don’t see value in our profession need to speak to the people who were able to avoid entire days on hold during this current crisis. Or they should speak to the people who were rescued by agents when their online booking source left them to the wind. While our income is currently being decimated by COVID-19, we are also building years of goodwill from clients who have us as their advocate to help navigate the constantly changing landscape.”
First of all, how are you coping right now during the pandemic?
We are currently still healthy and vastly appreciative of our health care workers, first responders and any other hero that has to work in public right now. The upside of being a home-based agent is that I am already used to working at home with family members being boisterous in the background. It is somewhat crazy that I am jealous of people who have been laid off since at least they know where they stand. Like any other agent whose pay is based solely on commission, I am either working for free every day or I am paying back commissions that I had earned and have no idea when we will be back to normal. While the short term help from the government will allow us some time to breathe, I do not see how to get through this without finding a new source of income. Whether that will be a stop gap solution until the travel industry rebounds or this crisis will be an off ramp leading to a new opportunity remains to be seen. The ride is already bumpy and I have no idea when it will be over. However, I have enjoyed seeing many of my musical friends share live DJ streams each day and remain optimistic that travel will come back big time.
Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into the industry?
I am originally from Saskatoon, the Paris of the Prairie, and relocated to Toronto around the turn of the century. It has long been true that if you do something you love that you will never work a day in your life so I have tried to find work that aligned with my own passions of delicious dining, great music and exploration of places near and far. I come from a line of self-employed salespeople, which has been reflected in my various pursuits. I have gone from a server/bartender, to owning a record store selling actual vinyl recordings while organizing and sponsoring dance music events, to joining the travel industry when my store closed in 2007. That summer was spent travelling which I booked myself and felt that just because I could point and click, did not make me an expert and I wanted to learn more. That fall, I began work at a retail location within Flight Centre, and it was not long before I was managing my own store. The birth of my son led me to become an independent home based agent nine years ago. In many ways, each job is the same. You are not really selling the ‘thing’ as much as you are selling an experience or a concept. Until recently, home based travel consulting had been an excellent fit that allowed me to help people turn their ideas into memories while providing plenty of opportunity for my own travels and continuing education about the world. I just keep trying to get closer to that ideal where a job no longer feels like work. Lately, it has felt an awful lot like work.
You specialize in river cruises, adventure tours and resort/hotel/boutique stays of quality… What’s appealing about these ways of travelling?
Quite simply, these are types of travel I enjoy myself. When you believe in and enjoy what you sell, it is a joy to help others experience what you love. I also feel these are the ways of travelling that best allow you to experience a different area for totally different reasons which can appeal to a variety of personalities. River cruises provide a floating boutique hotel that takes care of most of your costs while allowing you to experience numerous destinations from city centre to city centre — only unpacking once. They always shop local so you get a taste of wherever you are each day with included on-board dining. Adventure tourism provides authentic local experiences anywhere on earth from, basic camping to total luxury, so it can appeal to just about anyone. Canadians will always be searching for that weekend or week long getaway and so you need to have an array of go-to hotels to appeal to a variety of personalities and price points. I do find that you get what you pay for, so I like to focus on quality, so I can go to sleep knowing my clients will get the kind of travel they expect – and hopefully have their expectations exceeded when working with my preferred partners.
What’s the nicest thing a client has ever done for you?
While I am pretty happy to have been taken out for a few hockey games or nice meals, there truly is no higher compliment than a referral. That means you did well enough for someone that they wanted to share you with the world. Without referrals, you can not succeed so I owe every success to the trust of my clients. What is nicer than keeping you busy and your family clothed and fed?
A couple key memories would have to include getting married in a drive-through in Las Vegas in an intimate Toyota Solara convertible without telling just about anyone until the slightly larger, yet intimate, beachfront ceremony eight months later in Playa Del Carmen.
Brian Bobroff
What are some of your preferred suppliers and why?
It would be hard to single out everyone since I have made many wonderful relationships with supplier partners over the past dozen years. But my preferred suppliers are those that offer the best product, support and incentives for both our clients and the advisors that send the clients their way. Often the secret weapons of preferred suppliers are their own Business Development Managers. My favourite companies to work with often have representatives that I have connected with the best.
My last personal travels do align well with some of my favourite preferred suppliers as I had a fantastic personal experiences at two different locations of The Fives Hotels in Playa Del Carmen along with recent lovely stays at Unico 20 87 Riviera Maya (AIC), Panama Jack Playa Del Carmen (Playa Resorts) and El Dorado Royale (Karisma). The folks at Canlink who represent Anse Chastanet have really been heroes for my clients as well. I recently toured with Intrepid Travel and had been looking forward to taking a U River Cruise but get the sense that it will be postponed. Tourism boards are also fantastic resources and in particular I have enjoyed working with St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and the Jamaican tourism boards as they do what they can to connect you with information, events, fams and the right people when you need an assist.
What are some of your most memorable travel experiences to date?
Despite having studied history in university, I have always been far more focused on the next trip rather than thinking too much about the past. So it is an odd time to not have any travel planned and I am sure that fact is aching away at those of us who work in the travel industry especially. Some memorable experiences that do come to mind would be: Circumnavigating Uluru barefoot in the rain. Sunrise dancing in the surf at a beach party outside of Byron Bay. Finding the roots reggae at the Jump Up in St. Lucia. Accidentally seeing Amy Winehouse for the first time at Glastonbury. I recently was the DJ that helped open Marley Coffee with Rohan Marley in attendance at The Fives Beach Resort. Pretty fun to play reggae music in Mexico to combine my love of Mexico and Jamaica. An all night party in an amusement park in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Hard to pick when so many good times have happened with great friends in amazing places involving great music and often delicious food. A couple key memories would have to include getting married in a drive-through in Las Vegas in an intimate Toyota Solara convertible without telling just about anyone until the slightly larger, yet intimate, beachfront ceremony eight months later in Playa Del Carmen.
What’s something a lot of people don’t understand about being a travel advisor?
When they ask you to provide a discount over some multinational corporation, and you don’t have the ability to provide a lower rate at the time , that discount comes out of your own pay.
Some people don’t see the value of using a travel agent in a digital world. What would you tell them to change their minds?
Those folks who don’t see value in our profession need to speak to the people who were able to avoid entire days on hold during this current crisis. Or they should speak to the people who were rescued by agents when their online booking source left them to the wind. While our income is currently being decimated by COVID-19, we are also building years of goodwill from clients who have us as their advocate to help navigate the constantly changing landscape. In more standard days I would rather just emphasize that I work only within my expertise and that my connections, experience and education add plenty of value and ease to my clients — typically at no cost.
Product options and itineraries are always changing. What are some of the ways you stay informed?
In normal times, I say that experiencing the product personally is the best way to be in the know with what you are selling. While familiarization trips are a key to that, personal travels can be just as advantageous since you experience things from a client’s view versus being wined and dined by the provider of the fam. Events are great for networking while webinars are going to be the name of the game until personal contact is the norm again. Many of the agents I have met at awards, fams and conferences have also become invaluable sources of advice and information along with camaraderie that can be leaned on for trusted advice and new information since it is so hard to keep up to date on the constant changes in the industry. I have always taken down time to add on specialization or educational courses as I can not sit still for too long. Home based does not mean lacking in ambition or engagement to me. It just means that I like to guarantee control of the music I listen to while working.
Do you have anything to add?
I have no doubt the travel industry will rebound big time when this crisis has passed. Luxury and business travellers (the folks with the budgets) will be the first to come back and then the rest will follow as we hopefully get back to work and have stable incomes again. The heroes who work through the crisis will also be the folks most in need of a holiday when that is an option again. The question is which companies and workers in travel will still be there when the dust settles? For the first time since I joined the industry, I honestly don’t know where I might fit in come that time, but I hope fate has kinder plans for us all when this is passed. Most importantly I hope you and yours stay healthy all the way through.
