May/June 1999 Issue

Travel Planning

If you have the get up but aren’t sure how to go, local travel agencies are always happy to help. Their clients include islanders taking a break from paradise, snowbirds flying to and fro, and out-of-towners hoping to come here. Travel professionals have been particularly busy this year assisting with millennium holiday plans, and they are also contending with changes in their business, resulting from the exploding growth of the Internet.
   Debbie Stone’s company, Sanibel Travel Inc., counts full-time and part-time residents as customers and also “does quite a bit of corporate travel for big companies out of Ft. Lauderdale and Minneapolis.” The agency’s name is a plus, attracting people who want to visit Sanibel. “It’s a big world out there,” Stone says. “We’re so diversified. We do a lot of cruises, tours, and business and leisure travel—everything encompassing a full-service agency.
“You’d be surprised how very adventurous the people are who live here; and the bikers, the birders… Even though their age may be up there, their spirit is young.” In fact, some of her clients recently took a trip to Katmandu, Nepal, which included elephant riding and a flight over Mt. Everest.
   Travelers are also making big plans for the big ’00. Stone wonders if some hotels that say they are sold out for the millennium holiday really are, or if they’re blocking space for members and shareholders, or are “waiting to see what the next guy is going to do in regards to rates.” Stone notes that some cruises and hotels are charging three times as much as usual, during that time frame.
   People using the Internet to find airline tickets for travel any time of the year can be fooled into thinking they are getting a good rate when they might not be, she adds. “It’s also not as easy to use as people thought. Most of our savvy travelers, especially corporate people, don’t have the time. Rather than spend two or three hours online, why not just pick up the phone and call a travel agent, and you’re done.” 2402 Palm Ridge Road, Suite 3, Sanibel, 941/472-1923.
   Nearby is The Travel Company, which Ed Carrington owns as a division of Rentals in Paradise. The travel agency’s operations manager, Dorothy Ward, says, “Lots of snowbirds use us because in addition to flights, we have our rental department. We manage properties, so we help them find condos or houses.
   “People also run back and forth to the Northeast and the Midwest,” she adds. “The older residents here stay active.” Carrington agrees, saying, “Older people enjoy the challenge of traveling. It makes them feel young.” Ward notes, “And then there’s the ‘keeping up with the Joneses factor,’ too. Someone goes somewhere out of the ordinary, and then others say they want to go there, too.” She cites such recent examples as the Galápagos Islands, the Arizona desert, and Utah.
   Millennium cruises “are very hot, and very expensive,” Ward and manager Isabelle Thomas report. Both also say that the effect of the Internet is a “mixed bag.” People often surf the ’Net, “and then call us.” 2418 Palm Ridge Road, Sanibel, 941/472-3117 or 800/513-3117.
Longtime Sanibel resident Leigh Klein, now the owner of All Ways Travel, assists a “huge variety of year-round residents.” In addition, she explains, “People who winter here do a good part of their travel planning with us. They book their summer trips because they plan them while they are on the islands.” Klein also serves international corporate clientele based in Boston and Atlanta. “Of course, with faxes and e-mail, we can contact people anywhere. They’re fantastic sales tools as far as securing hotels.”
   Her company books “a lot of Europe, a fair amount of the Caribbean, South America, and we do a lot of cruises.” She says corporate people are starting to contact the agency for personal travel, “although one thing we don’t book much of is skiing because during the high ski season, no one can get time off here!”
   Klein wonders if some people are afraid to book millennium trips because of Y2K problems. “I think it’ll be okay. So many hi-tech people are working on it, and there’s a glitch every day with anything.”
   The Internet, she notes, has definitely hurt the travel business. “My approach is that we appreciate when people do some of their own research. However, a lot of people don’t realize that buying over the ’Net cuts into our livelihood. Also, they aren’t going to get the service. Corporate clients don’t have time for the Internet. And we have access to things the public doesn’t have, like wholesale fares. Who else do you know but travel agents who work so hard and do so much research, and you don’t have to pay them?” Bailey’s Shopping Center, Periwinkle Way at Tarpon Bay Road, Sanibel, 941/472-3171 or 800/457-4250.
   Around The World Travel owner Nancy Intogna estimates that 85 percent of her agency’s business involves international destinations, including cruises, tours, and independent travel. “I worked for Pan Am for many years, and airline travel is where my expertise is,” Intogna says.
She books a lot of light adventure travel, such as small yachting trips, light treks, and walking tours. “We had a few people last year who went on an archaeological dig. I wouldn’t say there are any real trends, although Spain and Portugal are ‘hot’ this year.”
   The Internet “gives information but it’s not gospel,” she notes. People get interested in ideas from the Internet, but then they need someone to put it together. “Computers are limited, so clients won’t get the kind of help we do on a daily basis. Plus, a lot of people are nervous about putting their credit card number on the computer.” Anchor Point Shopping Center, 1633 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/472-1222 or 800/940-6468.
   In addition to rental accommodations, Royal Shell Vacations Inc. has offered a full-service travel desk since hiring Sally Davies last year. Davies, who has been in the travel business for 15 years, says, “This is such a good idea because people are calling about places to stay, and it makes so much sense to have us book the flights and rental cars. People often don’t even know what airlines fly here. It helps people, and it’s a service that our clients enjoy.”
She acknowledges that “a lot of people don’t want to be on a plane around the millennium. Of course, many flights and accommodations are sold out, and the prices are up,” Davies explains. “People are even putting down deposits on cruises and they don’t know where they’re going,” she adds incredulously.
   Davies does believe that if “you are a dedicated Internet person with a lot of time, you can get results. But it is very time-consuming. You could probably spend hours on it and come up with what the travel agent does. But why not have the travel agent do the legwork for you?” 1200 Periwinkle Way, Suite 3, Sanibel, 941/472-9111 or 800/656-9111.
   Shari Christenson, manager of Boca Grande Travel Inc., says most of the Gasparilla Island agency’s customers are “local people and people here for half of the year.” They travel to a variety of places, especially in Europe and South America. “Just when you think you’ve figured out where a lot of people want to travel, someone comes in with a new destination,” Christenson adds, laughing. Some clients won’t travel over the millennium because they’re worried about Y2K problems, but others don’t care. “For those people, we’re still finding destinations, but the price is double to triple, and the airfare is ridiculous.” She notes appreciatively that a lot of islanders “do research on the Internet and then come use us.” 380 East Railroad Avenue, Boca Grande, 941/964-0200.

—LG