Why do Luxury Travel Designers ask so many questions?

Why do we ask so many questions? Luxury Travel Designers that is.

Whenever a new client approaches me to create a trip for them, I tell them in advance that I will email them a lot of questions. The point is of course, to help me tailor the trip to their wants and needs, likes and dislikes. You get that, right?

Funny then, that for many newbie clients, the first thing they will tell a friend is “she asks a lot of questions” and then, not reply to the email or not answer the questions.

So, based on the minimal amount of information provided, I prepare a quote. Hopefully you, the client, love it first time, it does happen, usually if you have answered all the questions, often though, the responses vary along these lines:

“ It is more than we wanted to spend”  – this happens when you give no rough idea of budget. (Remember, I book private jets, yachts and villas too, so I do need some indication so I don’t get carried away).

You asked for a remote Tuscan retreat, and are then disappointed when you find you are not walking distance from a local village.

Other responses, which are easily fixed but knowing these points would have got us a lot closer to what you are looking for the first time:

We like contemporary design, this is too traditional

We are not fans of this brand

We only ever fly X airline

We need a kids club for little Johnny

or we do not want to go anywhere that allows kid under 12

When you say you are looking for something with more charm, do you really mean cheaper?

When you say that you want to get away from it all and relax, will you be upset that there are no TVs in the rooms? How important is it to have Wifi?

So, when chatting to me about your holiday, think about your best ever holiday – what made it so fantastic. What was the worst holiday ever and why? Was it the place? The hotel ? The weather (I can’t do much about that but I will suggest you do not go to the Caribbean in hurricane season, then it is up to you).

And, then think about what would be your ideal holiday, if you could have anything you want, get creative and tell me and then let’s work with that and see what we can do.

Travel  Designers are people pleasers, we LOVE to travel, we get excited talking about different places, we want you to love your holidays and adventures too and even send us photos if you like. So next time you see a lot of questions, and I am not talking Advance Passenger Information Forms, think about how long it will take you to answer them versus how much better your holiday will be.

Any questions?

Janet x