As you may recall, I am the Queen of Italy at work. Not in the sense that I think I am royalty, though I do notice a pronounced tendency to use the royal "we" when talking to clients, as in, "We'll contact you when your documents are in." No, I am the honeymoon and romance specialist, and for the last year or more it seems as though every other person I talk to is getting married and wants to honeymoon in Italy. I have three trips like that in the final planning stages right now, as a matter of fact. Don't talk to me about Venice in June.
But lately I have become, and I say this in all modesty, the Baroness of Belize. I'm working towards queenhood, but until I visit I can't claim excessive enthusiasm, a necessary trait in the Destination Queen business. It is a wonderful alternative to the more crowded Mexico, though, so I'm fairly enthusiastic. I concede the title of Queen of Hawaii to my boss, and I am a complete fraud when it comes to selling cruises, having never been on one. But man oh man, do I know Belize. After six vacation packages in three months I've established warm relationships with the wholesalers, found web sites for every single resort, decided how to best present the information that clients will be flying on a plane not much bigger than the tree fort they had as a kid when they go to Ambergris Caye, and exhaustively catalogued the possibilities for tourist activities. I'm fielding weekly inquiries about Belize. It's a hot destination suddenly.
So I've been busy. My normal sales for a week are $7,000-$8,000. Last week I hit $11,000 and I've probably done that much again this week. That's a hell of a lot of phone calls, typing, and talking. My jaw hurts from smiling so much. I enjoy booking lots of travel, but this is ridiculous.
At least one particular pressure's off. We're now just over a week from Easter so I can finally say with perfect truth to anyone who asks that it's too late to find somewhere warm with a beach for their vacation. That is, I can get them there but I can't find them a hotel room, or vice versa. End of story. I hate the three weeks prior to a big holiday because there's still a chance I'll get something so I have to hunt and finesse and spend a lot of time on it. Then the client's credit card is declined, or they decide not to go, or, I dunno, the political situation in Indonesia deteriorates and suddenly I'm out my time with no money to show for it. That's the risk you take in sales, of course, but I dislike it all the same. So I love it when the deadline passes.
Can we interest you in a lovely vacation to Europe instead? Cheap rates, and the weather's improving daily. No? A pity. Do call again. We'll be right here, adding to our titles.
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