Having a specialty is the key to success for many travel advisors. It may be a destination (say, the Caribbean), a style of travel (cruises), or a theme (destination weddings).
But some advisors like to narrow their focus to minimize their product line and maximize their profit line, and reap time-efficient rewards and word-of-mouth referrals. Here’s one hugely successful super specialist!
Sandra Pappas, Agency Owner of ClickTheMouse Travel, St. Catharines, Ont.
Specialty: Disney
Pappas has a long association with Disney, dating back to her own vacation with her parents in the 1970s. She began her travel advisor career in 2002 and proceeded to sell a lot of Disney. Then, in 2014, when Disney launched its EarMarked by Disney authorized agent program in Canada, she decided to go out on her own, focusing strictly on the famed brand. Sixteen years later, she is the busy, fulfilled owner of ClickTheMouse, an agency that sells Disney vacations and cruises, as well as Universal, almost exclusively.
The online agency, which hosts a whopping 60 advisors across Canada, now even has a small branch office in Orlando. And there are always advisors who want to join the team, she told Open Jaw, with 2 or 3 resumes coming in each week.
“I have a background in marketing and media – I was a MuchMusic producer for 13 years. When I became an advisor I recognized that, as much as consumers love Disney, the options can be overwhelming. So I felt there was room in the marketplace for an agency that specialized in the product.”
Her media savvy has also paid off in coverage in outlets like CTV News and the Toronto Star.
So how do customers hear about ClickTheMouse?
“People find out about us because I try to do good marketing online, and word-of-mouth is huge – our reviews are very positive.”
Product knowledge is important for any super-specialist, and the ClickTheMouse team has it in spades. Pappas herself has lost count of how many times she has been to Disney World (“At least 100 – plus I have a property in Florida and when I’m there I go two or three times a week,”) and has done, she estimates, 25 cruises.
ClickTheMouse also has an advisor who has just completed her 99th Disney cruise. “We don’t sell quite so much Disneyland, but it’s strong out of western Canada.”
She’s also a fan of the lesser-known small-group Adventures By Disney to “non-Disney” destinations such as Italy and Japan.
Asked to recall one extraordinary booking, she said: “When the Wish Class ships came out, there were tower suites on the four-night cruises selling for US$45,000 – plus air, of course. I booked one, and so did one of my ClickTheMouse colleagues.”
Her next big Disney experience is planned for October, when she will witness the reveal of plans for the next Wish-class ship, the Disney Believe, during a Disney cruise.
Pappas spoke to Open Jaw in late August, just as the latest group of tariffs was announced by the US.
“We had seen our business drop from 90% Disney to around 80% when the first ‘elbows up’ movement started – who knows what will happen this time. It’s hard to know how consumers will react.”
In the interim, she will continue to love all things Disney – including her job. As Pappas (who signs her emails “ChEARS”) says, “It’s never work for me.”
