Why deal with staff
turnover and tech issues when
it’s easy to switch?
Roberta Jacoby
of Carnival Cruise Lines
wishes Amadeus
a
Happy Brithday!
Agent Spotlight
Independent & Unique
Nina Travel flies solo with the help of Amadeus
Rosa Epstein is just like you.
The Miami, Florida, owner of Nina Travel is an Independent & Unique travel agent providing her customers with specialized knowledge and expertise. With Amadeus, she can focus on what she does best—selling travel—while we take care of the rest.
We recently sat down with Rosa to find out how this one-woman-show has utilized Amadeus Professional Plus Package to make her 10 year-old company thrive—without a big support staff … or even a
Web site.
Q. What makes Nina Travel unique?
A. I operate completely by referral, and most of my customers are long-term customers. I have a handful of regular companies I’ve done corporate travel for, but I’d say 60% of my work is leisure travel, and mainly to the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and Africa. I’ve become an expert on travel to Africa in particular.
Q. What’s the secret to your success?
A. Well, it is no secret that if you give them good customer service, they’ll call you back the next time they need you. I have personal relationships with my customers and have done tickets for many of them for many different places over the years. I charge a reasonable service fee, but I am much cheaper than some of the bigger agencies because my fee is so reasonable.
Q. How long have you used Amadeus?
A. Since 1998, when I bought the agency.
Q. How has Amadeus helped Nina Travel succeed?
A. It’s easy to use and the prices are good. Amadeus gives me very good prices on hotels and cars. They are usually much better than places like Hotels.com. At this point I don’t even waste my time double-checking prices because Amadeus gives me the best price.
And I love Amadeus Cruise. It’s a breeze to use and very profitable. I wouldn’t even bother with a system other than Amadeus. I used Sabre briefly before I bought Nina Travel and there’s just no comparison. Plus, I love my sales representative. She’s the nicest lady, very easygoing and a real asset to Amadeus.
Q. What new developments lie ahead for Nina Travel?
A. I would like to start using some of the other Amadeus products, maybe Amadeus Activities & Entertainment. I’m also looking forward to developing even more expertise about travel to Africa, particularly Kenya, which is a very hot destination right now.
