If you have been running a full-service travel agency for over the last three decades, then you should know a thing or two about dealing with crises of sorts, like global unrest, 911, economic uncertainty, SARS, Swine Flu and now COVID-19.
As we all know, the world is full of surprises – anything can happen with the snap of a finger. We learned this first-hand a year ago when the world’s worst pandemic took its grip on everything, dramatically affecting many industries, one being the $1.5 trillion global tourism industry.
But as we all know, and as the saying goes: “it’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Felicia Di Francesco knows this better than most in our industry.
Sure, there will always be competition in business and there will always be global crises, but the trick to staying on top of your game in the travel industry is to stay focused on the needs of each and every client and embrace change – life happens.
For Felicia and her team, it all boils down to having the right mindset and always being customer focused.
Felicia got her start in the travel industry right after she graduated from York University with a Degree in Psychology.
“My passion and interests have always been to travel and meet people with common interests. I wanted to work with people not because they had to come see me but because they wanted to come see me. Travel was one option and what better career to embrace. So, this is how the adventure all began,” she says.
But Felicia had a more focused vision when she launched her full-service travel agency. For her, it was about creating a one-of-a-kind service centered on “experience” for each client, not just being that same-old-same-old agency calculating success through numbers.
“I was young then and I really wanted to travel,” recalls Felicia. “At the beginning it was funny because each and every time I issued tickets – and in those days you actually issued tickets – I felt so excited for the passengers because it was like I was travelling with them. I wanted to create their dream vacation. Today, I am actually booking trips for the same clients but their children’s vacations and in a much more diversified world of travel. Travel is one of those industries where you never stop learning and evolving with the times. Travel agents are the middle people branching out to other people to create their experience. I still book with the same mindset.”
So, just how does she really help ensure the best experience for each and every client?
“Every single trip is extraordinary, and the value and cost of it makes no difference,” explains Felicia. “That person that is going on a plane for the first time – that’s extraordinary. That person reuniting with their families after many obstacles – that’s extraordinary. That itemized itinerary with couples to beautiful Dubai and Abu Dhabi or the beach party with Toga outfits – all extraordinary. And wait, that overwater bungalow in Bora Borra – very extraordinary.”
Felicia’s travel business is now Vaughan’s leading full-service travel agency and offers everything so that each client has the best possible experience: Spectacular river cruises, customized luxury journeys, romantic off-the-beaten-path honeymoons, and personally escorted tours with themes, such as music, shopping and Christmas markets, to name a few.
All the pieces that make up anything to do with a curated customized travel experience they can provide. Over the years Felicia has collected so many wonderful connections which means that she is never far away from a person she can call upon to offer that little extra to make a world of difference or to help in a problem that may arise. It isn’t all about what you know, says Felicia, but it is who you know, and I have made sure to help align her with fabulous people all over the world.
The successful travel agent was born and raised in Toronto and is of Italian descent; her parents immigrated to Canada 1957. She majored in Psychology and minored in Philosophy at York University. She also loved music and as a child took piano lessons. At the age of 15, Felicia was hired by the Ontario Conservatory of Music where she was taking lessons and started teaching piano and theory classes. There was a time when she was in school and taught almost 50 after school programs to young children. She also worked part-time in a fitness studio as a fitness instructor and led aerobic classes.
As you can see, Felicia has always worked where there were people gathered, learning, and enjoying from all of it.
“I am looking to evolve further and help every travel enthusiast,” she says.
Felicia has now started to offer many more luxurious and personally designed itineraries as people have started to search for this and it takes a great deal of knowledge and connections to be able to do this.
Her personalized service is always a pleasure and appreciated by her long-standing clients. “Anyone can push a few buttons and book a vacation, but I want to use the knowledge I have gathered over the 33 years in travel and be able to create something special for my clients.”
If one thing is certain, Felicia knows that travel will be different moving into a “new normal” and is going to be ready to help those looking for her help when they are ready.
Stay tuned, Felicia has big plans to transform her company into a post-pandemic travel hub where questions can be answered, plans can be made and rearranged if need be and memories once again can be planned.
They will soon be launching their new brand, website, adding a few fabulous, escorted journeys to Europe, Asia and more featuring special guest hosts and exclusive experiences only offered by them and so much more – all positive steps as we enter a post-pandemic world.
Travel is storytelling, creating memories and those who know how to pivot with the times and search new and exciting and yet safe experiences will lead the future of travel.
I am excited to see Felicias journey and look forward each Friday to our live fireside chats to talk about the travel business as it changes around us.
