[Travelandtourism] Hello everyone

Tue Jul 28 00:16:46 UTC 2015

If you are in a college or university, you should try and get your
Associates Degree in Hospitality, it maybe also called hotel & restaurant
management.

It has a lot of business courses you will  need no matter what kind of field
you go into.

Certificate? What certificate?

Realize whether or not you call yourself a travel agent, destination travel
expert, etc.

There is no such thing as a certified travel agent. You can become a cruise
line specialist from CLIA (Which is the Cruise Lines International
Association) or the  Travel Institute, which are online recognized programs
that existing travel professionals take while they are working. 

I am an Accredited Cruise Counsellor (ACC) Certification took me 2 years to
do, you have to study online, partake in events locally, do ship inspections
and also cruise a certain amount of cruises.

I am also a also a CTC Certified Travel Counselor, which means I have to be
in the travel industry at least 5 years' experience, and taking online and
destination travel.

We specialize in the US travel, Caribbean destinations like (Jamaica - We
are one love specialists,  St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Barbados, Bermuda,
Curaçao, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, and more recently Grenada); we are now
getting into more people going to Greece, England, Spain, & other countries
in Europe.

It takes learning every single day in this industry. 

To give you some advice about this industry is that you need to know what
you want to do, do you want to work for a travel agency, work for a host
agency and become and independent contractor (which we do both). Do you want
to work for a resort or cruise lines.

The more information you know about the product the better. The 1st thing
is, don't going into something you know nothing about. I you never been to
Walt Disney World, or us in the travel industry we say WDW, then get
yourself there, and stay on property. We have been going there since I was
little and we love it and love watch all the changes. 

Want to offer cruises but never been on a cruise, when then go on a cruise.

Again, you cannot offer something you never experienced. I was in sales
many, many years prior to losing my vision at 35, I started my business at
the age of 43, I am now 48. Also had a father who was in sales for many
years in management, my sister works in management for Sleepy's department
stores. So it is in our blood. Same thing if you want to be a tour operator
or a tour guide, you need to know where you are going or you cannot offer
it.

I hope I opened your eyes and those who are interested in this field.
Hospitality isn't just being a travel expert, it is everything from retail
sales, hotel management, travel professionals, to the people who clean the
floors and cook your food.

Sorry a lot of information.

One final thought, you need to love this business, it is a craft. Sometimes
I am up until 1AM learning something, or doing a webinar. Or getting
paperwork ready for a client.

If you don't love it. This is not the field for you. 

Cheryl Echevarria, President
National Federation of the Blind's Travel and Tourism Division
A proud division of the 
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND - "Live the life you want"
www.nfbtravel.org
To join the talk list
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org
631-236-5138
cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.

Cheryl Echevarria 
Travel is our specialty and offering the best of meaningful travel for all
ages is our passion!
http://www.echevarriatravel.com
reservations at echevarriatravel.com
631-456-5394

Visit my website to get my FREE report, “Top 5 Good Reasons to Use a Travel
Professional”

I build my business on referrals. Please pass my details on to friends and
family members that deserve the best vacation that they can imagine

P.S. – Families of all sizes is my specialty. Whether you are just starting
out and looking for that romantic destination for your destination wedding
or honeymoon. Booking that planned family vacation to Walt Disney World or
that bucket list trip that Grandma  & Grandpa are planning for the family, I
would love to help you. 

We have partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her
braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama

-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Kentreene via Travelandtourism
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2015 5:04 PM
To: NFB Travel and Tourism Division List <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Kentreene <kentreene at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] Hello everyone

Hello. No, I was not at the convention this year. I am recently only now
joining. I am going to school to get my hospitality certificate. I would
have gotten to hospitality and tourism management degree however there were
quite a few cooking courses that cannot be accommodated for me because of
the school I have chose to go to. It is a state college not a university.
And so I change my major to do certificate. Which was fine with me because
now I don't have to take the cooking courses. But I will still get
everything out that I want and need. I love everything hospitality.
Especially planning and traveling. I actually plan my wedding three years
ago into thous in September 2012. I live in Palm Beach. I plan a destination
wedding so it was in the city of Orlando.

Kentreene Anderson

> On Jul 27, 2015, at 4:45 PM, Cheryl Echevarria via Travelandtourism
<travelandtourism at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Welcome to the list:
> 
> Were you at the convention earlier this month.
> 
> Should you wish to join the Division it is $10 a year.
> 
> Tell us all about the schooling and what you are doing. We need people 
> going into the field. I have our meeting on our website at
> http://nfbtravel.org/75th-anniversary-convention-of-the-national-feder
> ation-
> of-the-blind-videos/
> 
> Also, I was a panelist with the Jobs Seekers Seminar about the 
> hospitality industry.  Please take a look.
> 
> We have monthly teleconference calls 3rd or 4th Tuesday of the month 
> about 8pm Eastern Time.
> 
> Again, welcome. I just want to emphasize to all that this division is 
> about travel & tourism. You do not need to be a travel professional to 
> be here. We talk all travel whether in making travel more accessible 
> or sharing travel ideas and tips with each other. And we also try to do a
trip once a year.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> 
> Cheryl Echevarria, President
> National Federation of the Blind's Travel and Tourism Division A proud 
> division of the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND - "Live the life you 
> want"
> www.nfbtravel.org
> To join the talk list
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org
> 631-236-5138
> cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
> 
> 
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the 
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the 
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create 
> obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life 
> you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
> 
> 
> Cheryl Echevarria
> Travel is our specialty and offering the best of meaningful travel for 
> all ages is our passion!
> http://www.echevarriatravel.com
> reservations at echevarriatravel.com
> 631-456-5394
> 
> Visit my website to get my FREE report, "Top 5 Good Reasons to Use a 
> Travel Professional"
> 
> I build my business on referrals. Please pass my details on to friends 
> and family members that deserve the best vacation that they can 
> imagine
> 
> P.S. - Families of all sizes is my specialty. Whether you are just 
> starting out and looking for that romantic destination for your 
> destination wedding or honeymoon. Booking that planned family vacation 
> to Walt Disney World or that bucket list trip that Grandma  & Grandpa 
> are planning for the family, I would love to help you.
> 
> We have partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her 
> braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf Of Kentreene Anderson via Travelandtourism
> Sent: Monday, July 27, 2015 4:17 PM
> To: travelandtourism at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Kentreene Anderson <kentreene at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Travelandtourism] Hello everyone
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> My name is Kentreene and I am new to this list. I am a 24 year old 
> woman from Florida. I am currently going to school for Hospitality, so 
> you could imagine I love traveling. Look forward to hearing from everyone.
> 
> Kentreene
> 
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