My First Experience at the New York Times Travel Show
- Jan 22, 2016
- 6 min read
Traveling has always been a dream for me. I consider the exploration of places beyond my backyard as a connection to the world. We learn to appreciate the various cultures that our world is made of. That is so important these days more than ever. Traveling on a budget as a single mom was a challenge worth accomplishing. This is the basis I am striving to present in my business, Just Ask Kiky, opening that door to opportunities for families and people of all backgrounds. By the grace of God, I’ve gotten married, expanded my family and started this company to continue my dream. I am so grateful to have a husband that has encouraged me to take this journey and enabled me to become a host agent with a great host agency.
Nine months into my journey, I decided to attend my first travel show in New York City at the Javits Center this past January 8-10th. What an experience! The New York Times Travel Show has so many opportunities available for consumer and trade individuals. Even if you’re not in the industry and just want to find out about places to travel to, a travel show is a must do.
Admission is pretty affordable with discounts for pre-purchase. I paid $59 plus tax for an industry ticket in advance which sold for $79 at the door. A typical standard admission for the general public was $20 in advance and $25 at the door which covered both days of public admission to the exhibits. There are shows all over the country and finding one a bit closer should not be hard to do. This particular show worked out perfectly for me. I have family and friends close by and love visiting Manhattan whenever I get the chance.
The Javits Center is a huge convention center that can be a bit overwhelming to take in for the standard Midwesterner. I was a little confused on check in and getting all the goodies that came along with it. It took a while but I eventually figured it out. I was traveling with my husband and youngest daughter and we had to come direct from the airport to take part in the first day which was the industry day. That was a bit grueling to navigate with a toddler in tow. I owe my hubby a big gigantic THANK YOU for taking over toddler watch. The Javits center is large and there were two other large events going on at the same time. There were three levels to explore for the separate parts of the event. This can make for a very active day. Manhattan itself is a walking city, a big change for someone from Indiana that is use to driving and being able to park close by. We did a lot of movement between floors due to the different locations of the seminars, lunch and the actual exhibits. Our situation was a bit more difficult because we had to have our toddler in tow and strollers were not allowed on the exhibit floor that first day. Luckily they did have a coat/item check available but those of you with little ones know carrying a two year old around a large exhibit hall is not the best plan.
The highlight was when I met fellow agent, Francine, who was so kind to breakdown how to get through and take advantage of all there was to do at the show in layman terms. Being unfamiliar with the process and new to the industry it was a bit hard to follow what to do and when. Plus we didn’t arrive in time to make the morning set of seminars. Francine was fantastic. I was so glad to meet her and share with her more about my company and book. She gave me a bit more confidence to move forward and make the most of the rest of my day. I was able to get into the key note address and the back end of a seminar. Basically the trade day was setup with various seminars for early morning and late afternoon. The full conference ticket included a boxed lunch, key note address, end of day reception and admission into all three days of exhibits.
The welcome address was very inspirational and instructional on how to identify and focus on client needs. Meeting people was a bit difficult unless you’re really aggressive. Everyone was fairly polite but it took some effort to get information and to start up conversations. The exhibit hall opened up late afternoon. This was a large array of tour and travel operators that allowed me to get one-on-one information. We had to move through things pretty quickly the first day due to the baby was getting a little antsy and it was time to shut it down for everyone’s sake!
Day two was open to the general public and a lot easier to navigate. The toddler slept through the entire visit and strollers were welcome that day on. Some highlights I greatly appreciated was the presence of the Federal Passport Department. If you’ve been following the news, there are major changes coming with the use and requirements of passports importantly the upcoming requirement to have a passport to fly domestically. They team handling the booth were great and provided great information which by the way, the new changes will go into effect 2018. Check out my Facebook, Twitter and Linked In post coming soon on the complete story. Another great highlight was the IT’S EASY passport booth. They are a passport expedite service. This organization was taking free passport pictures. For those of you especially those purchasing passports for an entire family, this is nice. Passport photos can cost $15 or more. You can take them on your own but with all the specifications it can be much easier to have a professional do it. Free is always better in my book!
A neat handy device that caught my eye was the ili wearable translator necklace that doesn’t require WiFi. This is a must have for those traveling abroad wanting to avoid high internet charges. It’s a sleek design that seems easy to use. This nifty gadget won’t be available until summer but it’s worth looking into.
The Clarice App had me interested for one because they had some extremely energetic guys working the booth. The app is a advertised as a mobile concierge service. It will help locate things to do within walking distance, GPS guided tours, travel tips for your location, allow you to book reservations and many more things to make your vacation hassle free. It is a fairly new service so they are still building their services for various popular travel destinations. The app can be downloaded from the your phone’s app store. It’s definitely worth taking a look at.
There were several cooking demonstrations, live cultural performances and even some massage options for the growing wellness travel category that stretched way beyond weight control resorts. Another benefit to travel shows are the exclusive deals that are offered for just attending the show. You definitely have options to book on site and can end up with a great discount to your favorite destination. There is also the ability to find out about obscure and unknown travel destinations. A lot of people are always looking for that perfect destination that may not be super popular but an inviting paradise. Coming to a travel show will provide this type of information.
Travel shows are offered in all parts of the world and can offer some great benefits. I absolutely loved my first time attending this show and look forward to next year. I hope to check out a few local options in the months to come. AAA has a show they do every year around February. It is more for the general public since AAA has its own travel agency department. It is still a great way to connect to vendors and get great deals on your next vacation. If you’re considering attending and want to find more information about the companies listed above, check out:
travelshows.com/
nyttravelshow.com
www.iamili.com/
clariceapp.com/
www.javitscenter.com
Happy Travels!
#NewYork Travel Show
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