Food can be a highlight of any trip, and agents often suggest
restaurants to their customers when booking their itineraries.
Jeff Adam, vice president sales and marketing at Inta-Aussie in
Los Angeles, said his agency frequently supplies Australia-bound
customers with restaurant recommendations. No surprise there, as
his agency specializes in travel to Australia and the South
Pacific.
These restaurant recommendations are always popular with his
clients. "People are after the opportunity to throw some shrimp on
the barbie," said Adam, a native Aussie himself.
Although his agency occasionally packages particular restaurants
into client itineraries, Adam said many customers "don't like to be
locked in."
Inta-Aussie is still happy to provide some suggestions,
however.
Adam relies on personal experience -- he has been involved in
the South Pacific market for a number of years -- and his own
research.
"The food experience is important to [clients'] concept of the
destination. U.S. travelers ask, 'What do people eat Down Under?'
People are unsure," he said.
Elaine Goldhill, owner of Elaine Goldhill Travel Consultants in
New York, said she is more likely to steer clients away from a
particular restaurant than to recommend one. For information, she
reads travel and food publications, but her primary method is still
getting feedback from friends and clients.
"I call and ask, 'What didn't you like?' or 'What did you like
at some restaurant?' " said Goldhill, who would then recommend an
establishment that got "very special" reviews.
Goldhill is also a proponent of the informal restaurant search,
particularly when customers are traveling overseas. About 60% of
her business comes from leisure travel, with much of that to
Europe.
"Restaurants change a great deal, and I think people should walk
the neighborhoods and see the city," she said. "I don't think you
could get a bad meal in any bistro in Paris or in Italy."
All in good taste
Good dining can add to the memories and experience of the trip,"
said Mark Faigen, president of Travelmark, in Houston, Texas.
"Eating out is part of traveling."
Houston is home to some of the best Mexican food in the U.S.,
and Faigen, who has been an agent for 18 years, has some ideas on
where to find it.
One of the best places for Mexican is the original Ninfa's, east
of downtown. Others include El Tiempo and, for more Tex-Mex style,
try Pappasito's on the corner of Kirby and Richmond.
Jeff Adam, vice president of marketing for Inta-Aussie in Los
Angeles, said his top L.A. choices are Wolfgang Puck's -- mainly
for the scene, not the food -- and Miyagi's, if one wanted to mix
sushi and stargazing.
Adam was more opinionated about restaurants Down Under. Just put
the words "restaurant" and "Australia" in the same sentence and
stand back.
In Sydney, in the area of Watson's Bay, one of his top picks is
Doyle's, a seafood restaurant which, according to Adam, has "prawns
as big as your bloody arm."
Another top Sydney pick is near the city's famous opera house.
Bennelong serves "good Australian fare," with lots of Aussie
influences in the dishes. Adam said visitors to Sydney should check
it out. "They'd be pissed off if they were at the opera house and
did not go to Bennelong," he said.
If you're wondering what Australian influences are, Adam said
that the country's produce is very fresh, and there are touches of
indigenous and Asian cultures in the cuisine.
It doesn't get much more Australian than kangaroo, and if a
client wants to chew on some joeys in Melbourne, Adam suggests the
Tram Car Restaur-ant, which, as the name suggests, is in a tram
that rolls through the city.
Any suggestions?
Remember the days, long ago, when monitoring your clients meant
glancing over the notes left in the agency suggestion box? Perhaps
the suggestion box is one retro idea that ought to be salvaged.
I was
thinking about this the other day during a trip to London.
I had paused at a Pret a Manger, the hip, all-natural,
prepared-sandwich chain that has become a fixture in England with
more than 70 London outlets.
The food is fresh and tasty, and the stores are clean.
And there is a suggestion box. And lots of postcards addressed
to management.
On the front of each card is a note:
"My name is Alex. I'm the general manager of Pret [located] at
Piccadilly. My team and I meet every morning. We will discuss the
points you've raised ... the good, the bad and the ugly.
"If we can deal with it ourselves, we will. If we can't, I will
forward your card to Julian Metcalfe at the office. I know he will
do what he can. Either way, thanks."
Formed in 1986, this young company is expanding internationally,
even opening stores in New York. Everyone who stops in the store
sees the note.
Maybe it's time to revive the suggestion box in our
industry.
Richard Turen is an industry consultant and travel agency
president. Contact him at [email protected].