Jackie Friedman, president of the
host agency Nexion, has seen new travel agents coming from all walks of life: teachers,
nurses, law enforcement officers and more.
But one more recent trend she’s
noticing is that some travel bloggers are becoming agents and, in turn, using
their blogs as vehicles to help sell travel.
Buena Paz Lara Montero is one of
those bloggers. Montero originally worked on the East Coast in the telecom
industry, but when her husband’s company relocated, they moved to Texas. She
didn’t go back to work right away and ended up having two children, so she
became a stay-at-home mother.
Before her children, Montero and
her husband Paul were frequent travelers. They feared having children would
mean the end of their travels, but to their surprise, it didn’t — they
continued trekking around the globe as a family, even with a child as young as
3 months old.
That led Montero to start her
family travel blog, Bon-Bon Voyage, this spring. She wanted other families to
know they, too, could travel with their children. She offers both
location-specific posts, like “Venice with Kids: Know Before You Go,” and
specific travel tips, like “Traveling with Kids.”
Montero said her daily focus is
still on her children, but as they have gotten a bit older, some of her time
freed up and she wanted to go back to work. Her husband suggested she follow
her passion, traveling, and find a job in the industry. After some research,
she enrolled in the Travel Leaders of Tomorrow program, and Nexion started
hosting her in the summer.
Now, Montero’s blog is growing in
popularity, and with that growth have come leads from readers interested in
traveling.
Montero said she has also booked
travel for an unexpected group — fellow bloggers. She has had some interest
from other travel bloggers who are too busy to book their own travel, as well
as bloggers she knows in person (Montero is a member of the Dallas Blogger
Society) looking to book a trip.
Blogging is becoming an
increasingly popular way for agents to connect with potential clients.
Friedman said she is seeing some
agents start off as bloggers, using their blog as a platform to establish their
expertise, like Montero. Additionally, she said, “we are starting to find a lot
more of our agents going the other way and actively blogging to try and build
their customer base. So we’re seeing it in both directions.”