RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico -- During a general session at TravelAge West's Future Leaders in Travel, an event designed for travel advisors 40 years old and younger, a group of travel advisors huddled together, facing a wall in the ballroom at El Dorado Royale resort.
It's an unusual sight for a travel industry conference. But at Future Leaders, it's intentional.
Called the "Intention Wall," the installation features musings from the 75 travel advisors and 60-plus supplier partners in the room -- all hand-written on rainbow-colored sticky notes -- and sorted under the prompts "start," "stop," "ask" and "grow."
Erin Nielson, of Travel Design by Erin, asked, "How do I break into doing affinity and niche groups?"
There was also a column for shoutouts, where attendees celebrated connections or called attention to supplier partners in the room.
Now in its second year, the Intention Wall was created as an evolving and interactive element of Future Leaders in Travel, meant to stimulate conversation around professional development and encourage the sharing of best business practices. It is sponsored by Riverside Luxury Cruises.
"For me, when I think about how I built my team, I built it very intentionally," Riverside CEO Jennifer Halboth said. "We all get set in our ways -- it's impossible not to. I love coming to this event because of the conversations with younger advisors. When they all come together and take a minute to really focus on where they want to take their business, it really makes a difference."
Periodically throughout the four-day event, Halboth and Riverside colleague Ian Duncan, along with a select group of second-year travel advisor attendees -- called "guides" -- took the mic to read entries from the wall and pose questions for the wider group.
"Ever since we started Future Leaders, we always wanted there to be introspection," said Mindy Poder, editor in chief of TravelAge West, noting that her team built content that enabled participants to reflect and process what they were learning. "The Intention Wall is visual. For them to write it down then put it up and have time to share with the group, it's another component to this event that is a bit different from other events."
Shannon Sellers of Coastal and Main Travel Company (front) and Jenni Nnoli of Santa Barbara Travel Bureau at the Future Leaders Intention Wall. Photo Credit: Emma Weissmann
Travel Planners International's Jenn Lee addressed the crowd on Nielson's question about affinity groups.
"Ask yourself: Who already has a relationship with your next best customer?," she said. "Find somebody online, in your community, pick up the phone and call them. Chances are if you're excited about it, others are excited about it. Once you figure that out, find the partner, talk to the BDM, take out group space and voila! You've gotten into the affinity space."
Lee's advice was immediately put to use. An hour later, Nielson had messaged a former colleague who is well-connected with a network of mahjong players. By the end of the morning, the two had decided to collaborate on an affinity group.
Another entry asked about strategies for garnering leads and referrals. Travelmation's Anses Rancalv shared her unique strategy with the group: An avid Disney lover, Rancalv collects her own Disney points; when she receives a client's referral, she enters the client into a raffle for a two-night stay at a luxury Disney resort.
TravelAge West is a sister brand to Travel Weekly. Both are owned by Northstar Travel Group.