According to an article in the Huffington Post, travel agents are considered a “secret weapon” when it comes to planning your trip. The article used research done by a luxury travel agent, Steve Shulem, to explain that not only are travel agents the best at getting the lowest prices possible, they are a safety net when things go wrong.
“People would be surprised to hear how affordable these things are,” said Darla Bentley who is the president of Northern Utah’s Blue Breeze Travel. “Because they hear words like ‘culinary art, and chandelier, sommelier,’ and they think ‘Oh, so much money,’ and it’s surprisingly affordable.”
Unlike the telephone booth, she said, travel agencies have not disappeared.
“Anyone can buy travel online, so the key is, to find some things that people can’t find online,” Bentley said. “So, I have a specialty niche. I am a certified culinary travel professional so I work with food travel, wine travel, and cultural items.”
Bentley specializes in tours to Italy, whether it be for a culinary escape or a cultural getaway. Like others who specialize she has developed her trade and found a way to sell a product that is unique to her services as an agent.
Reading and researching, testing and trying, Bentley finds herself visiting hostels, hotels, and private homes to help her clients find something unique and right now, fall travel seems to be focused on foods of the harvest - including beer. At a recent “Taste and Savor” event held at the posh Broadmoor in Colorado Springs she quizzed “The Beer Chick,” Christina Perozzi, about the current uptick in brews.
“I went to your session and we did some beer pairings with food,” Bentley said. “Are there any basic rules for cooking with beer?”
“The only one that I’ve really found is it’s really difficult to cook with hoppy beers,” Perozzi said.
She also spoke to Krista Heineke, the food and marketing PR manager for the Broadmoor.
“Tell us about the Taste and Savor event that is happening right now, Bentley said.
“Taste and Savor was born from an idea we had an event called Escoffier for ten years,” Heineke said. “We eventually grew out of it…we decided we needed to do something a little bit more…”
Bentley herself travels beyond the traditional role of a travel agent to provide better services.
If you need to rebook a flight or are planning to travel with a group Bentley said a travel agent will do the research for you and can find deals that can save you time, while at the same time, connect you to getaways in ways that may never have been done before.
Christina Perozzi
Krista Heineke