Travel Planners International – An Employee Account

My name is Luis De Jesus and I work at Travel Planners International a full-service host agency. I want to share with you my experience working at this wonderful place.

First of all, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was born in Newark NJ and raised in the beautiful Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. While growing up I was amazed at the magnificent views and rich culture that my little island offered. I guess that’s why I decided to study Tourism when I graduated from High School.

I worked for a few years doing fulfillment for the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. I was the guy that made sure all the brochures got to the trade shows and other events. I can’t tell you how many “Que Pasa” magazines I shipped out.

In 1999, I began my first travel agency experience and cruise reservations was my niche. At first, I didn’t know much about cruises. I used to think Category 1 meant Deck 1. Oops, but I learned quickly!

I also worked for a friend of mine who was a home-based agent for a host agency. I remember being in his living room selling what I did best – cruises. And that’s when my love for selling cruises grew even more.

In 2007, I decided to move to uncharted territory for me – Orlando, Florida. I guess the mouse convinced me to stay. Who doesn’t love the mouse? I was very fortunate to be hired on the spot in my very first job interview in Florida. Where? Travel Planners International.

I started in the Cruise & Tour Helpdesk Dept. and I’m now in Customer Service. I absolutely love my job. I believe that my past experience working in a travel agency and in a home-based agency has helped me put myself in our agent’s shoes. I realize that I work on “the other side”, but I try my best to see things the way our agents see things. By providing the agents with the assistance they need, this makes me feel that I am helping them grow their business to ultimately be more successful.

And this is also certainly true with our entire staff. Many of them have similar backgrounds or have benefited from constant support and training. My co-workers are a very special group of people. We work as a team, always helping each other with one goal in mind – be there for our agents.

I’ve witnessed the growth that Travel Planners International has experienced in the past 7 years including our new web platform TPICENTRAL.com, our strong supplier relationships, the vast educational programs, the training opportunities with TPI Insight, and of course our annual TPI Extravaganza event.

I wouldn’t change this experience for anything in the world! It’s a pleasure to come to work every day and contribute my grain of sand to this fantastic organization. If you want to be part of the best host agency there is, your choice is clear – Travel Planners International.

By Luis De Jesus, Customer Service Support, Travel Planners International