voyages to antiquity - Parallels Plesk Panel

EDITOR’S LETTER
Using Scent to Close the Sale
At Montage Laguna Beach: I’m shown
here with Jeff Johnson, VP of
Montage Hotels & Resorts, and
Todd Orlich, GM of the Montage
Laguna Beach. I visited the
famous seaside resort during a
recent West Coast trip. Watch for
my report in a future issue.
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6 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | OCTOBER 2011
I
walked past a store that sells comic books
today. I knew it before I even saw it because I
could smell the paper and the ink and the dry
mustiness of the newspaper shop that has a
single counter up front holding packets of gum
and cough drops. On the floor was one pile after
another of magazines, reaching all the way to a back
table where a single visitor scraped away at instant
Lotto tickets with the edge of a dime.
It was the first chilly September morning in
Manhattan and I was shocked at how instantly
the scent of the shop and the nip in the air transported
me back to my youth in Yonkers, NY, when
going to purchase a comic book every Sunday after
church was the greatest luxury I could imagine at
the time. My brother and I were each allowed to
select any one that we wanted. For me, it was easy
(an Archie comic), but he had to choose between
Archie and boy-related publications like Superman
and Spiderman.
I have other favorite city scents that take me
back to lovely times.
The other evening, before it had even cooled
off, I caught a waft of pretzels roasting on a cart
on Fifth Avenue. Even though the air was hot and
humid, it was most certainly a precursor to fall,
which I surprisingly and suddenly longed for as I
passed the pretzel man.
I happen to love how New Orleans smells.
Not the odor that Bourbon Street serves up in the
morning before the sidewalks have been hosed
down, but that slight mustiness caused by a climate
that delivers constantly high humidity. The
moment I touch foot in Louis Armstrong Airport
and inhale deeply, I know I’m back in one of my
favorite cities. It makes me feel secure.
Malaka Hilton of Admiral Travel International
says that her favorite travel scent is the blue agave
soap from Lady Primrose. “Takes me back to One
& Only Palmilla!” she says. Mary Jean Tully of The
Cruise Professionals tells us that being in Africa in
the bush delivers her favorite travel scent. “Nothing
beats the fresh air smell of being in the bush—it
alters your senses!” she says.
A fan on our Luxury Travel Advisor Facebook
page says that the scent of plumeria brings back terrific
memories. “Takes me back to that wonderful
lei I received when I first landed in Hawaii. Much
needed after being on a packed flight for hours.”
Do you use the sense of smell to paint an
image of the experiences your clients will enjoy in
a destination you’ve been to? As you’re describing
to them how they’ll feel when they travel to view
Machu Picchu, do you tell them how the air will
smell when the sites of the ruins are unveiled below
them through the mist? If you have visited a hotel
and, like Malaka Hilton, been able to bring back a
sample of a lovely soap or lotion that’s used there,
why not share it with your client as they’re sitting
at your desk looking at photos of potential places
to go?
Using every bit of inspiration doesn’t hurt. After
all, you’re dream makers and fantasy fulfillers. Why
not give it a shot?
As for me, I’m headed back to the comic store to
get my fill of some very happy childhood memories.
RUTHANNE TERRERO, CTC
Vice President/Editorial Director
rterrero@questex.com
www.twitter.com/ruthanneterrero