Debbi Aharon
Where were you born? Toronto.
What was your 1st job? Filing at Dun and Bradstreet when I was 18. I went to travel school afterwards.
How long have you been in the business? Since 1986 when I started at Al Perly Travel.
Tell me about your 1st airplane ride. I was 13 and we went to Florida. That’s about as much as I remember!
How has the business changed since you got into it? Pretty drastically. People of our generation have undergone the greatest wave of change in the industry. No more handwritten tickets, telexes, or single terminal we all had to share. I think 80% of the changes are for the good.
Do you have a specialty? Israel. It’s a little sad, depressing and stressful these days.
If you could have any job in the business what would it be? On the road sales for a hotelier.
What was your best FAM? Club Med; one to Punta Cana and one to Sandpiper in Florida. I like Club Med a lot.
What drives you crazy? The computer – we rely on it so much these days. And you can’t contact airlines anymore; we can’t call the person anymore. We have to do absolutely everything by email.
What was your biggest individual sale? $80,000 – a family of 10 going to Israel, doing the top-of-the-top. Another nice booking was $40,000 to Beaches Turks & Caicos.
What’s the 1st thing you do when you get into a hotel room? I check everything – the cleanliness. I’m really aware of what people don’t really look at.
Do you have a magic sentence to close the sale? No, just me! (laughs) My personality, my schmoozing, I get a feeling for the customer. I’d say I close 80 to 85%.
Do you have any time management strategies? Yes, it’s all in how I organize my desk. 3 piles: working files, completed files, files waiting for answers.
What do you do to keep your clients loyal? Touch base, be friendly, we get into a personal more than professional relationship. Lots of schmoozing and repeat business.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received? Be kind to people. You never know who’s on the other side.
If you had to spend 6 months in a destination, which one would you pick? One only? I’d love to open a B&B on an island - in Bali or in the Caribbean.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing? I always said I’d work with animals, dog-walking, volunteering.
If you or someone you know is a front line travel agent in Canada and would like to be featured in Up Front, please email martha@gk.openjaw.xyz
