Randy Rafael
Where were you born? In Hamilton.
What was your 1st job? I worked in the hospital in the stores department, and later as an orderly taking care of elderly people.
How long have you been in the business? 37 years.
Tell me about your 1st airplane ride. On a CP Air DC8 from YYZ to LIS – the seats didn’t recline and I remember sleeping on the floor!
How has the business changed since you got into it? Dramatically! Over the years the number of agencies has exploded, the discounters came in. The biggest change was airlines taking commissions away and started treating us as adversaries rather than partners.
Do you have a specialty? Luxury cruising; Antarctica; Africa; Europe; South Pacific; Asia; and custom tour planning.
If you could have any job in the business what would it be? I’d want to be a travel agent! I love what I do – it’s the best job.
What was your best FAM? Years ago, Marilyn Barker at Adventure Tours hosted a 10 day sailing trip through the Bahamas for about 25 of us. It was a lot of fun!
What drives you crazy? Staff who are untrained. I’ve called a supplier 3 times and got 3 different answers. But I have to say, the staff at Globus are the best. Whether it’s their training or they hire the right people… I do a lot of work with them.
What was your biggest individual sale? A round-the-world cruise for about $90,000.
What’s the 1st thing you do when you get into a hotel room? What I should do is take a sterile wipe and wipe everything down! Check the view, I guess.
Do you have a magic sentence to close the sale? Not really. It depends on the client. Just ask for the credit card.
Do you have any time management strategies? Every day I have a to-do list on paper which is numbered by priority. That’s been the most useful for me.
How do you cope with jetlag? I usually have a nap for an hour or 2. But flying west I don’t generally have a problem.
What do you do to keep you clients loyal? I provide the best service I can. I make notes of their interests, planned trips. I get a lot of referrals because of it.
If you had to spend 6 months in a destination, which one would you pick? Probably Australia or New Zealand. There’s so much to see and do. And I think they are closest in attitude to Canadians.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing? I don’t know. My whole career has really been in this business and I never had a burning desire to be in any other business.
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.
