Whether you remember McKenna from her days as an Avanti Travel Consultant 7 years ago, or you’ve interacted with her through our slew of curated online trainings, she is a well-known name (and face!) to those who partner with Avanti Destinations. Recently taking on a role as a Training Specialist within our Sales Team, nowadays McKenna connects with Travel Advisors who are new to Avanti, spending time reviewing our resources through in-depth online sessions. Not only does she guide Advisors on how to best utilize the Avanti online portal and make use of its bountiful features, but she organizes destination webinars to showcase locations and products that Avanti offers. McKenna is passionate about showcasing Avanti’s impressive collection of tools! An avid traveler herself, she has explored a handful of Avanti destinations, and even lead one of our educational excursions last autumn. You will find that she loves talking about travel and sharing personal stories and hidden gems. Find out more about McKenna, her travel recommendations, and Avanti’s training sessions below!
Tell Us About Your Role as Avanti's Training Specialist: "This role operates within our Virtual Sales team, meant to help connect the dots for new Advisors as well as those who want to deepen their understanding of our resources and offerings. Essentially, I connect with our TAs / partners and help them understand how to best utilize the tools that we offer. Whether that's showcasing our online portal and how to navigate it, or conducting a training about a destination and giving expert insights to the location and products that are available there. Travel Advisors can sign up for these trainings online, or connect with their local Avanti Sales Director anytime to request personalized sessions for their office or agency!" (You can find your Regional Sales Director here!)
What is Unique About Avanti's Trainings: “Our trainings aren't just about appealing to an audience - we recognize that there is a partnership with our Advisors and we work best as a team. Thus, our trainings are meant to strengthen our partnership. We curate our sessions based on what our Travel Advisors request and want to hear about, using feedback from events and through our Reservation Center, aiming to answer those inquiries. Additionally, everyone in our trainings are enthusiastic about travel and it shines through!"
What Has Been Happening in the Sales and Training Departments This Year: "As mentioned, we created additional roles within our new Virtual Sales department, and in general, we have reallocated our sales regions and hired additional team members to better serve our Travel Advisor community. We have added many new online tools, and are focusing a lot on expanding and enhancing our trainings to help our TAs and partners stay up-to-date with our growing technology. We just launched a new 3-part online series that takes place every month and helps our TAs get more familiarized with Avanti." If you want to join, get started and sign up here!
What Excites You About the Travel Industry: "I love talking about travel, sharing knowledge with each other, and finding those special hidden stories within destinations. It's really fun for me to teach and share what I have learned on my own travel adventures and help people find those experiences themselves."
What Are Some of Your Most Memorable Travel Experiences: "I have been on four Avanti educational trips: Japan, London and Paris, and twice to Italy - as well as some personal travel across the UK. My favorite was exploring Milan and Piedmont with Avanti, especially the truffle-hunting. We woke up early to meet with the truffle-hunting dogs, and had the opportunity to learn all about the history while we went into the woods and looked for truffles ourselves. Afterward, we got to relax and look out over the beautiful Piedmont countryside while the family prepared an amazing lunch with local cheeses and the truffles we found. Our glasses of wine were never empty! It was amazing meeting the family and spending time at their home while learning about traditions and eating delicious food."
What Are Some of Your Recommendations: "Take some time to go to the lesser-traveled areas of a destination. Piedmont in Italy, where every hilltop is crowned with a castle; Ireland, where there is something historical to enjoy every handful of miles; or the quieter side of Santorini and the lesser-known Greek Islands. With the smaller towns and less popular stops, you'll meet people who are so excited you chose to visit their town and experience things that are unique and memorable. Hitting the bucket-list cities is amazing, but when you sprinkle in a little bit of small town treasure, you are going to have memories that last forever and feel a bit like family there."
Thank you, McKenna, for sharing your insights, and for all that you do for Avanti!