AboutSteve Collins Expertise My main area of expertise is in meeting and event planning. I can help answer questions on how to find the best hotel for a specific group, ways to make a group more attractive to a hotel so that they will offer better rates, and negotiation strategies for working with hotels. I can also give tips on items that are and are not standard in hotel contracts, although I am not an attorney.
I am not as familiar with the specifics of food and beverage functions (i.e. how many appetizers would you need to order for a reception of 250 people?).
Experience I had been working as a hotel sales manager for 11 years when I decided to "jump the fence" and become a meeting planner myself. I feel that my background can be very helpful in the negotiation process because I know what the hotels look for when evaluating a potential piece of business.
Question I am planning on openning a licensed travel agency and i will specialize on guided tours. how can get discounts in disney tickets and hotels in order to make my future travel agency more profitable.
Answer Honestly, as a new agency, you are going to have a difficult time getting amazing discounts. Typically the best discounts go to those agencies who have a proven history of producing for the vendor--once you reach a certain level of volume, you have more leverage to negotiate rates. Until then, you have no history from which to draw, and no proven track record with the vendors.
Are you planning on using Disney hotels for your stays? If so, you could contact a Disney sales rep and see about getting some discount packages (let me know if you need a contact, and I will see if mine is still current....). Keeping all of your business with one company will help, as you will not be splitting your business among several vendors. You might also look at the seasonality of the area--if you promise to bring groups in during their traditionally slower periods, they will usually be much more receptive to giving you better rates.
Another thing that will help if you have any flexibility is if you can book your groups during the week instead of weekends--again, trying to steer business into times when it helps them, as opposed to sending them additional business when they will already be busy.
