A Message from Clark Kotula and
May Webinar Schedule
I remember the last real hug I received from a stranger, it was March 12th around 8:30pm while at a travel industry event in Montreal. She was a Moroccan living in Canada and we shared stories about Morocco, me telling of my fond memories and appreciation of her beautiful homeland and culture - which brought out in her an overwhelming mixture of pride and homesickness - the moment culminated in a natural deep hug between us. Two strangers prior to that day were brought together through a love of travel and the human connection it fosters. The next morning I jumped on my last flight home to San Francisco with no idea that I’d be thinking of that innocent hug, and all it represented, almost 50 days later.
So much is out of our control right now: when will borders open, when will flights resume, when will kids go back to school, how long will the money last, are people even going to travel when it is possible, what will that look like? I’ve found great comfort in focusing just on the things that I have immediate control over and narrowing my focus to things that really MATTER: spending time with my family, looking after my children’s education and using the time to learn things I never had time for previously, caring for my local community and showing kindness, being thrifty with finances and spending money outside of the necessities only on things that bring real happiness and value to myself and those around me.
And I’ve seen that the carefully selected portfolio of properties we represent throughout Central and South America are thinking and acting the same. They are focusing on caring for the communities and environments that they directly support through tourism. None of them were created in the first place with the end goal of being a cash cow - they are small independently run properties that are rooted in welcoming visitors to their unique corners of the world to show them the wonderful people and landscapes they offer, and tourism allows them the financial means to care for their local communities and environments in return. The owners have always been on the path to figure out how to build a more sustainable, compassionate and purposeful travel experience - not on reporting profits to shareholders. Travelers who go to these properties leave feeling a deeper connection with their fellow humans and the destinations they came to experience, period. And these sort of attributes in travel experiences are going to be as important as ever now, as the world has been forced to slow down and take stock of what really matters in the long run, and separate it from the fluff of excess.
So when I think of that last hug in Montreal, and all it represents, it melts away the worries I have over things that are not directly under my control right now. Borders will open up, flights will resume, kids will go back to school, money will start flowing again and people will travel, no doubt. We are a species that is naturally curious, prefer to chase emotions over material things and crave human connection. We will hug again soon.
If this message resonates with you, then you might be interested in joining Kirsten and I on this series of webinars about the portfolio of properties we represent across Central & South America. We are going to focus on not just how to sell them, but why to sell them, and why now more than ever. They are all, by and large, in remote settings, extremely small, run by local communities, offer private services, are in bucket list destinations and dedicated to transformational travel practices that we believe will resonate even more with the post COVID-19 world traveler.
We welcome you to sign up for as many as you wish, even if you can’t make it on the time and date, we will send you the recording afterwards with “cliff notes” on what you missed. And we also welcome those that already know, sell and love these properties to join us too. Rather than ending with a Q&A session, we want to end with allowing those with experience of the properties and sending their guests there to share their connection with them and answer questions by their fellow travel peers.
For companies with 5 or more sellers of travel who would like to arrange a private, more interactive, brainstorming webinar on a certain destination or property, select the Private Webinar below which leads to a form where you can request that.
