Written By: Dugan’s Travels
In the travel industry, we spend a lot of time thinking about education. We create webinars, invite suppliers to present, build online courses, and record training videos. All of those resources have value, but after our recent four-day Bootcamp in Chicago, I was reminded that some of the most impactful learning happens when advisors simply have the opportunity to learn from one another.
When we designed the event, we made a conscious decision not to separate our newest advisors from our experienced Five-Star advisors. Instead, we intentionally mixed them together, creating small groups that represented a variety of experience levels, specialties, and perspectives. Our hope was that everyone would contribute something unique, and that’s exactly what happened.
Over four days, advisors attended educational sessions, toured the Viking Octantis expedition ship, experienced Chicago with Globus, met with ALG Vacations, and spent countless hours talking during meals, walks, and informal gatherings. While the supplier education was excellent, it was often the conversations between sessions that left the biggest impression.
Newer advisors had the opportunity to ask questions they might never have felt comfortable asking in a webinar. Experienced advisors openly shared the lessons they’d learned over years in the industry, the mistakes they wished they had avoided, the systems that helped them become more efficient, and the small changes that made a big difference in their businesses.
What surprised me most was that the learning wasn’t one-sided. Our veteran advisors frequently commented that the fresh perspectives and questions from newer advisors challenged them to think differently about their own businesses. Everyone walked away having learned something.
One of the highlights of the event was seeing advisors who had previously only known each other through online meetings finally connect in person. Those conversations didn’t end when the Bootcamp was over. Since returning home, we’ve continued to see advisors reaching out to one another, answering questions, sharing ideas, and offering encouragement. That’s the kind of community every host agency hopes to build.
It reinforced something we’ve believed for years at Dugan’s Travels: a host agency’s role isn’t simply to process commissions or provide booking tools. It’s to create an environment where advisors feel comfortable learning, collaborating, and growing together.
We often evaluate an event by attendance, speaker ratings, or survey scores. Those are valuable metrics, but they don’t tell the whole story. Chicago was much more meaningful.
The true success of the Bootcamp wasn’t measured by the number of presentations we offered. It was measured by the relationships that were formed, the confidence that was built, and the willingness of advisors to invest in one another’s success.
That’s the kind of education that can’t be replicated in a webinar. It happens when people share experiences, challenge one another, celebrate successes, and realize they’re part of something bigger than themselves.
Sometimes the most valuable thing a host agency can do isn’t create another training course. It is to create the opportunity for advisors to become each other’s greatest resource.