Written By: Scott Koepf, Vice President of Strategic Development – Cruise Planners
Last month I talked about the classic musical, Man of La Mancha, based on the story of Don Quixote by the author Cervantes. We discovered that the beloved character of Don Quixote is not only a masterful story teller, but he is able to involve his audience in the stories he weaves. The ability to ‘sell’ based on not just telling a story but creating the story by integrating his audience is the key to success in travel retailing. However, the real secret to the compelling aspect of Don Quixote’s story comes from the most well-known song from the show, The Impossible Dream.
Every great journey and every great business for that matter, starts with a dream. The more impossible the dream, the more rewarding the result. In our industry some would consider making a good income as a travel agent an impossible dream! I can assure you it is not, but I can also assure you that those that are generating an enviable income started with a dream that may have seemed unreachable when first envisioned.
Your dream for your business, like Don Quixote’s, must be expressed and shared – even at the risk of ridicule. John Maxwell, in his book Your Road Map to Success, says that your dream needs to paint a broad landscape so others can catch your vision. Your dream should include:
Flowers – to remind them to enjoy the journey.
Creating the vision for your business is just the beginning, as the dream needs to be fulfilled. This is where a dream becomes, as the song says, a quest. The bridge from dream to reality is the quest and it includes planning, strategies, tactics and just plain hard work. Don Quixote uses the analogy of reaching an unreachable star. As the song says…
In your dream, what is the star that your quest is designed to reach? It needs to be a stretch or it is not worthy of a quest. So dream big and reach high then spend some time painting the picture of your dream and make sure you write out the specific goals and steps you need to fulfill your personal quest!
Dream the Impossible Dream and reach for the unreachable stars! Paint the picture of your dream because as the song says…
Greater Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Dec. 31, 2025) — Visit Lauderdale, the official destination marketing…
From the World Cup to headline concert tours, passion-led travel is reshaping how younger audiences…
Why Human Expertise, Personal Advocacy, and Real-World Experience Still Outperform Algorithms in Travel Planning …
The professional forum built around Spain’s new brand, “Think you know Spain? Think again,” to…
December 23, 2025 (St. Mary’s, Antigua) – Hermitage Bay, the Caribbean’s highly acclaimed, adults-only,…
Beyond Inclusive bundles the most-requested amenities into one seamless, yacht-style cruising experience This Wave…