Christie Troutt
Entertainment travel requires a lot of special knowledge and skills and can bring a lot of benefits to the table. In addition to handling all the travel logistics for the talent and crew, I can usually provide money-saving solutions that the average admin would not think of.
Sometimes, simply by shifting your dates slightly for a film or advertising crew, I can achieve significant savings. For example, booking 10 people into a city for six nights (60 room nights) during fashion week or when there is a huge convention in town can cost thousands of dollars more than if you came the week before or after.
Similarly, I have years of experience seeing the type of media baggage costs film crews incur. Most people assume all airlines charge similar rates. Not true! By booking with the right airline, I can sometimes save a film crew thousands of dollars.
Performers on tour have a different set of requirements. There is no flexibility in terms of dates of travel, but I can help make sure I find the most suitable hotel in the vicinity of your venue and if needed, arrange for accommodations with bus parking on site.
In addition, I sometimes can negotiate special rates for talent and crews, because many hotels and airlines are eager to have bragging rights to interesting clientele.
And like any business traveler, entertainment travelers often require last minute changes. We are on hand to quickly accomplish this. As travel agents, we need to serve our travelers well while impressing the accountants and executive assistants with our ability to keep costs in line.
Protravel’s buying power with airlines and hotels helps us do both. We know how to make top talent feel like VIPs, keeping their preferences in mind. The traveler who flies in first-class cares that we get him the seat he/she wants. On the other hand, his company is pleased when we can show them that the traveler got the exact seat he/she wanted but paid thousands of dollars less than had they booked on their own.
On the other end of the spectrum, I might have a band with 12 members touring the country on a bus. For them, I am booking a clean place to shower and sleep that is near their venue and has ample bus parking. There are a lot of moving pieces and I need to keep on top of their calendars. Sometimes, they will drive through the night and not show up at the hotel I have reserved.
Our Protravel name and relationships with hotel groups allow me to call the hotel management and often I can arrange for them to the waive cancellation fee.
If you are looking for a travel agent who understands the special requirements of entertainment travel, please give me a call.