By the time you read this, I’ll be heading to Europe for an exciting work trip. If you're in the travel space, there's a good chance you've heard of Kha Ly, the marketing technologist who's been educating advisors on how to more effectively use their social media to attract new clients and boost their online visibility. Kha spoke at our 2025 GTN Conference, and we're excited to work with him again as he's leading our GTN-exclusive FAM trip with AmaWaterways (the aforementioned exciting work trip). Caroline Hollar (Director of Marketing) and I have the pleasure of co-hosting this trip on behalf of GTN, and we’ll be joined by around 40 of our advisors.

But I'm not here to talk about Kha and his teachings quite yet. Instead, I want to talk about the opportunity that comes with things that don’t go according to plan.

Less than a week out from departure, we were notified that the river levels are too low and our trip can't go as planned. We're still starting in Amsterdam, but the rest of the itinerary now involves some bussing and a ship change, which means everyone must shift their departure plans since we're no longer ending in the same place.

It's a little stressful when there is some scrambling required right before an international trip, but this change of plans is a blessing in disguise for a few different reasons. Travel-wise, we now get to experience two different ships and two different regions, so the advisors on this trip have even more to show off to their clients afterward.

Partner-wise, our advisors are getting to see AmaWaterways' service in action from a client's perspective. This isn't the first river cruise itinerary to get disrupted by water levels, and it won't be the last, so watching firsthand how Ama springs into action to keep the trip moving forward, and how they make it up to the clients affected, is a genuinely useful thing to witness. It builds real trust in the partner, and advisors who've been through it can reassure their own clients and manage expectations far more easily than someone who's only heard about it secondhand.

While we're lucky to be traveling with advisors who see the opportunity here more than the downside, it's a different situation entirely when it's your clients who must deal with the disruption. But even then, there's still a bright side worth considering.

In a perfect world, there are no delayed or canceled flights, no unpredictable weather systems, no lost luggage, and no mix-ups at the front desk. But in that world, a lot of people wouldn't truly appreciate the value of a travel advisor. Luxury advisors have plenty to offer even when nothing goes wrong: firsthand destination knowledge, industry partnerships that unlock the best access, white-glove service every step of the way. But as great as it is when everything goes according to plan, being able to spring into action when things go wrong is what makes an advisor look like a superhero.

Like many others, I rarely think to write a review for a business unless I've either had a particularly bad experience or a particularly amazing one. Ask me to recommend a tailor in the Charlotte area, and I couldn't tell you who I've used the handful of times I've needed one. I can, however, easily give you the name of the tailor my friend used when her wedding dress had an issue the day before her ceremony, and they worked an actual miracle to fix it with time to spare. Likewise, the only time I ever notice people outside our industry specifically mention their travel advisor as part of their vacation recap is when something on the trip went wrong, but “we just got Cheryl on the phone and she took care of everything.”

We can't expect every client to be dazzled, or even appreciative, when their advisor jumps in and works their magic when a situation goes sideways. But regardless of how it's received, the reality is that there will always be things outside of our control, and the best any of us can do is move forward, find a solution, and focus on the bright side.

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