The Dream Destinations Brand
By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
We have been in business for almost 25 years. It has been a great experience and we love helping folks find the right trip for their vacations.
I just finished a webinar for over 1100 participants yesterday for AmaWaterways (22 July 2020) and my talk was about how to boost river cruise sales to help other travel agents. It was fun—I had a blast!
Photo AmaWaterways who kindly granted us permission to use this slide in this blog
However, during the presentation instead of how to increase sales, it became crystal clear to me what I was really talking about was our brand—who we are, what we stand for, how we do business and what it means for our clients. Our success is really due to our core values not the techniques we use.
Just before the webinar, Kristin Karst, one of the co-founders of AmaWaterways ask me if we ever thought about becoming a bigger agency by hiring others to expand our business. I replied that we want to assure our clients got the best and we were pretty happy being a small mom and pop organization (I have the best boss in the world—my wife Anne!).
Photo AmaWaterways who kindly granted us permission to use this slide in this blog
Her reply was to me—“Quality over Quantity.” She went on to relate how she and her then co-founder partner and future husband (Rudi) started just like that as their premise to begin their business—there is a wonderful picture of her she shared working on a laptop at her kitchen that I could easily relate to—they were small then but had wonderful ideas.
It brought back fond memories of us staring our home based business.
They have gone on to build the best European River Cruise Company, in our humble opinion. Their tag line is “Leading the Way in River Cruising” and their core values include “partnership; passion and prepared.”
In short, they have created a river cruise line they would be proud to travel on themselves.
Thinking about their wonderful brand and our partnership in offering their great products, it got me to thinking about the importance of our brand.
So, this week I’d like to talk about the history of brands, our business brand and what it means for you.
The History of Brands
A brand is designed to represent something.
Brands didn’t really take off until the Middle Ages. It really started with the coat of arms system in northern Europe.
Sometimes Coat of Arms symbols were used on shields
Berg Eltz Coat of Arms
Hampton Court Palace Coat of Arms
I’m sure most of you know about these symbols—it has unique elements to help identify the organization—who they were, most probably their family allegiances and usually their alignment and allegiance to a king or royal family.
In a time when most could not read, this visual symbol conveyed a clear statement of who they were and what they stood for in their society.
Chambord Palace Coat of Arms
This was continued later by guilds and shop keepers by the visual signs and symbols of their trade—remember most still could not read during these times.
While the exact origin of these signs is unknown, many think they originated in the Alps region of Germany. There is actually a German word of these emblems zunftzeichen which implies these wonderful signs represent the pride and tradition of skilled craftsmen who provided quality goods to their town or village.
Schloss Hotel sign
These wrought-iron signs were made by specialized blacksmiths. These craft men helped advertise the business represented by the sign, but they also benefited by their artful signs and became sought after by local merchants.
The wrought-iron signs were commissioned by local tradesmen who were members of a particular guild, such as bakers, shoemakers or tailors.
Coffee Shop Sign Cesky Krumlov
Guilds are associations of artisans or merchants who control the practice of their craft. In medieval cities, craftsmen tended to form associations based on their individual trade or skill. In the Middle Ages, all craftsmen were members of guilds.
Shop Sign Rudesheim
The guild’s senior craftsmen controlled the working hours and conditions of work of their members. They also made sure work was of proper quality by setting standards and using apprenticeships to teach younger workers the skills and techniques they would need to succeed in their chosen trade.
As society advanced, these “coats of arms” and shop signs developed into brands—slogans, trademarks, tag lines, and branding.
So, now it is time to go from the history of brands to our brand.
Our Brand
Our Mission
We spent a lot of time thinking about who we wanted to be in the business world. It first started with our mission statement.
Our mission is: Anne & Hank Schrader, of Visit Dream Destinations LLC, are certified travel professionals who will provide you with the highest quality, expertly planned domestic and foreign leisure travel with a focus on cruises, European river cruises and European vacations for discriminating travelers.
Our Tag Line—Savor life . . . make memories . . . Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey starts here!
I think is really sums us up—we are all about creating trips that are exceptional that will help you enjoy life better, make unforgettable memories by traveling to great places and it all starts with us.
But what does this mean for you?
I think it means we have to develop a way to work with you to achieve our mutual goals of a great trip.
For us, it boils down to the core values of trust, knowledge and care.
So let’s see how we approach these elements
Trust
For us to be successful in our business, we have always recognized the importance of developing trust that we are who we say we are. Trust and integrity are valuable traits and, in my judgement, in short supply in our country. Too many make promises they can’t or won’t keep.
My whole life has been devoted to service after graduating from West Point—20 years as a US Army Officer; 20 years as a coach and teacher and 24+ years helping others travel to the right location.
My 1971 Graduation from West Point
Anne is equally dedicated to trust and integrity—she always thinks about what is best for our clients, every single time.
We think trust is the cornerstone of our relationship with you. We try to under promise and over deliver a great travel experience for you.
We strive to make your travel experience better by helping you make wise choices, eliminate hassles, and help you get the best value for your money.
In short, while working with us, we want to provide a trip that will exceed your expectations.
Travel Knowledge
Our brand, Dream Destinations, requires us to have extensive travel knowledge--Do we know what they are talking about?
With over 24+ years of experience selling travel to many satisfied clients, we know both what you need to make your travel experience better and the knowledge of what is available to match you with just the right vacation.
We have extensive first-hand knowledge and do comprehensive research on trips. We have planned hundreds of successful trips to delighted clients and we are eager to plan yours.
Like a little proof? Here are two great examples:
Our 75th Anniversary Tour to D Day was, by any measure a huge success. No other 2 person agency attempted such a tour for 33 folks. We planned it for 3 years, our cost was several thousands of dollars less than many other large scale tour operators, and we avoided many pitfalls of waiting for long periods to see and experience the awesome events of that horrible day 75 years ago.
Part of our D D Group
“Trip of a Lifetime!”
Our knowledge of Europe river cruises is exceptional. We have been on 18 Europe river cruises, written over 76 blogs about all aspects of Europe river cruises, have 3 items on the first page of Google, we have 51 port guides (they are free) for you, and we have helped dozens enjoy river cruising in Europe. And if that we not enough, we have 50 free guides to most Europe Cities you might want to visit before or after your Europe river cruise.
Chef’s Table 2019 AmaWaterways
“ “The travel pros—if you are interested in experienced, unbiased advice on European river boat tours. Hank and Anne have personally done all the tours, and helped us find exactly the right tour and company - three times. Dream Destinations handled the reservations flawlessly, kept us up-to-date on deadlines, and provided great recommendations on activities of interest. We go with them every time.”
”
Do they care about me and what I need?
We treat each of our clients as friends, because we don’t sell travel to clients—we sell travel to friends. There is a big difference—how your trip goes makes a world of difference to us.
We like to say we are small enough to deliver personalize service but big and experienced enough to get you just the right trip.
We try to match you to just the right experience and make it logical, realistic and affordable in your price range. We do not sell on price—we sell on value.
What we do not do
Our goal is to provide you with information but not bombard you with offers you do not want. We really try to get to know you and match your desires to opportunities when they arise.
We are low-key and strive to provide the right info in a relaxed, no pressure situation. In my opinion, there is a big difference about being eager to be your travel professional and being an obnoxious salesperson.
We are excited to help, but know the boundaries—the truth is we want to form a partnership with you—not just sell you something.
It is as simple as this—we inform, you decide.
We also realize you are busy and we respect your time by trying to contact you in the form (phone, email or written) that works the best for you at the time that is the best for you.
In short, we respect you!
My Final Thoughts
I think our brand is exactly what we hoped it would be—it represents who we are and what we stand for.
We would like to thank those of you who have trusted us for your travel needs and look forward to helping you again.
We also look forward to helping anyone else in the future who might need our help.
When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip. You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience. And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process. We think we have all these qualities.
Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com. We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent
