On The Road To Gulf Shores, AL May 16 to 18, 1007
This entry was posted on 5/18/2007 10:42 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
After only Monday in the office there I was at FLL again, this time back to Gulf Shores, AL to conduct an advanced reservations sales training for Meyer Vacations, which had just used my services in December. I was also there to train their front desk/hospitality team. Since the vacation property rental niche of our lodging industry flies under the radar screen for a lot of people, not many are aware of just what a huge business this is, and Meyer is about the biggest of the companies out there. They manage over 1850 privately owned condos, homes, cottages, and villas. When you factor-in that most are two, three, four, and up to 15 bedroom homes, its easy to calculate that this rental company manages more guest bedrooms than the world’s largest hotel (currently the MGM Grand at 5005 rooms.) Here is a picture what I call their “wall of keys” which really drives home the point.
I absolutely love working with this client company. Not only is it run by great leaders such as Chuck Steeg, General Manager, but they have the unwavering support of an inspired, in-touch owner Sheila Hodges, who runs about as progressive and positive company as any I’ve ever conducted training for. Here is a picture of me with some of the groups that day. (I apologize to those in the largest classes that were just too big to photograph in the available space.)
After a short drive from Gulf Shores to Pensacola, I was able to just make the non-stop flight back home, which means getting home at 8:30pm vs. 12:30am, although I didn’t even have time to refuel the rental car’s 2/3 empty tank. Good thing that I got the nicest Avis return clerk ever, who felt badly for me and only charged me $15 vs. $60. Regardless, I would have forfeited much more than $60 of gas money to get home 4 hours early, especially knowing my Cathy was going to be there for a second week in a row. (With my late return times and her work schedule I usually take a cab home.)
