Jetset John

24/01/2024

21/01/2024

From the shipyards of Turku, Finland to the Miami cruise port, I have to say Royal Caribbean International’s new Icon of the Seas is truly…ICONIC. To be able to capture before and after photos of the ship’s developments has been quite an experience, unique to the opportunities presented to me in my career in the travel industry.

Thank you to Katy Green Cannizzaro for coordinating the MAST member meetup last night aboard the ship and we look forward to the next few days of sailing and exploring!

31/08/2023

Thank you Kristi Crocker Peek of Embrace the Journey Travel - Kristi Peek for welcoming Jetset John and I into your part town for my first visit to Texas! It was great learning more about you and your business and we look forward to seeing you accomplish all your business goals with MAST Travel Network! ⭐️

14/08/2023

Thank you to Royal Caribbean International for inviting me for a full tour of the largest cruise ship in the world , being built at Meyer Turku Shipyard in Finland. We had a first look at many new to brand and signature elements of Royal Caribbean. Such an honor to be part of this lifetime opportunity. Who wants to race me down the slide!?

03/08/2023

Great planning meeting in Providence for the ASTA Board of Directors. Thank you to everyone at Collete for your support and warm hospitality.

24/07/2023

In Edinburgh studying to be as eloquent as Sir Walter Scott.

22/06/2023

At American Society of Travel Advisors ASTA's, Legislative Day, ASTA presented the legislative issues important to travel advisors, the travel agencies, suppliers, and travelers.

All 50 states were represented with over 260 people in attendance, comprised of travel agency owners, travel advisors, consortium leaders, representatives and executives from across all segments of the industry.

I was part of a six-person delegation from Illinois.

We visited the offices of Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi whose congressional district comprises parts of northwest and western suburbs, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky whose district comprises parts of the North Shore from Evanston across southern Lake County out to Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills.

We also had appointments with the offices of Senator Tammy Duckworth and Senator Dick Durbin.

Our meetings were with legislative aides, legislative directors in charge of policy and chief of staffs. In the case of Jan Schakowsky, our meeting was with her.

In the meetings we thanked them for their support of bills or policies that promote travel and support our businesses.
If any of them were not co-sponsors of certain bills or policies, we educated them on the issues and asked them for their support. They asked us many questions and thanked us for meeting with them to discuss the issues important to us.

Issues like:
Air passenger refunds should come from the airlines, not travel agencies. The airlines have the customer money immediately after a travel agency issues a ticket. Travel agencies do not hold on to any of that money, so we don’t have the money to make the refund. This bill would rule that this be the case. Without this bill, there are people in Congress and other organizations that think if travel agencies issued the ticket, they are responsible for making the refund.

A year ago, Congress passed a bill to establish the role of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, but did not appropriate money for this office. So, a year later, no one is in this role. Our objective in these meetings was to urge Congressman and Senators to pass an appropriations bill that includes $3.5M to fund this office and see that this role becomes reality.

A few other issues were discussed as well.

During a reception in a Senate hearing room, we heard from Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska to thanked him for helping the Alaska cruise industry recover from the Covid pandemic and get back on their feet.

It was such a privilege to be a participant in our democracy.

20/06/2023

Cocoa Pebbles cereal in the Admiral's Club this morning...an indication of how many families are traveling these days. I almost became a kid again as I was tempted to have some myself!

Off to Capitol Hill to meet with Members of Congress and educate them on the importance of supporting travel advisors and the travel industry for the American Society of Travel Advisors ASTA Legislative Day.

13/06/2023

Last week I attended the Scenic Eclipse II christening and naming ceremony in Malaga, Spain. This luxurious 200 plus person yacht for expedition cruising around the globe was certainly something spectacular. MAST is critical to Scenic’s strategy in growing sales in the North American market.

31/05/2023

Great seeing some of our Iowa members the past two days and taking a dozen and a half awards with us to celebrate with them.

Mast Stephanie Werner and I enjoyed our time with Dick and Mary Fislar of Picture Perfect Travel, Rick and Kay South of The Travel Center, LTD, Diane Sturm of Town & Country Travel, and Dean Burtch and team of Allied Travel.

30/05/2023

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Collette Advisory Board meeting in Nashville, TN, where Collette’s senior executives shared a high-level view of industry trends, forecasts, and a company outlook.

Collette is reimagining guided tours.

Gone are the hours spent on the motorcoach. Collette’s guests ride the metro, take trams, use 4X4 jeeps or sightsee by tuk tuk.

Gone are the rest stops and diners. Collette’s guests eat at local restaurants, shop in the market with a chef to prepare their dinner, enjoy tasting menus, take cooking classes, dine in homes of the locals, or choose a dine around plan.

Gone are the typical city bus tours. Collette’s guests visit neighborhoods, take immersive walking tours, food tours, and even themed tours.

It was a great event and I’d like to thank Collette for their continued partnership with MAST.

24/05/2023

MAST's Meetings & Events Manager, Natalie Steenberg, and I just returned from our site visit in Louisville, Kentucky, our 2024 Annual MAST Conference host city! We are excited to offer our attendees a weekend full of educational opportunities, networking, the bourbon trail, 4th Street Live, an evening event and buyout of the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs, and much more. The dates we are looking at are Wednesday, April 24 to Sunday, April 28, 2024 - mark your calendars! Conference hotel and finalized dates to be announced soon.

17/05/2023

Hey Guys! It's Jetset John here, aka John Werner of MAST Travel Network! Welcome to my new social media alias! Follow my page to connect and stay up to date on all things MAST! Also follow my new Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jetsetwithjohn/

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