Questions and Answers

Hi Ben

I’ve been a very long follower and a fan of your blog and I absolutely love this hobby myself. However being based outside of the US or the EU/UK there haven’t been many opportunities for myself to be as actively involved in this hobby as I’d like to be. However I wish to pursue and undertake a career and have a business in the travel consultancy related business or tourism / frequent flying related fields. I believe some of the good places to learn the tips and tricks of the trade (apart from the internet) are Frequent Traveller Universities and maybe some educational courses. However to build networks and meet new people/suppliers/businesses I think some of the trade fairs and shows help as well.

Now I know that you’re a very busy gentleman and try to respond to a lot of people very crisply and to the point. However My question is that would you be able to tell me or direct me with regards to some of the most important trade fairs or shows or seminars like FTU I should try and attend to get some practical and direct experience from the industry specialists. Like for example could you tell me the top 3 US based and maybe the top 3 EU based fairs/shows/courses I should definitely try and attend to get some sense of direction to take.

Over the last 2 years you’ve been a big role model and inspiration for me to have enough confidence in trying to make a career in this exact same or similar fields. So once again it would be immensely valuable getting your advice on this. Who knows maybe one day I shall meet you somewhere on some airline/airport to discuss some ideas face to face.

As always, looking forward to your utmost valuable response 🙂

@ Keya — It’s tough for me to say, given that I never intended to make a career of this. Personally I don’t think any “trade shows” are necessary, and for what I do there really aren’t appropriate “trade shows.” My approach has always just been to do what I’m passionate about consistently, and hopefully a living comes from that. Though it’s tough to “manufacture” that. So I’d say first decide what exactly you want to do, and then decide how you want to go about it. The most important thing is that you do something which hasn’t been done before and is unique, at least if you want to excel at it. Just my two cents.

HI Ben,

When you commented to Keya on “trade shows” are not necessary , so can I assume you are not talking about the FTU events you do (as a trade show) ?

Susan

Hi again Ben

Thanks so much for your reply earlier. Helps me to kind of get a sense of direction. I shall take some time to first figure out how to make my passion unique in the Middle East and south asian market and then take it from there to see if there are any helpful courses or guidance bases to help me excel further.

Thanks again for your kind help 🙂

@ susan — I don’t really in any way view FTU as a “trade show,” per se. In other words, it’s not something that’s going to teach you how to be a travel blogger or consultant, necessarily.