Monday Minute: Traversing Africa's Kirsty Perring

The 'Monday Minute' is a weekly feature at PAX dedicated to highlighting the movers, shakers, leaders and rule-breakers in Canada's travel agent community. Wanna be profiled? Wanna nominate someone? Email newsroom@paxglobalmedia.com!

Name: Kirsty Perring

Company: Traversing Africa

Where do you live? Richmond Hill, Ontario

How long have you been a travel agent? 24 years

What is your specialty? Family travel specifically to Africa and the Middle East. This includes multi-generational families and groups of families travelling together.

What do you love most about being a travel agent?  

I love the freedom and flexibility I have including the fact I can work from anywhere in the world, allowing me to travel whenever I want to! No two days are the same, it’s never boring and you never stop learning. Plus you get to make people happy by making their dreams come true!

What's one travel trend you've noticed as of late?  

Transformational travel, which is based on the philosophy of travelling with intention, treading lightly, being mindful, stepping outside our comfort zones, all with the end result in mind of improving and transforming our own lives as the traveller, but also the lives of every person we touch on our journeys and by encouraging others to do the same. Tied into this is sustainable tourism and immersive travel.

Of all the bookings you’ve made, which itinerary and/or travel package are you most proud of? 

I created an itinerary for clients which was based on the Amazing Race; they didn’t know where they were going next until they got to each destination, so that was pretty awesome. Most recently I put together a very large group trip to Southern African for deaf travellers.

What's your number one piece of advice to other travel agents? 

Know your worth and the value of what your expertise brings and do not be afraid to charge a fee for your services.

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