I was notified that I won an award for Cruise Holiday Planner of the Year for 2019 – New England area! Who knew, I certainly was surprised.
Winners are determined by votes on the magazine website, market research, and publisher or third party nominations. It was an honor to be selected and I am always open to sharing more about travel in any way.
If you want to view all the winners and the magazine itself, here is the link.
If you want to read the article and not hassle with the link, here it is:
PlanUrEscape
Cruise Holiday Planner of the Year 2019 – New England
Drawing on the experience of Founder Lorraine Whittemore, PlanUrEscape offers bespoke cruise holiday travel planning for the discerning explorer.
We spoke to Lorraine to find out more.
Providing clients with options ranging across all types of cruises, tours, hotels, guides, and adventures, PlanUrEscape is able to ensure that every guest has a truly phenomenal experience exactly tailored to meet their needs and exceed their expectations.
The firm’s onging success rests on Lorraine’s dedication to excellence and vast experience in both travel and the corporate market in general. In her opening comments Lorraine explores how she came to create PlanUrEscape to indulge her passion for people and travel.
“Over five years ago I decided to leave my corporate executive life and focus on a career to take me into retirement. Travel has always been my passion and I have traveled extensively in my life. In my 35+ years in
corporate life, I was an executive in quality, leadership development and operations. I helped companies develop operations and deliver and measure quality outcomes based on the value they were promising to their
customers.
“Today, I draw on this experience to drive PlanUrEscape to success. For my clients, except for some administrative support, I am their sole adviser. I personally handle all of their planning, logistics, and send them off with
everything they need. I do have associates who focus on their own client base, providing the services in their niche. My niche is custom work and small group adventures. Even with our work focus differences, the quality of the work, providing value and delivering perfect logistics are expected equally.”
Today, Lorraine supports a wide range of guests and helps them to see the world in style. To make their dream trip become a reality, she focuses on collaborating with her clients to ensure she fully understands their needs, as she highlights.
“Through my company PlanUrEscape I work as a travel adviser, working to advise and to then match clients with the perfect cruise vacation. Matching my clients to the best ship, best cruise line, and then weaving in pre and
post custom itineraries that are not prepackaged tours but rather individualized based on my client’s interests. My desire is to deliver profound experiences and amazing memories. This may mean connecting deeply to the destination through engaging in cultural immersive experiences or it may mean private, uninterrupted relaxation. The best service I can offer my clients is to listen carefully and not form fit them into a ship, destination or tour, but rather create, using the huge variety of options available, the perfect experience.
“To achieve this, from the beginning of our association I work closely alongside them and listen to my client’s vision of their trip to the
destination, desire for structure vs. relaxed and the level of luxury or privacy they desire. As a result of this process, I pride myself on custom itineraries which comprise a wealth of travel experiences. When a client chooses me to help them plan a trip they are looking for creative trips that are not ‘off the shelf’, instead, they want options that immerse them in
different cultures, nature, and local life. I aim to provide them with these and offer them an unforgettable experience.”
As she looks to the future, Lorraine believes that the ongoing success of PlanUrEscape will revolve around her continuing to grow both her service offering and portfolio of satisfied clients, as she is proud to conclude.
“Ultimately, the most exciting element and part of running PlanUrEscape for me is learning about amazing experiences I can offer my clients. As my niche develops, more clients are seeking out my customized services because they know their trip will be unique. This allows me to get better and better at what I do. My adventurous clients come back and tell me
about things that were exceptional memories and that enlarges my portfolio of services I can offer to others.
“As this client base grows, clients that seek out off the beaten path adventures, so does my expertise and my data base and this is the most exciting future for my company. Also, my local suppliers are growing as I visit them, travel with them, and learn what they do best. Traveling, researching, exploring, listening to client experiences; all of these things combine to improve the customization and individuality I can offer to each and every client, and as such looking ahead I will continue to enhance my service offering to ensure that every client I work with has a truly fantastic experience.”
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