Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Faust
Hi Scott, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Back in 1991 my girlfriend and I got engaged and wanted to have a destination wedding (before they were cool) in Hawaii. Actually to get married at the Fern Grotto and stay at the Coco Palms Resort (that’s were Elvis filmed the movie Blue Hawaii). My soon to be wife and I planned our trip from wheels up at BWI Airport to coming back home to BWI. We had almost everything planned except the wedding portion and the excursions. After talking to some friends, they told us to book with a travel agent. At the time there was no Expedia or airline website. So off we went to our local travel agency in Eastpoint Mall. While in the office I was looking around at the cool things. They had computers & printers on my agents desk and a globe on a neighboring desk. My agent had a few certificates hanging behind her from an airline, a few Caribbean Islands, and a cruise line. My fiancé took care of picking out the room category we wanted and type of rental car we needed on the Island of Kauai. Once everything was taken care of and deposits put down, the agent gave me a copy of our itinerary for us to plan our excursions. When we got home I was checking everything out on the itinerary and looking at the pricing. At the very bottom of the itinerary listed the commission for our trip. The agent gave us the wrong copy. After I saw the amount she was making as our agent, I decided to look into being a travel agent myself. I thought that would be a great part time job. So I did some research and registered for some college classes on being an agent. Mostly was on geography, travel terms, & marketing. I breezed through the classes with A’s. I received my degree from Essex Community College and hit the ground running. I got out my local phone book and called the closest agency I could find. I called and talked to the owner and said are you looking for agents? She said yes and we planned a meeting for me to be brought on board. I started a few days later.
After selling travel a few years, I moved to a larger agency who paid better. After not getting paid what I thought I was going to get paid, I started my own agency. I only wanted to do it part time. So my wife came up with an agency name (Departure Travel Services) and ordered my business cards. I went out and purchased the latest technology on the market, a beeper. I applied for a few associations and was approved. Everything was going great.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I then closed my part time agency and opened a new full time agency. This time I recruited part time agents to work with me and train them the way I was trained. Now I had to worry about business insurance, bank accounts, & starting an LLC. I changed my agency name to Destinations 24/7 Travel Services and that’s where I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://destinations247travelservices.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destinations247?igsh=NTFuODF0NDM5ZzV0
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scott.faust.102?mibextid=JRoKGi
- Twitter: https://x.com/Destinations247?s=09
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/c/Destinations247TravelServicesNottingham
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/destinations-24-7-travel-services-nottingham
- Other: https://www.travelleaders.com/agent/133846?supplier=Palace%20Resorts
