Groups going strong

by Jamie Biesiada
Contributor to Travel Weekly
July 17, 2023

One advisor’s journey in group travel

Travel advisor Malori Asman caught the travel bug early. Her parents took her on two trips to Europe as a teen, and travel has been on her brain ever since.

She eventually got a degree in interior design, wanting to design airports and hotels. But while still in her 20s, she got a job working in travel. A Mobile, Ala., radio station sent her as an escort with affinity groups to Mexico, Hawaii and Las Vegas. When she later moved to Atlanta, she was hired in a large corporate agency’s groups department, planning a conference for 15,000 teachers. Eventually, she moved to Pittsburgh and started working for another agency.

Asman was doing corporate incentive work, planning group travel for 500 to 800 people. She also started the agency’s cruise department. But when it was acquired by a company that no longer exists, she struck out on her own, launching Pittsburgh-based Amazing Journeys. 

And Asman brought only one part of her book of business with her: group trips for single Jewish travelers.

She planned the first of these trips in 1993. Most attendees were local to the Pittsburgh area. But Asman steadily worked to extend her reach, which exploded when the Internet came into prominence. This year, Asman is running 13 trips with 450 to 550 total travelers that include both cruises and land tours. She doesn’t plan any travel outside of groups.

The sizes of her groups vary. Safaris and active trips are usually capped at around 20 people, but cruises will typically take up half a river cruise ship, or around 50 cabins on ocean cruises.

“Our numbers are swelling,” she said.

But with Asman’s success focusing on single Jewish travelers has come a unique problem.

Quite a few people who met on Amazing Journeys have married and no longer qualify to travel on the company’s singles trips. In fact, Asman’s trips have resulted in the formation of a whopping 39 couples.

“So we were like, all right, we think we have to start addressing this,” Asman said. 

She is adding some supply for those who found love on an Amazing Journeys trip, such as one trip this year that will include a mix of couples and singles. Next year, she’s running two Southern Africa trips around the same time, one for singles and the other for couples.

Although many over the years have suggested she start a matchmaking business, she’s adamant that her trips are not about connecting travelers romantically. “We don’t sell love,” she emphasized. “I think that’s only a recipe for disaster. You can imagine the disappointment right out of the box.”

In the future, Asman would like to add more group trips to her roster, but scaling up staff-wise has proven challenging. She recently hired several new trip guides, which should help. She’s also brought her daughters into the business to focus on groups for a younger clientele in their 30s and 40s.

“From a travel standpoint, I feel like groups are the place to be,” Asman said. “I think those of us who are already there and found our way have been the lucky ones. It’s not always easy to find your way into it and to have that kind of a market, but I really think a niche is the way to go.”

Read the full article here