CT Agent

Uses Diplomatic Experience To
Bolster Travel Business

By Marilyn Green

Eugenia Chinsman, CTC, MCC, has incorporated her rich and colorful diplomatic experience into a Home Based travel company with an extremely faithful clientele.
Chinsman had a lengthy history in travel before she formally opened her Norwalk, CT-based Manstravel in 1998. “My husband is a former ambassador and we lived for two or three years at a time in a number of different countries,” she said. “I organized trips for ambassadors’ wives and diplomatic colleagues.”
When her husband returned to New York permanently, Chinsman was not ready to end her travel arrangements. “I got more and more involved in getting to know the diverse cultures and ethnic groups. I didn’t want to conclude my journey at that point,” she added. “So I specialize in cruises, which are 50% of my business, and safaris and tours in southern and western Africa.”
Her journey still continues, seven years later. “It’s like taking a bus ride. People get on and off at different stops, joining me on my travels.” Once they travel with her, clients want to do it again. She took one group of 30 to Jamaica for a birthday celebration and now that group explores a new destination with her each year.
Chinsman personally conducts two or three trips annually — usually, one is a cruise. “I’m a great advocate of cruising,” she said. “I tell them, ‘If you book a land vacation, you’ll have to make decisions about where to go to dinner, what to do for entertainment. You won’t be able to visit a series of destinations without unpacking and you have all those people around you, spoiling you for a week.’ They usually say, ‘OK, you’ve got me.’ And they always come back.”
In addition to coming back, her clients recommend her to others. Eighty-five percent of her business comes from referrals that have expanded her client base across the U.S. She lives an agent’s dream, with clients writing to her to ask that she let them know about new possibilities, and she sends out a newsletter that includes all the trips she’s putting together during the year. In 2006, these include a trip to Las Vegas, a group of 50 people on Carnival Destiny, a post-trip after the African Tourism Association conference in Ghana, a cruise in New Zealand and Australia on Princess Cruises and a Southern Africa tour.
“I specialize in safaris, and in travel for roots and cultures,” she added. “When wedding and honeymoon business comes along, I refer it to my colleague who specializes in that area, and she sends me referrals.”
She also gets business through a business networking club she belongs to, which meets weekly, and she finds groups through churches, families and the local Y, which sets up fitness cruises using their own instructors.
Chinsman prizes her Home Based status for its flexibility. With children at school in England, she can be with them when they need her and still serve her clients. “But it’s been a long road to getting respect for Home Based agents,” she added. “Joel Abels and Travel Trade have done so much to give credibility to us. My wish is that this process will reach a pinnacle so people will see that we are actually the producers turning the wheel.”
A key issue is professionalism. In addition to earning her CTC and MCC, Chinsman is the NACTA area manager for the New York area. “I take what I do extremely seriously,” she stated.