Speaker 1: 0:31

My name is Elena Stoyas and I'm the CEO and business owner of Flight of Fancy Travel and we are a modern boutique travel agency that services basically anywhere in the world because most of it is done remotely. But we focus on customized FITs, which are flexible, independent travel itineraries, and that's for the traveler who really likes a really custom built, detailed itinerary and just wants to arrive on their vacation and, you know, have everything taken care of for them. So that's primarily what we focus on and we service clients here in Leesburg, New York.

Speaker 2: 1:19

I have clients really all over the country helps you maybe sometimes with car rentals, booking hotels, all of that good stuff. I want to know about your experience, because the name has the word luxury in it. Tell me a little bit about that experience, versus just some other experiences with other travel agents or advisors.

Speaker 1: 1:47

Sure, Well, luxury can mean a lot of things to different people, but really for me and this business, luxury is in the details. It's in anticipating what could happen and taking care of it for my clients before it ever gets to a crisis on vacation. So it's really personalized attention, like white glove service. We definitely love to take care of all of those transfers tours, love to take care of all of those transfers tours. A lot of the clients that come to me really are looking for something that's not your standard basic tour where you're with 50 people on vacation in Europe and you have someone with a little flag that you have to follow. These are more very discerning activities that are really custom tailored to the client and are more private.

Speaker 2: 2:41

Wow, Love it. I'd like to know back up a little bit and know how you got started in this industry and have you always had like an itch for like doing all of this?

Speaker 1: 2:52

Well, yes, I love, I've always loved travel, um, but really it started out I was. I've owned a couple of small businesses, started out as an event planner I order. I owned a um company called parties with Panache and I did lots of weddings and so from there, I then had kids, decided I didn't want to work all weekend, got the itch to work again and then I started an interior design business called Flight of Fancy Design and then, once COVID hit, I took a little break and realized that after some time went by, that really I was posting so much travel inspiration on my design page that you know maybe I was leaning a little more towards that being the passion that I wanted to pursue now. So the common theme is that I've been designing and planning things that create, that require a lot of organization and managing minute details for years, so this was just kind of a natural thing. I'm just designing itineraries now and it's the best job in the world.

Speaker 2: 4:02

Love it, yeah, and you've got the look and everything. So I love that Love. Before we get to the fun questions, I just want to ask you. One more thing that I like to ask other business owners is what they do with their marketing online. Is it more word of mouth? Are you putting videos out there? How are you getting the word? Out and the experiences that you're providing for your clients out there in the online world.

Speaker 1: 4:23

That's a great question. I've been very fortunate that I have wonderful former clients who really, when I transitioned into this business and started learning everything I could about travel, they just jumped on board. They really were like we know you're going to do a phenomenal job for us. So I had a bunch of former design clients who, just you know, wanted to get started right away and then from there it kind of was word of mouth I do a lot of social media away and then from there it kind of was word of mouth. I do a lot of social media and I do get some leads from that as well, but mostly word of mouth. And you know I have a host agency and Fora Travel is based in New York City and you know we get client leads from them because I made pro. So I'm like in the top 5% now at that company.

Speaker 1: 5:14

So that allows us to get leads sent to us as well. So those are really all over the world.

Speaker 2: 5:20

Yeah, no, I love that. Thanks for sharing that. I would like to ask you about, since I have you here, some travel trends for 2025 that you're seeing?

Speaker 1: 5:27

and would you mind sharing that with us?

Speaker 2: 5:29

Yes.

Speaker 1: 5:29

Okay, well, there's a few. I'm going to think about how to narrow it down, but one of the ones that was kind of a niche uh request is now becoming more of a mainstream uh, you know, uh requirement and that's, I think, sustainability and ecotourism and people wanting to, you know, culturally support wherever they are and leave little, you know, carbon footprints and things like that. So people are definitely looking at that, personalization and, I would say, authenticity and these itineraries. You know people wanting really, really unique. I mean, travel costs a lot of money, right, so people don't want to do just the basic norm. They really want to feel like they're well taken care of. And that's where, you know, I think one of the most wonderful things about my business is that's why it's thrived is people really are looking for that.

Speaker 1: 6:32

Let's see what else I would say for that. Let's see what else I would say oh gosh, I would say tech forward travel too. You know people want kind of ease and seamless check-ins and things like that. And with AI becoming so popular, don't think that's going to ever take away from the human touch. Yeah, but it's definitely going to change how you know perhaps their check-in process goes and things like that when things can be, you know, audio activated and things like that, yeah, so I definitely think that has something to do with it. And, you know, I think culinary tourism is still going to be on the rise, especially with. You know, there's so much talk about the food in our country and you know how not great it is and people are really seeking out those really authentic, you know, farm to table experiences and Tuscany and things like that, so we're seeing a lot of that as well.

Speaker 2: 7:33

Very cool. Yeah, I have to ask do sometimes people I know like maybe seeing like the Eiffel Tower is like something you've got to see, especially if you've never seen it, but for maybe people who have already traveled, do they maybe like, is this a trend? Is what I'm basically saying. Is it a trend now to maybe go places where it's not as popular and kind of get like a feel of like what it's really like like with the locals and secret areas Absolutely, Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 7:57

We're definitely seeing an uptick in people who are wanting to go to Greece but don't want the crowds. And there will always be people who want to go to Santorini and Mykonos and those places. But a lot of times we're seeing requests like where can I go? Where I don't have to deal with that, and so you know, like places like Naxos and Peros, they're equally as beautiful. People just don't know about them. But the thing is they are, you know, because of Instagram, because of the influencers, because of that, and they're getting more and more popular. So I think this summer we're going to see more of those smaller, you know, discrete islands and places to visit, Like Montenegro seems to be popping off a lot. This, I'm hearing a lot of that. So you know those places that people really hadn't thought to explore before.

Speaker 2: 8:44

So that's definitely a trend. I think that social media definitely plays a big part in that. Absolutely, someone goes somewhere secluded and they're like wait, that looks amazing.

Speaker 1: 8:50

Yes, Let me save that and, you know, save it to my folder on IG. And then they come to us and be like how do I get there? Like, what do I do? There you know all of those things, love it.

Speaker 2: 9:00

And now, why are people taking advisors and what is the value that they add?

Speaker 1: 9:06

So I think that you know I have clients who are millennials, you know the 28 to, you know 40 range and even beyond that, and they're busy in their careers and they want to have a seamless experience. And so I'm seeing, just, you know, my demographic is really from 28 to like late fifties, even early sixties, so it's a spans quite uh, you know big, uh, decades. But they, they just want seamless experience. They we provide something that OTAs like oh you know, um, online travel agencies like Expedia, cannot give you. They're really concerned with putting heads on beds and have relationships with these hotels and resorts where we can call and add perks that you cannot get by using an OTA. So who doesn't like showing up to a room with a bottle of chilled champagne and a personalized note, right? So I think that's people like feeling pampered and they want to feel special and they want the seamless itinerary and they want it all taken care of so they can just sit back, get on that plane and know that once they land, everything will be taken care of for them.

Speaker 2: 10:24

That's a dream actually, like I don't think I've had that experience yet, but I'm hoping to in the future. It sounds lovely, like it kind of sounds like in the movies, right?

Speaker 1: 10:33

Well, it is, and that's my favorite part is VIPing my clients and just making sure that you know those little special touches can, you know, be added. And there really isn't a good way to do that unless you have a travel advisor who has the relationships with the hotels and has a contact there and can be like, hey, you know they want to work with us. They don't really necessarily love working with the OTAs because you know, they know they're going to get quality clients over and over again, especially if they, you know, really treat our clients. Who arrives like with you know special treats and stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 11:11

Yeah, absolutely no. You can't beat that experience and that human connection and being able to talk to somebody as opposed to like. Hi. Thank you for calling so-and-socom. Right Like no absolutely Like you're a friend and you kind of build a relationship too, because you're like hey, I just saw this. Do we have any like time, or do you think we could make this work in the itinerary Like?

Speaker 1: 11:30

it's exciting.

Speaker 2: 11:31

It's like kind of like with a friend, like you're planning it.

Speaker 1: 11:33

Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely. And if something were to go, you know, arrive when the clients arrive, then their contact or the reservations manager I can get in touch with them and usually fix it very, very quickly, nice.

Speaker 2: 11:48

You can't get that with other things?

Speaker 1: 11:50

No, because if you book it on Expedia there's no one to contact, right, You're kind of on your own. And again, there is a hierarchy at these hotels. They do have lists behind the reservations desk, and travel advisor clients are at the very top of that list. And the Expedia and the Travel Zoo and all those are not right Because those are the last rooms usually available at the hotel.

Speaker 2: 12:14

Good to know. This is some insight here, and now I would like to know what are the differences between travel agents and travel advisors, because I myself kind of wait, I thought they were the same thing and have a misconception. So please clear the room here.

Speaker 1: 12:30

Okay, controversial maybe, but there is a difference. Travel agents usually have a high quantity of clients and they're booking the same resorts over and over, so think like Sun and Sand. So you know, these are usually agents who are booking the same, like Turks and Caicos, or, you know, st Lucia, barbados. You know, that's the those quick bookings, and they don't necessarily always require itineraries, right? So, um, that's kind of the difference. An advisor really does advise on hey, you know, this is going to be a phenomenal tour. It's a wine tasting in a cave, or you know of a castle, or something like that. We're really going to get to know the client on a really personal level in order to tailor the itinerary to their interests, likes, dislikes, whereas more agents are, you know, really just quickly booking things and moving on to the next.

Speaker 2: 13:32

Yeah, okay, so that would be the main difference. I'd say Okay, yeah, no, thanks for sharing that, because I also was like wait, what's the difference?

Speaker 1: 13:38

But that's for me not researching and like not knowing and it can be confusing for some people, so I'm glad that you're here, and there's nothing like bad about any of us, but it's just, I feel, like a difference in how you know what you're comfortable with and what your niche is, and so you know some people only do cruises and so they can book them real quick and move on to the next one, whereas I feel like advisors are really taking a lot more time behind the scenes to create something special, and that you know that's definitely time consuming and a little more personal attention.

Speaker 2: 14:14

Yeah, no, that sounds a little bit more lovely. So, yeah, and then what are some popular destinations that you are seeing for 2025? For?

Speaker 1: 14:23

2025, we're seeing lots of well, portugal's been, you know, really ramping up Lots of people wanting to go to Portugal. You're always going to have the people that want to go to Greece and Italy and Amalfi Coast, which you can't even walk there in the summer because it's that crowded, oh my goodness. So I think we're going to see places more like, like I said, the little islands, like Ischia, which is, you know, a little island off Italy, the coast of Italy, and they have wonderful thermal, natural thermal pools and things like that. So health and wellness is another trend that I didn't mention. That we're seeing people who really want, you know, those quieter destinations more off the beaten path Montenegro we're seeing a lot of let's see coming up in winter. We're seeing a lot of, you know, central Europe for the Christmas markets and things like that. Where else?

Speaker 2: 15:21

How exciting, yeah, there's those types of places Love it. I'd like to know do you have like a five-year, like plan or goal that you were looking to achieve for your business and for yourself? Would you mind sharing those with?

Speaker 1: 15:33

us Sure. Well, I'd love to scale the business and, you know, eventually hire some independent consultants as well, so we can service more people and maybe even have them have a different niche than what I have. Mine's pretty much Europe based. I don't do a ton of Asia or Middle East or anything like that, so it'd be great to have people who can book that kind of travel. I have this dream to partner with some wineries in the local area. If they specialize in French wines, perhaps I collab with them and bring some ideas of here's where a great place to stay if you ever wanted to travel to France.

Speaker 1: 16:19

That's a goal I would really like to pursue in the next year. I would say what else? And then I have this dream to like create some group trips where you know, I plan everything to a certain destination and people can kind of come along and then they get to experience, like what my services can do, but they can just sit back and enjoy the ride and, you know, get to experience those special tours and activities, excursions, you know.

Speaker 2: 16:48

That sounds exciting. That would sound really fun, especially get like a whole bunch of girls together.

Speaker 1: 16:51

I think that's a party right there. Yeah, so it would be so much fun. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 16:55

Yeah, did you owe me a soda. No just kidding, all right, and now I would like to know personally what are your favorite destinations? Where do you? Like to like travel yourself, gosh.

Speaker 1: 17:06

Well, we really love Greece. My husband's family is from there, so we you know took the kids there and they that's my daughter's new favorite place, so we've been there a couple times. I love France and we were supposed to. What gave that away for you? I know, I was kidding Emily in Paris. Emily in Paris was great, and I mean, italy is like another place. So you know, those are some of my favorites. I love architecture and ancient culture and that's kind of my style of trip.

Speaker 2: 17:40

So yeah, okay, and growing up were you or did you travel with family or like what brought on this?

Speaker 1: 17:47

like I love Europe like I want to know, like were you?

Speaker 1: 17:49

a girl like with a journal, like I want to travel here one day cutting out clippings, putting posters up well, I do carry a journal when I travel okay, uh, but but I didn't always. When I was growing up, my family traveled. My mom loves to travel and so does my sister, but we traveled mainly by car, so we didn't really ever go to Europe when I was a kid. I've done most of that in my adult life and I met my husband my now husband in the early 2000s, and he worked for a bunch of companies that started out based in the Caribbean. So we spent a lot of time in the Caribbean, so that was not a terrible thing. And then this next company he worked for was based in Germany and Paris, so he would whisk me off to like those places for sometimes just a weekend, because it was a holiday party. So that's really where my spark for international travel came from.

Speaker 1: 18:42

And I was formerly a teacher, many, many years ago, and I ended up taking a bunch of students. I just wanted them to see the world, and so we went toward all over London and Wales and all over the UK, and that was a phenomenal experience as well. I love seeing the spark in their eyes. Just you know, I was an English teacher, so seeing the things that we had only talked about or read about in the classroom. It was really neat.

Speaker 2: 19:10

So that's kind of where the spark for travel came for me that's so beautiful and I love that you took students. I'm sure you were just like in awe, like seeing their experience, like whoa, what?

Speaker 1: 19:19

Like oh my gosh Like students I'm sure you were just like in all, like seeing their experience, like whoa what, like, oh my gosh, like taking them out. Maybe some of them have never even traveled, like, outside of their town, many of them hadn't. That's, that's correct. And so you know, seeing Shakespeare where he was buried after we had read Shakespeare was, you know, really neat to see. So, and then it's just been ongoing since then.

Speaker 2: 19:36

Thank you for sharing that. That was a really, really beautiful story, Like I love that. Is there anything maybe that I have not touched on that you would like to get the? Word out or something about yourself or your business.

Speaker 1: 19:46

Oh gosh. Well, I just encourage people to think about, you know, using an advisor. I think a lot of people don't know exactly, you know, they think it's antiquated like oh, advisors still exist and yes, they're making a huge comeback and you know, to explore just what we can do for you and how we can maybe elevate the your travel experience. A lot of people complain good trips, but what if they can be incredible trips, you know, and we kind of bring that level of of excellence to the experience.

Speaker 2: 20:23

Yeah, no, absolutely, and I think they're definitely going to be like. I don't know trends, but in my mind I feel like travel advisors are definitely going to be on the come up, especially because of social media, because there's so many things and you just get overwhelmed.

Speaker 2: 20:35

You're like, oh my gosh, like I saw that, but then I saw that and I don't even know where to start Like it's overwhelming with so much information and where you can go and you look up a, an article online, it's just like, oh, I want to go here, okay, but that's all the way here. And they're like how can I make this work?

Speaker 1: 20:49

You have a million browsers open and you don't know how to, you know, decipher the information and you know what's? You're reading all the reviews. Well, that's one of the reasons I started the business, too, was because, you know, I was planning family vacations. I had actually worked with um, a child travel agent, and I was solving a lot of my own problems and stuff, and, and so when I started a business, you can't imagine how many you know friends, potential clients, were like I would love to go to Europe, but I don't even know where to start. I have a family of five. Hotel rooms don't accommodate that in Europe, right? So it becomes a planning paralysis and so Daunting like ugh, yes, and so a lot of people just choose not to do it. But what's been the most rewarding thing about since I started was how many people have done things that they never would have done if they hadn't found me right Multi-leg European stops with a family of five, and they, you know, never thought that they might do that.

Speaker 1: 21:52

Or, you know, I do book premium and luxury cruises, and a lot of people don't know about the cruise world and how wonderful it really can be as sort of a sampler platter for getting a taste of locations that you then maybe want to go back to. But booking cruises can be really overwhelming. There's so many details, there's so many hidden fees. So a lot of people, you know, may not have done that but have come to me and been like, oh my gosh, that was really cool, I would cruise again, you know. So those types of moments for me are the most rewarding for for my business.

Speaker 2: 22:27

I would say no absolutely I'd have to agree with that for you, because I feel like you love helping people and just making them have a good time, but also making sure that you're like on the same page and just seeing eye to eye and making sure like oh I did that. Look at them having a good time. Like I'm so glad that they came to me.

Speaker 1: 22:43

Yes, it's super rewarding.

Speaker 2: 22:45

I love it For sure.

Speaker 1: 22:52

And now I'd like to ask you.

Speaker 2: 22:53

A question that I ask everybody at the end of the podcast is if you have maybe a quote or a saying or a mantra that has inspired you in any way in your life or that you're currently still using to help inspire you or uplift you.

Speaker 1: 23:04

Oh gosh. You could share that with us, a quote or a mantra.

Speaker 2: 23:09

Yeah, or even just the lyric of a song.

Speaker 1: 23:11

Right, I mean a carpe diem. That seems very cliche, but it is like seize the day because you may not have tomorrow, right? You know, we've seen, you know, a lot of tragic things happen to people who weren't expecting it. And you know people who get cancer and then recover and are like it is my time to see the world. And I just would say don't wait for tomorrow, make it happen today.

Speaker 1: 23:46

Yeah, not all who wander are lost. I love that one too. I have a book that says that in my library. So get out, explore. The world is so big, there's so much to learn from it. And then for those people who are like thinking that young kids it's too young because they won't remember, I say take them anyway, take them anyway. You read them books and you wouldn't stop reading them books because they don't remember what the book is. So you know, if it becomes too much to consider, then that's where their travel advisor. But take those young kids and explore, because it really does help shape. You know who they are and their experiences and it's good for them to see other cultures. So I'd say those, those are some.

Speaker 2: 24:37

Beautiful. No, those are good ones. Okay, thank you. And where can people find you and your services Like? Give us your website or your Instagram handles.

Speaker 1: 24:44

Sure, so my Instagram handle is at flightoffancy, underscore travel, and my email is alana A-L-A-N-A dot stoius at fora, dot travel. And let's see, my website is super, super long, but I'm sure you'll post it in like the show notes or something, yeah, so yeah, all right.

Speaker 2: 25:08

Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Thank you, thank you inside and upcoming trends with travel. This is good to know good people listening will be ahead of the game here.

Speaker 1: 25:18

Okay, great thank you so much for having me absolutely.