A Conversation With ... Deana Crouch

Title: Assistant Vice President of Leisure Sales and Cruise Specialist

Education: Accounting degree, Missouri Southern State University

Recent kudos: MLT Vacations’ 2007 IRIS Award for marketing ideas and best practices in the travel and tourism industry.

What drew you to work in travel?

I actually came to Great Southern Travel quite by accident. My husband was transferred (to Springfield) about 20 years ago, and we lived across from the accounting manager at Great Southern Bank. I had always been in manufacturing accounting (and) got my degree in accounting. She … asked me to come to work for the accounting department at Great Southern. … I (went) to work at Great Southern, and I really didn’t know that much about the travel industry at that time. … I did a lot of research about the travel industry (for about a year) and decided I wanted to change my career path. I’ve been at Great Southern Travel for about 18 years. I really enjoy it.

Earlier this year, you won MLT Vacations’ annual IRIS Award recognizing outstanding marketing ideas and best practices in the industry. You’ve attributed that honor partly to Great Southern Travel’s destination wedding and honeymoon sales. Tell us about that segment of business.

Honeymoons and destination weddings make up probably 10 percent of our vacation business. … We have a sales meeting every Tuesday morning and share ideas and focus on areas where we see real growth potential. A lot of (people) don’t go for the traditional church wedding anymore. They really want something different, so that’s a growing market. We partner with … jewelry stores, tuxedo rental (stores), with bridal shops. We do a lot of different wedding shows. We also have a honeymoon registry … and people can call us and put a (monetary) gift toward the honeymoon.

What are some honeymoon and wedding hot spots?

Jamaica and the Mayan Riviera are probably the two areas (with the most) growth. People love the beach destinations for weddings. They’re very beautiful and relaxing, and I think people like them too, because you get a good value. … You’re not getting just the wedding, you’re getting your honeymoon in a beautiful destination.

What are some other key segments of leisure travel?

Cruises are very popular, (particularly) Alaska. Europe has been incredibly popular this year, because of the Euro being so high that … (it’s) an incredible value for vacations. Girlfriend getaways are another market that has become extremely popular, because it’s stressful raising a family. Spa resorts are also popular, because women want to get away and relax.

Is leisure travel likely to suffer given current economic conditions?

We have a large demographic, from younger honeymooners to … multigenerational travel (groups). (The economy) has affected us some, but I think it also makes more stress for people so that sometimes their vacation is more important to them. What (people) are looking for now is a good value, so we sell a lot more of the all-inclusive (packages) and cruises (that) include all their meals and they’re not going to have high gas prices (as with) driving vacations.

With increasing online booking options, why should travelers consider using travel agencies?

When you book cruises and tours and vacation packages, Great Southern Travel does not have any kind of fee (paid by the travelers), and we can get the same kinds of (deals) that you can get online. A lot of people have the misconception that if they book online, they’re saving some money, but really, they’re not. … And, they don’t know all the tour operators they can book with. … A lot of times, they can get a better deal through a travel agency. (Our fees) come from the tour operators and cruise lines. Another problem is that if you book online and you have problems … you’re really on your own. If you book through a travel agency … there’s someone here to help them. We have a Web site, www.greatsoutherntravel.com, if people want to work online, and that’s the best of both worlds.

Do you enjoy traveling?

Oh, I love to travel. I love every place. I love the Caribbean. I love to have my toes in the sand. I love the Mediterranean, the Greek Isles, Italy. Venice is incredible. I love Alaska (and) the nature destinations, the South Pacific. Fiji is just wonderful.

Tell us about your family and your other hobbies.

My husband, Gary, is in the building industry. I have two grown children. We have a cabin down at Table Rock Lake. I love boating and skiing. I love reading about travel and new destinations. I like sewing and crocheting.

Interview by Features Editor Maria Hoover. You can e-mail her with suggestions for future installments of this feature at mhoover@sbj.net.