Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of Tuscaloosa and Northport!
Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Jon Harvill's Travel Revolution: Transforming Journeys with Expedia Cruises in Birmingham
Discover how Jon Harvill, franchise owner of Expedia Cruises in Birmingham, is transforming the way we experience travel. Uncover the secrets behind the evolution of Expedia Cruises, from its Canadian roots as Cruise Ship Centers to its current status as a key player in the cruise travel industry under the Expedia Group umbrella. Jon shares his journey from corporate life to running a full-service leisure agency that specializes in everything from ocean and river cruising to unique offerings like chartered yachts and RV leases. Whether you're dreaming of an all-inclusive vacation or a villa in Tuscany, Jon and his team have the expertise to turn those dreams into reality.
Join us as we explore what sets Expedia Cruises apart in the crowded travel marketplace. Jon reveals the unique perks and powerful buying capabilities that allow them to offer exclusive packages and unbeatable pricing. With a retail presence that encourages personalized service and engaging events, Jon's team is committed to providing exceptional support, even in the wee hours of the morning. Hear about their exciting travel opportunities, including an upcoming Mediterranean cruise with Oceana Cruise Line, featuring immersive pre- and post-cruise experiences in Barcelona and Rome. Tune in to learn how Jon's passion for travel and commitment to his clients create unforgettable journeys.
#Podcast #ExpediaCruises #JonHarvile #TravelDreams #CruiseTravel #LuxuryTravel #OceanCruises #RiverCruises #AllInclusiveVacations #TuscanyVilla #TravelIndustry #MediterraneanCruises #OceanaCruiseLine #PersonalizedTravel #TravelExpertise #UnforgettableJourneys #TravelPerks #ExclusiveTravelDeals #BirminghamAL #TravelInspiration #CruiseLife #PassionForTravel #CharteredYachts #RVAdventures
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, patricia Blondheim, and today we have good neighbor John Harville, and John is the franchise owner, along with his wife, at Expedia Cruises here in Birmingham. John, how are you today?
Speaker 3:I am doing great. It's good to talk with you. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
Speaker 2:Well, you have a dream job. In my opinion, I could think of nothing better than just to be able to travel all the time, but that's really not what a travel agency is all about for you. As the owner, can you share how Expedia Cruises got its start and what inspired the focus on the cruise travel within the broader travel industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, great.
Speaker 3:So Expedia Cruises is under the umbrella of the Expedia Group, which is the largest supplier of travel in the world.
Speaker 3:The number I heard was that pre-pandemic Expedia was responsible for $100 billion in travel, and so they were looking for a retail presence so that they could bring their name to the local communities. Expedia Cruises is based in Vancouver, british Columbia, and it started out as cruise ship centers, as a franchise organization, throughout Canada, and Expedia bought cruise ship centers, which became Expedia Cruise Ship Centers, and the name in the last few years was changed to Expedia Cruises, with the byline of air, land and sea vacations, and so they figured out the franchise system in the United States and we were about the 45th agency in the US. We're the only center in Alabama and cruising is our name, but we are a full-service leisure agency. So, whether you want to do ocean cruising, river cruising, of which the majority of what we do is cruising, but we also do all-inclusives, disney, universal, if you want a villa in Tuscany, we can do that for you, and we've even chartered yachts and leased RVs.
Speaker 2:Sets Expedia Cruises apart from other travel agencies. Are there any special services or maybe you know, with Expedia you might think like exclusive packages that customers can find only through you.
Speaker 3:That's a great question and yes, to start off with, we have a groups department in Vancouver that negotiates over 75,000 rooms a year where we can offer additional perks, where we have pricing Sometimes it's less than what the cruise line is offering. How that comes about is because of the buying power that Expedia represents. We're able, we have relationships with all of the major players globally Because and when we opened up in, I left corporate America in November of 2013, and we opened our doors here at our retail center in June of 2014. And so we had suppliers coming to us proactively because they knew our name, and so we've had that type of relationship with any of the players you can think of, and they come to see us and they contribute to the building of our business and assist us. When we're having challenges, perhaps with completing a booking, they can help us with that.
Speaker 3:Another benefit of booking with us through Expedia Cruises is that Expediacom, bookingcom and Verbocom, which is another Expedia company, on top of all that and certainly we've seen it post-pandemic is that we are here for our clients not only during our regular business hours during the week and on Saturdays, but also after hours.
Speaker 3:I've received phone calls at two in the morning from Athens, when somebody has missed a transfer of some kind or when there's maybe a medical issue on a trip, that we received the call and we are here to assist our clients. We also, because of the retail presence we have, we're able to invite our clients here so that we can work with them and help them with their travel plans. And then we're also here, as I just mentioned, but we're here where they can come in and not only work on their plans, but also we have events, both in-house and off-campus, where we invite pizzas, and it was really a fun environment. We found out the history, we learned of the history of pizza, and then we were able to launch, with Oceana Cruise Line, a cruise that we're doing in the Mediterranean, with three days before the cruise in Barcelona, a seven day sailing and then three days following the cruise in Rome. And so we're doing that in, believe it or not, april of 2026, and it's beginning to fill up.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, travel industry is not what it used to be. It's constantly changing, so that makes it super exciting, right? Have you noticed any shifts in customer preferences lately? What types of trips or destinations are most popular right now?
Speaker 3:We're finding that people are looking more for experiences as opposed to possessions, and so what we're seeing and certainly post-pandemic is that the travel trends are people are booking farther out out of necessity because ships and resorts, hotels, airfare fill up much sooner now. But not only are they booking farther out as I mentioned, in 2026, and some of the suppliers are offering their itineraries for 2027, but also they're booking for longer periods of time. They're staying, like if they're going to Alaska if you're going for seven, you might as well go for 10 and go up into Denali, or 12 days and experience Denali. Or if you're going to Europe and you're going to get on a river cruise, add a ocean cruise to that, or a land extension either way. So those are the trends that we're seeing in the travel industry.
Speaker 2:And a lot of people. I mean, we're still in a place where we're a little bit hung over from the internet travel industry, right when you would go to an internet site like Expedia and do it all yourself, and I think we're starting to realize that having expert assistance is going to save us. It's not going to cost any more money and it's going to save us a lot of headaches. So what advice would you give to someone planning planning their first trip? I mean, what are the common travel challenges that your team helps customers avoid? What do you do to make planning this trip as smooth as possible?
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, there are different levels of travel planners. There are those who come in and say we need help from ground zero, just from the beginning. There are those who like to do research. Well, in either, to whatever extent they like to do their own research, they can come in and then they have our support so that, as airlines consolidate flights and change flight schedules, we can assist them with that. We can assist them.
Speaker 3:Most of the companies now certainly resorts, airlines and cruises focus with their personal apps, and so we can help in setting that up.
Speaker 3:And because of our connections and our experience our experience uh with all of our consultants, and we have about 30 uh total, both in birmingham area and also out of state and in other areas within the state but collectively we have vast experience and we we traveled the world as a result, and so we have the resources where we can help you to uncover where you want to go, how you want to get there, maybe down to the specifics of who do you help with transfers from the airport to a hotel or to a cruise ship, or what hotel and city center do you want to stay in Rome.
Speaker 3:Those are the kind of tools that we bring together. And if you go online plus, if you go online and you book with an agent and you find yourself at two in the morning, as I mentioned previously, with issues, how are you going to reach that person? Can you reach that person? Will they be available with us? Are you going to reach that person? Can you reach that person? Will they be available with us? You're going to have our cell phone numbers and you can reach out to us and we're going to be available and go to bat for you to whatever extent you need.
Speaker 2:So I mean that opens up like how does Expedia Cruises ensure the safety and security of its customers? Do you offer travel insurance options? Where would you guide travelers when they're considering travel and possibly the purchase of a policy?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, we offer trip protection coverage and Beth and I my wife we insure every trip that we take and we've only had one claim in 11 years with being back in the business and we were in Rio de Janeiro, supposed to be flying home that day, and there were some weather issues that shut down the American airline system and so we had to. There are tougher situations, but we had to stay in Rio on the beach for three nights, but then we came home and filed a claim and for our hotel, the extra meals and any expenses related to that delay we were reimbursed, and so we recommend trip insurance or travel protection with everything that we do, because you may not need it, but it's that one time and we have companies that have good reputations with their claims paying and we can insure anything that our travelers are doing. Our travelers are doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's wonderful advice. And as far as advice goes, I mean for those who dream of travel but maybe haven't taken the leap yet. What would you say to encourage them? Are there any insider tips for making travel more accessible or affordable?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So what we do is we find out by asking the right questions. We find out what their preferences are, what their concerns are, what the dates of travel they want, who they want to travel with. For instance, I had a conversation yesterday and with someone who's never cruised before and we were talking about how we suggest to experience that. So if you've not cruised and you're not sure if you like it, we recommend taking and again, this is cruising in particular, but taking a shorter cruise. And what's happening now?
Speaker 3:It used to be with cruising that the cruise lines brought in older ships for the three and four day, we'll say, bahamas trips. But now what they've begun to do is bring in their newest ships with the newest technology. And we recommend experiencing that type of cruise and that way you can figure out if you like it and want to continue. And then you may start with going to the Bahamas and going deeper into the Caribbean, maybe going to Alaska, going to the Mediterranean and then a river cruise. So just that initial taste can really, for those who like that mode of travel, there's just the world's endless as to how you can enjoy that.
Speaker 2:Don, what would you like our listeners to take away about Expedia Travel?
Speaker 3:Travel in itself is just such a great reward, not only in the experience, but the planning is just as exciting. We actually are leaving Thursday. Thursday is to go out to california, and we will be out at a meeting, um on on norwegian bliss for a week down to the mexican riviera. And uh, people say, well, what is your, what is your favorite trip? And I say the next one. So it's just to experience travel, and there are so many ways to accomplish that.
Speaker 3:Some people don't want to leave the United States. Well, there is so much to do, be it the national parks, alaska, florida, california, california there's just so much to do and so many ways to see it. So my recommendation is do it now, do it while you can. You know, because waiting, I remember years and years ago, while I was traveling in Europe, somebody said you know Americans, what they like to do is save up their money, buy two pieces of luggage, spend two weeks on vacation and never travel again, whereas the Europeans have a month off every year and they will go to their vacation and that's a part of their lifestyle.
Speaker 3:And so we just recommend and so we just recommend getting out and going, pulling out of the driveway, go to an airport, do it, travel the way you want to travel, and, as I mentioned earlier, leasing RVs is a great way to see the United States. You can fly into Salt Lake City or Las Vegas and rent an RV and go wherever it is you want to travel. So just getting to it, go now. And why Expedia? Because we are under the umbrella, as I mentioned before, of the largest supplier of travel in the world, and so we have the tools and the experience and the expertise to help you go and see the world to whatever extent you want to see it.
Speaker 2:Well for our travelers, our future travelers out there and our current travelers. How can they learn more about Expedia Cruises? John?
Speaker 3:They can go to wwwexpediacruisescom. Slash either John Harville, J-O-N-H-A-R-V-I-L-L or Greystone, G-R-E-Y-S-T-O-N-E-A-L, Greystone, Alabama, and that's how we have named ourselves, affiliated with the local area within Birmingham, Greystone. So again, wwwexpediacruisescom slash John Harville.
Speaker 2:And where's the location of your storefront?
Speaker 3:John, we are located off of Highway 280 in the Oak Mountain area. Our closest intersection would be Highway 280 and Highway 119. We are in the Lee Branch Shopping Center. There are two sides. We're on the public side between Moe's Southwest Grill and what used to be the UPS store, but we have a big ship in our window. It's difficult to miss us.
Speaker 2:Wonderful John. Thank you so much. I am so excited about my next trip. I don't know what it's going to be, but I think it might be with you. Thanks for coming by and talking to us.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPBirminghamcom. That's GNPBirminghamcom. Or call 205-952-0148.