Lessons in great expectations: Collette General Manager

By Hannah Edensor

Collette’s General Manager Alison Mead (pictured above right) has plenty of life lessons up her sleeves, and one involves camels in Pushkar, Rajasthan.

She’s shared her experience ahead of our Travel DAZE conference, less than a week away on 25^th September, which celebrates failure and its role as a catalyst for success.

You can still snag tickets here, or email hannah@travelweekly.com.au to see what kind of cheeky discounts she’s got up her sleeve.

Now onto Mead’s story…

“A memorable personal failure that set the tone for my future was whilst working as tour manager, arriving with a group of travellers in Pushkar, Rajasthan to specifically witness the Pushkar Camel Fair,” she said.

“This is a huge event and clients paid a premium to be there – and we can assume it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for all!

“I had excitedly prepared my group for days leading up to our arrival for this Indian extravaganza.

“There will be more than 50,000 camels, you will be amazed at the colour, the noise and the crowds,” were phrases of my preamble.

“With that beautiful picture firmly in the minds of my guests, we arrived into Pushkar, settled into our hotel and then eagerly headed out to town for a wander and of course to see the 50,000+ camels I had promised would be there waiting for us.

“Well, there were no camels, none in the surrounding sand-dunes, none on the nearby arena, just zero camels. It went through my mind that I had the wrong dates, maybe India had decided to move the camel fair! I was beside myself having let the group down.

“A sleepless night ensued. Early next morning, before anyone else was awake, I did a quick tour of the town and the camel grounds, and sure enough before I even got that far I could smell them! Yes, the camels had arrived, coming in overnight from afar…

“My lesson in this was one of setting the right expectation, research thoroughly and connect to get more detailed information locally – all of which is easier in 2017 than back then.

“The beauty of travel is its intangibility but that also means expectations vary widely, as does personal choice. Some would never dream of going to a Camel festival!

“In coming a camel’s whisker from a major fail in meeting expectations I learned an important life lesson.

“And today, despite the abundance of information available, expectations still exist – and vary wildly – at every stage of the booking and travel experience!”

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