FORT LAUDERDALE -- In a jocular and sincere CruiseWorld address praising travel advisors for their expertise and productivity in selling Sandals and Beaches resorts, Gary Sadler joked that their conference breakfast should have been lobster omelettes and Moet & Chandon Champagne.
Sadler, the longtime executive vice president of sales and industry relations for Unique Vacations (Sandals' sales and marketing arm), told the audience on Friday that "our belief in the value of the travel advisor is absolutely resolute. It is for that reason that we're here to spend the time with you, not to just sponsor the breakfast."
He went on to thank travel advisors for "believing in us as an organization and trusting us as a brand" and for agents who sell Sandals to "continue to sell us with confidence."
To the travel advisors who don't sell Sandals, Sadler said, "What the hell are you waiting on?"
Sadler closed by saying that travel advisors "sell dreams."
"In the process of selling dreams, you have to be positive about everything that you do," Sadler said. "It is something I believe in quite profoundly."