Skip to main content

Thank You 500,000 readers

What does `VIP´ really mean?

In general a person considered as `VIP´ (Very Important Person) is someone from the aristocracy, a real film star or owner of a huge fortune. And normally not keen to seen in tabloids or TV screens, neither "shot" by bygoer´s mobilephones.
If a person is classified as a VIP or feel like one, you should not have to let the ordinary spectator stare at you, if he doesn't appreciate this for once, and he will find himself in the appropriate box in a stdium, entrance to a hotel and suite via secret stairs, or discrete boarded on a ship.
I continue to hear that suppliers are frustrated with advisor requests to `VIP´ their clients without receiving any specifics on what would actually make the guest feel like a VIP. But `VIP´ is used in the same way inflationary as `Luxury´, but too often it is neither a VIP nor Luxury.
by Earl of Cruise
VIP - Is it a special greeting from the general manager as they walk through the front door?
VIP - Is it a bottle of wine or an upgrade to a top suite?
VIP - Is it maybe the giant chocolate chip cookie with their name spelled out on it would make them swoon.
We all have different backgrounds, things that push our "I feel special" button!
Or is it in the end a marketing gadget throw after one only to get into your poket?

A V.I.P. is

V.I.P.s include celebrities, heads of state or heads of government, other politicians, major employers, high rollers, high-level corporate officers, wealthy individuals, or any other socially notable person who receives special treatment for any reason. The special treatment usually involves separation from common people, and a higher level of comfort or service.
... anyboday else is only an extra charged VIP ...
What does VIP really mean
Photo by Say-Cheese/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
In some cases, such as with tickets, VIP may be used as a title in a similar way to premium."These "VIP tickets" can be purchased by anyone, but still meaning separation from other customers, own security checks etc. The term VVIP (Very Very Important Person) is also used, especially with reference to VIPs with very high spending power.

V.I.P. - The Origin

The term "V. I. P.", which emerged in the aviation sector, was coined by Russian emigrants in the 1920s and ´30s. Most of them were aristocrats who had lost some of their former high status during their lives in emigration, in France and United Kingdom. In 1927, tickets of the "Paris - London" line were advertised with "wiesima imenitaja persona" in the Parisian newspaper of the Russian diaspora. In a certain sense this advertising step was successful and the term "V.I.P." has spread in the circle of Russian-speaking emigration and their associated high class members in France and United Kingdom.
Preferred treatment, which is granted to a person regardless of his or her status only for an additional fee, is often offered under the name of "VIP Service" added with an extra charge. Luxury finishes of objects are highlighted by advertising as "VIP models". "VIP-Shopping" is a retail marketing tool that appeals to specific customers.
In aviation, business aircraft with VIP equipment and VIP flight attendants are marketed. The V,V.I.P. model (very, very important person) is also used for a copy of the aircraft, whose interior design is particularly generous and homely.


VIP
Monaco Casino - courtesy Société des Bains
Very often, the things that will make a person smile on a trip don’t cost a lot. It’s recognition of the human kind - an immediate sense that the hotel or the ship they’re on is a safe place, filled with individuals who are there to make them feel cocooned and pampered in an atmosphere of luxury.
But luxury is for certain more than a label, that you put on a Me-Too product - weather it is a stateroom on board or a chamber/bedroom in a hotel, even if both are outfitted with exquisite furniture and more. It is a grade of privacy and space, and staff serving you.
If you are classified as a VIP or feel like one, you don't have to let the ordinary spectator stare at you, if you don't appreciate this for once, and you will find yourself in the appropriate box via secret stairs. But this service comes with extra charge.

In my mind, if an advisor makes such a vague request to `VIP´ a client, they don’t know their client that well and that’s a problem that requires going back to the basics. When you qualify a client, ask them what makes them feel important in general and what has made them feel welcome during past hotel stays. What do they do in their free time that makes them feel happy? But don´t ask blunt: "Are you a VIP?" Faux Pas in first grade!

VIP
Luxury V.I.P. travel
Now, write down a list of at least three things a ships crew or a hotel could reasonably do for this client to `VIP´ them and share it every time you make a booking for them. If a client is into fashion design, good Scotch and horses, tell the booking departments of ships or hotels so they can get creative. More and more great hotels have in-house libraries to draw from, allowing them the chance to place books in your client’s suite. A certain advantage for nowadays cruise ships, as they are lacking most a true library. But a line can be inventive, if able for. Imagine as your client walks in to their room and sees coffee table volumes on mid-century fashion and great equestrians, along with a bottle of Pinch next to them. Total cost to the hotel? Probably $50. Wow factor for the guest? You can’t put a number on it!

Surprising with unexpected gifts, is a far better marketing tool and guest relation program point than any bargin ... as the bargain he has forgotten, only the gifts surprising him, they will remind your misunderstood customer.

You can’t have an in-depth conversation with every single hotel about your client’s favorite things, but you can communicate this little cheat sheet to them in that same sentence you’re writing to request they receive `VIP´ recognition. It takes another 30 seconds to write, "Likes fashion, horses and Scotch." Really good hotels want to please the guests. If they ignore your careful request, consider another hotel or pick up the phone to have a conversation with the head of luxury sales or the general manager.

This is for real NO thing for VIP-ying someone, it shoulf be the normal treatment for guests on board any good rated ship or hotel!

While you’re at it, include information on what your client doesn’t like. That bottle of wine in the room is the worst thing you could give to someone who has just quit drinking, and that plate of chocolates could be a horrible offering to someone who has just lost a lot of weight.
Customers like to know that their travel advisor has their back. You can prove this in small, caring moments such as these or you can be an all-out hero and rescue them from true crises when their good vacation has gone bad because of poor weather or other disruptions. 
Take the time to protect them in these little ways and you’ll end up garnering a loyalty that will pay you back for years and years to come.

VIP
Photo courtesy BROWN+HUDSON


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI...

HISTORY - The Monster-ships that changed how we Travel at Sea

Our present days sea travel, with its `luxuries´ started with the Monster-ships after the turn from 19th to 20th century, and technical progress and innovations made us think "unbeatable" at sea ... This hybris and belive in the technological progress was destroyed when the TITANIC sank after its encounter off Newfoundland with an iceberg. The beauty salons, fitness rooms, swimming pools, firsts on German liners, and even wireless communications of today’s huge cruise ships all got their start with the `floating palaces´ of a century and a bit ago.   by Earl of Cruise ss GREAT WESTERN, of GREAT WESTERN STEAMSHIP COMPANY, constructed by genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel - Sourece: Engineers Walk ss GREAT BRITAIN of GREAT WESTERN STEAMSHIP COMPANY, constructed by genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel - Sourece: ART UK In the first half of 19th century steam started powering ships. No longer tedious and unpredictable voyages at sea. And with the groundbreaking game chan...

Liners - Can classic ocean liners make a comeback

Classic ocean liners, crossing the oceans, had been for long time the only way to cross the seas. A comeback of ocean liners for real? When in 2010 the Islandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull did errupt, and all flights that would come near his ash-clouds had to be cancelled, people had been trapped on each side of the pond ... And immidiately all available cabins on containerships had been booked, cruise vessels sailing either to the Americas or Europe had been flodded by desperate travellers to get to their destination ... Going by ship was in those days the only way to cross. It did show a certain, but temporary neccessity of liner traffic. But unfortunately we did not have any longer a frequent crossing possibility by ship - Transatlantic liners, liners per se had gone, gone with the wind of history and technical progress in air flight. Is an ocean liner comeback possible? by Earl of Cruise rms QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 © Beken - own collection, copy from a postcard CUNARD held the ...

Destination - Capri, Dolce Vita and Legends - a cruise on board ANDREA

Capri filled with legends, over boarding beauty and Italian `dolce vita´ More than 190 years after the German painter August Kopisch's `discovery´ of the Grotta Azzurra in 1826, Capri ( it is pronounced `KAH pree´, with an accent on the first syllable ) is the most sophisticated island in the Mediterranean. The sound of its name evokes nostalgia, beauty and enthusiasm. And more so, each one of us can and will find its `own´ Capri. by Earl of Cruise Grotta Azzura on Capri - Source: Atlantide Phototravel © Corbis During a Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Venezia on board the yacht like ANDREA of ELEGANT CRUISES & TOURS one of the beautiful destinations has been Capri ... Early morning, approaching Capri - © Earl of Cruise Capri smells of sweet life, light moments, riches and pomp. It is the island of love and happiness. Capri is the place for yearning, dreams and wonderful craziness. Capri is a myths in the Mediterranean Sea, unique and tender,...

Heritage - UNITED STATES LINES - a review

In my UNITED STATES LINES historic review I want to show the rise and fall of the last national shipping and post line of the United States of America. by Earl of Cruise © UNITED STATES LINES The UNITED STATES LINES has been at first a transatlantic shipping company that operated passenger, mail and cargo services from 1921 to 1989. The passenger service with oceanliners was offered until 1969 - most famously by ss  UNITED STATES . The line became well known in the 1920s, when two valiant rescues were made. These ships involved have been the ss PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT in 1926, and the ss AMERICA in 1929 both under the command by Captain George Fried . 19th Century Since the dramatic ending of the COLLINS LINE in mid 19th century, after successfully crossing the North Atlantic, there has not been any major US American steamship line. The congress was not able giving a push to any new entrepreneur to come. So foreign companies got the main share in post trading and pas...

Panama Papers - Caribbean Billions And a German yard group

The Panama Papers focus again dubios Caribbean Billions by Earl of Cruise The new GENTING purchase NORDIC YARDS, source wikipedia Panama Papers and a German Shipbuilder Not since the publication of the Panama Papers, a German yard group got dubios money transfers - the WADAN YARDS and his former owner the Russian Billionaire Andrei Burlakow got into sight of the German tax police. Burlakow, with connections to the Russian Maffia died by the bullets of a hitman. Prior to his shooting Bulakow sold his German entity, the WADAN GROUP, in 2009 to Igor Yusufov - his investment company FLC West.  Vitaly Yusufov, courtsey from ex NORDIC YARDS Jussufow is an e x minister and GASPROM board member. WADAN became NORDIC YARDS and would be run by the son Vitaly Yusufov . It had been haggled, money shifted and cashed ... employees had the dead end - unemploy ment. in June 2015, the HypoVereinsbank reported in a money laundering display flashy money flows in favor of NORDIC...

HISTORY - FRENCH LINE - COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE, a review - Part II Belle Epoque

The COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE, known since the Belle Epoque as FRENCH LINE in the English speaking world (or TRANSAT or CGT), had its origins in 1861.  by Earl of Cruise E mperor Napoléon III. wanted strengthening the French primacy on the oceans and an adequate mail line for the French mail. The 1855 established COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE MARITIME of the Péreire brothers was the core for the new company. This company´s headquarter was, as any major business in France, situated in Paris, while the homeport of the vessels had been Le Havre for the North Atlantic and Marseille for the route to the Orient and Africa. Houseflag of COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE S.A. - soure: ebay "On   limited space, we put our country on display", a crewmember declared once. And no other line put in more of its national personality into its product than COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE . After the French - Prussian/German war of 1870/71 France had to sig...

HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)

Over years, in my early youth, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was shaping my mind for the perfect ocean liner, despite having made my first experiences with a liner onboard the HANSEATIC (1), ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN. When leaning at the rail of HANSEATIC entering the port, my eyes where every where and I wished to by a camera, I took all in. And when seeing the QUEEN ELIZABETH with my own eyes, the nice behaving young boy turned into a tomboy, that my grandmére was no longer able to tame ... I did draw quite a lot of looks, back then. I found, while on research, this article and thought it interesting publishing in my blog: written and published by John Sheperd at liverpoolships.org editing and comments by Earl of Cruise I ( John Shepard ) joined the CUNARD LINE in March 1962 as an Assistant Purser and sailed the QUEEN ELIZABETH throughout that year, before transferring to the Liverpool-based CARINTHIA in November, where I remained as Crew Purser for the next five...

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing.   by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w...

Thank You 500,000 readers