Richter Travel

Background
Challenges
Solution
Results
Looking Forward
Products Used

BACKGROUND

Richter Travel — a travel agency specializing in leisure and group travel based out of Buffalo, NY — started in 2020. Samantha (Sam) Richter started the agency after working as a travel advisor with several large scale agencies. At Richter Travel, they do it all. Sam says, “I enjoy not doing the same thing every day." He adds that he likes "dabbling in different kinds of trips.” Sam was an early adopter of Cvent Vendor Marketplace, powered by Reposite, after hearing an interview with co-founder Alexa Berube on Insider Travel Report back in 2020. Sam immediately reached out to learn more, and Cvent Vendor Marketplace has been a go-to resource in her toolkit ever since.

CHALLENGES

Powering client experiences with unique vendors

As a travel advisor, Sam works with different types of clients — each coming to her with a specific goal in mind. It might be a multi-generational family going on a once in a lifetime trip to celebrate a milestone birthday. Or, it could be an exotic destination wedding. Richter Travel is dedicated to ensuring each client's vision comes to life.

One of the trips that sets Richter Travel apart (and has appeared in just about every major news outlet in Buffalo, NY) is the Mafia at Sea tour. The first group departed last May out of Miami, FL and embarked on a five-day cruise to the Bahamas. It’s an opportunity for a group of Buffalo Bills football fans of all ages to go on a trip together, experiencing the “chaos and fun" of celebrating their team, says Sam.

SOLUTION

Crafting a memorable Bills Mafia at Sea experience

Using Cvent Vendor Marketplace, Sam has crafted a few variations of a pre-night cruise package to augment the Mafia at Sea experience. These packages include two activities per day, restaurants, hotels, and transportation. Last year, the group did a Celebrity Homes Sites & Bites Boat Tour, went to the Miami Marlins Stadium to catch a baseball game, and had a BBQ Party at La Traila Barbeque — Bills player Isaiah McKenzie’s restaurant.

Sam has been using Cvent Vendor Marketplace to iterate on Mafia at Sea packages, finding some new activities like a Little Havana Food Tour, new restaurants like a Tropical Craft Brewery located in the heart of Wynwood, and a new hotel just steps away from the beach.. She’s also gone back to a lot of the core vendors from a previous program, working with the same boat tour company and transportation provider as they had a wonderful experience previously.

Three young women engaged in conversation while sitting at a table in a modern office setting

RESULTS

Building on strong relationships for the future

Sam shared that she’s had a lot of success building positive relationships with suppliers through Cvent Vendor Marketplace, meeting responsive, communicative, and friendly partners she can trust will take care of her clients.

For Sam, getting to meet suppliers in-person is one of her favorite parts of the job, and she shares that the connections she’s made through Cvent Vendor Marketplace are far more personal than she’s ever experienced. On a recent trip to Miami, she was invited by some suppliers in her Bills Mafia packages to experience the activities her clients enjoy. Many of the suppliers she’s connected with have formed lasting and recurring relationships based on successful events, creating a bedrock of trust and good communication for future experiences.

LOOKING FORWARD

Managing trips and suppliers in Cvent Vendor Marketplace has been “easier than the thousand emails that come through," says Sam. She adds, "I can’t handle it outside of the platform as it makes it so much easier.”

Sam is able to send clients proposals of the different Mafia at Sea packages right from the platform, which serves as a visual way to show clients a preview of what their trip will entail. This year she has two Mafia at Sea groups cruising — one headed to Mexico in March and one to Punta Cana in June.

She is looking forward to building future vendor relationships through the tool. SHe summarizes, "The platform is a more personal way to book vendors and connect with those smaller, offbeat vendors that you may not have discovered otherwise." Of speaking on the team, Sam can only offer glowing feedback. She notes, "The team is always on it, and there's nobody else that's ever going to be like that. The service is top-notch."