PL ANNER PROFILE
By Sarah Suydam
L O R I V I S S E R , V TA
Following Her Heart to Travel
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W hile Lori Visser, V TA k new she wanted to work as a
travel advisor after high school, she initially followed a d i f ferent pat h—one t hat led her i nto accou nt i ng and later as a corporate controller for a construction, manufacturing and commercial real estate business. She was used to of ten being t he only woman in t he room. Event ua lly, Visser ret urned to what she ca lls her first love: travel. “My mom was an immigrant and my dad a railroad engineer, so I think travel is in my blood,” said Visser, who now works as a travel adv isor and is ow ner and operator of a Cruise Planners travel agency franchise. “Back in the day, it was much harder to break into the field, needing experience and connections—of which I had none back in the 1970’s.” In 2014, Visser decided she’d had enoug h of t he cor porate world and decided to jump right into t he world of t ravel, despite not hav i ng a ny i ndu st r y ex per ience at t he t i me. She d id, however, possess plent y of business ex perience t hat she k new wou ld ser ve her wel l. W hi le she bega n w it h no clients or leads, she’s now able to suppor t her fa m i ly doi ng something she loves. “I do a lot of t raining, including conferences and convent ions, a nd si nce I work w it h over 40 cr u ise l i nes a nd doz en s of la nd-ba sed t ravel suppl ier s, t here’s a plet hor a of t r a i n i ng resou rc es,” V i s ser explained, noting satisfaction in her choice to opt for the franchise route. “I don’t need to spend my time on
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