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Meet a Few of Our Specialty Travel Advisors


There are endless reasons why people choose to travel. It could be for a break from the day-to-day hustle, or to celebrate an anniversary or honeymoon, sometimes for business, and other times for something very specific, like going to a festival or hunting down fall foliage. There are also endless types of travel – from luxury and adventure travel to culinary travel and safaris. Whatever your reason is for traveling, one of our advisors is likely to specialize in what you are looking to do.

Plaza Travel is proud to have advisors across the US with many different specialties. The advisors featured below are just a few who specialize in a specific type of travel.

Ilene Koenig, Travel Advisor, Let's Travel!

Ilene Koenig
Travel Advisor, Let's Travel!
Specialty: Film Festival Groups

Several years ago Ilene's best friend introduced her
to film critic Stephen Farber. He is the host of Reel
Talk, the former President of the Los Angeles Film
Critics Association, and a current film critic for The
Hollywood Reporter. When he learned that Ilene was
a travel advisor, he started reaching out to her to
plan trips for groups of like-minded individuals to
travel to film festivals across the globe, and the rest
is history. Ilene has now been planning travel for film
festival groups for about 15 years.


The groups can range from about 20 to 40 people, depending on which film festival they are attending. She plans around four per year, including one international film festival each year. The packages she puts together typically include film passes, hotels, meals at the best foodie-approved restaurants, entrance to exclusive parties, private screenings, and other special events.

Last month Ilene, Stephen, and their group attended the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado and she said it was fabulous! Anyone can go to a film festival, but what sets their group apart is having Stephen navigating the festival and suggesting which films the group should see. As Ilene says, "A film festival is like a three-ring circus on steroids," because there are so many different films happening at the same time in different places, so having Stephen there to guide the group makes the experience much more enjoyable.

If you're a film lover, reach out to Ilene to see which film festival they're going to next and if there is still space available!

Telluride Film Festival 2019

San Sebastian Film Festival 2019



Gail Sherman, Owner, Wine Lovers Travel

Gail Sherman
Owner, Wine Lovers Travel, an independent
affiliate of Plaza Travel

Specialty: Wine Groups (Cruises and Tours)

Gail has always been passionate about travel. She
has been planning wine trips for her clients since
2017 and started her own company, Wine Lovers
Travel, in 2019. She has traveled to wine regions
across Europe and the US and has such extensive
knowledge about wine travel that she was selected
to be one of four Travel Expert Select wine
specialists
by Signature Travel Network. The
itineraries she creates for her clients are based upon
personal off-the-beaten-path experiences.


Trips can range from river cruises through Europe's best wine regions to bicycle tours through Tuscany to wildlife and winery combo tours to Africa and more.

Aside from planning trips, Gail has also built personal relationships with wineries in California and Washington state, received her Level 2 Certification from WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust), and soon she hopes to receive the title of Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW).

The relationships and knowledge she has allows her to arrange unique activities for her clients. A few amazing experiences she has planned have included a private wine mixing class where guests got to take home a whole bottle of their very own mixed wine, a cave tour and wine tasting in tunnels under wineries in Spain, and oyster harvesting paired with wine tasting.

Whatever type of wine travel you are seeking, Gail can help find the perfect vacation for you.
Also, be sure to check out her Facebook group for Wine Lovers Who Love to Travel.




Denise Schaefer, Travel Advisor, Plaza Travel

Denise Schaefer
Travel Advisor, Plaza Travel
Specialty: Calvary Chapel Groups

Denise has been planning travel for groups of
Calvary Chapel church members since around 1985.
Calvary has churches all over the US and Denise
plans travel for many of their locations across the
country. The groups typically range from about 15 to
20 people, but sometimes she plans trips for groups
of up to 150 people – arranging flights, tours,
cruises, and more. Some of the past trips she has
planned include groups traveling to Russia to build
new churches, religious journeys to Israel, and
cruises and tours to the Holy Land.


Denise helps find the best airfares and hotel rates for these groups, and can get great prices and group discounts on cruises. Reach out to Denise for more info or to submit a travel request.


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