“Once I’ve got them, I’ve got them.”

These words from Debra Kerper represent the confidence and tenacity that won her the TravelAge West Trendsetter Award for Best Group Booking Sales Effort. In fact, her expertise and dedication to her demographic have secured her a faithful client base — so faithful, in fact, that many refuse to travel without her.

Kerper, an independent franchise owner for Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel representative, specializes in creating trips for disabled and mature clientele. Her desire to work with people who have special needs is based on her personal experience with illness and being an amputee.

“I had lupus and I was bored,” she said. “I went to Coastline Community College in Fountain Valley, Calif., and I took this class where everyone wanted to be a travel agent. A lightbulb went off in my head and I thought, ‘I can do this!’”


Read more at TravelAge West. 

Puerto Rico’s debt crisis hasn’t slowed down the Caribbean island’s tourism. With the number of cruise ship arrivals increasing by 26 percent and major renovations to the international Puerto Rican airport, the island remains a hot destination for adventure travelers, families and honeymooners alike. 

Ingrid I. Rivera Rocafort, Puerto Rico Tourism Company’s executive director, discussed with TravelAge West the growth in Puerto Rico’s tourism industry, as well as the best restaurants for foodies, the island’s newest hotels and why the debt crisis shouldn’t scare off travel agents or their clients.

Read more at TravelAge West.

Regular pub crawls are fun, but literary pub crawls might have you follow “Charles Dickens” through London’s most historical bars — and what could be better than that?

If you like a little history with your libations, check out these literary pub crawls from around the world for both pints and pondering.

Read more at TravelAge West.

With hashtags such as #instatravel and #travelgram hugely popular on Instagram, it’s no wonder the app has become a haven for travel photography. And with an increase in users sharing their vacation photos comes the opportunity to see where Instagrammers are traveling and where they’re encouraging others to go.

Below are some of the top destinations in Mexico featured on Instagram, along with approximately how many posts have been made about them (at time of publishing), as well as hot spots around these places.

Read more at TravelAge West.