Condé Nast Traveler once again in 2018 includes Todd Smith, Founder and President of small ship cruise experts AdventureSmith Explorations, in its annual list of Top Travel Specialists. The magazine has singled out Smith for this highest professional recognition since 2012.
Authorities like Smith, representing diverse travel arenas, are chosen based on their combination of specialized knowledge, first-hand travel experience, local connections, customer service and the value they bring to vacation planning. Every year the Condé Nast Traveler team evaluates hundreds of applicants. Each applicant undergoes a rigorous screening process that includes a detailed application with sample itineraries, client references and phone interviews.
Smith credits his staff’s contribution as well for this tribute. “We spend a lot of time training and sending staff on trips and sharing knowledge with one another to ensure we’re true experts in the field. We work only with quality-focused operators and sell programs that we’ve experienced first-hand. Many of our cruise partners have been with us since inception in 2003.”
AdventureSmith Explorations’ travelers all benefit from this well-traveled staff that in 2018 alone conducted research in The Amazon, Australia, Alaska, Baja, Galapagos, Panama, Patagonia, the Polar Circle, Antarctica and Indonesia. Smith and his family spent a month this year on an Australia adventure that included a Great Barrier Reef Cruise. Family travel is an AdventureSmith Explorations’ hallmark, with Smith setting off with his wife and children whenever school breaks allow to gain experiences that are passed on to clients.
“The AdventureSmith team itself is like family in that we treat each other with respect, learn from each other and take care of each other. So many companies are laser-focused only at the client level; we strive to ingrain the same type of relationship and respect we treat our clients with internally as well,” Smith underscores. Like a growing family, the team has doubled in the past five years.
“As our small ship cruising niche continues to grow and become mainstream, we want to continue to grow with it,” Smith says. He predicts that this will include some relationships with larger operators (but staying within the small ship category) to maintain the company’s position in the marketplace. “But it’s still the smaller operators and trips that distinguish us as the leader in boutique small ship travel.”