Hello and welcome to our blog. I am delighted and honored you took the time to visit. Like with any introduction and initial meeting, it is customary to make a proper introduction. My name is Wes Snapp and I am the founder of Koterie Travels.
What in the world is Koterie you may ask….Well, as you may have seen throughout our site, we have the definition listed on every page:
Koterie: [koh-tuh-ree / koʊ tə ri]
[noun] : exclusive group of people that associate closely.
“a koterie of friends”
“a koterie of kindred spirits” (synonyms: clique, set, circle, inner circle, in crowd, band, community, gang)
Truth be told, this is a false spelling of the word with some creative license of definition. The actual word is Coterie and according to Merriam-Webster is defined as an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose.
The purpose of Koterie Travels is to provide pre-designed, cost effective premium travel packages to the semi-private and private club market. We want to give each club the opportunity to provide group travel to their membership without all the hassle of coordinating the many details that make a group’s trip a success.
This naturally leads to the next two important questions: “Who is Wes Snapp and what makes him think he can do this better than I.”
Wes Snapp has been doing this a very long time for Fortune 500 companies. But if you don’t mind, I am going to switch back to first person as it’s much easier to write. When I moved to Costa Rica in 1998, I was employed by the Melia Playa Conchal in Guanacaste to be Group and Events Coordinator for the corporate incentive programs operating onsite. These incentive travel programs are of the highest quality and demanded the utmost care in delivery and execution. Every detail is triple confirmed and perfected come the date of the group’s arrival. And I mean EVERYTHING. From where the bellman would be standing to welcome the bus arrivals – to how the beds would be made – to what the floral decorations would be on the welcome night reception’s buffet line…. and the list goes on.
18 Months later, I am back in the USA with a firm understanding of what premium group travel service means and am working for DMS Incentives. At DMS my role evolved from sourcing and contracting with the finest resorts in the Carribean and Americas to being the Vice President of Sales and Operation working directly with the C-Level decision makers.
All of the above results in 19 years of group travel purchasing, planning, communicating, and delivery with superior service. I have developed a vast network of hospitality professionals who represent every aspect necessary for success: hotel, resort, airline, local tour operators, and transportation companies to name a few. In short, I’ve been successfully doing this my entire career.
The final question you may have is “Why do you only have one destination?”
This is a simple answer – power of economy (or scale). We select a new destination every year that fits the needs of the semi-private and private clubs. Koterie Travels uses the volume of groups to negotiate a group package that is the most cost effective in the industry. No travel agency or other organization can match the price considering the program inclusions, service, and delivery. As the number of groups we operate continues to grow, we recognize we may have to increase our offering to two or three destinations. Time will tell and only you, as a client, can help us in making that happen.
Traveling on a professionally orchestrated trip is something everyone should experience at least once. Having all the details handled for you is the only way to travel. Group vacations are that much easier when a private concierge, not a hotel concierge that attends to everyone in the hotel – but your private group concierge, is a local expert who is eager to help with local restaurant reservations, a private car and driver for the day, or arrange a tour to one of the many attractions around.
We look forward to delivering a perfect group vacation for your club’s membership,
Wes Snapp