About Us
About MinMin Travel
Welcome to MinMin Travel
At MinMin Travel, founded by Minoru Matthews, CTA, VTA, CCC, we’re passionate about creating memorable, well-planned travel experiences with personalized service every step of the way.
Minoru’s love of travel began in childhood, growing up in a family of avid travelers. Over the years, his journeys have taken him to destinations including Japan, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Alaska, Canada, and the Caribbean, along with numerous cruises throughout North America and beyond. Those experiences helped inspire a passion for travel planning and eventually led to the creation of MinMin Travel.
Today, MinMin Travel helps travelers plan everything from relaxing cruise vacations and all-inclusive resorts to customized land itineraries, group travel, and more complex international trips. Our goal is simple: take the stress out of travel planning while helping clients make informed decisions that fit their interests, needs, and budget.
Cruise Expertise and a Passion for Royal Caribbean
Cruising holds a particularly special place at MinMin Travel, especially Royal Caribbean.
Minoru’s enthusiasm for cruising led him to create the Royal Caribbean Refreshment Package Cruisers Facebook community, where thousands of travelers can exchange cruise tips, share zero-proof drink recommendations, discuss packages and onboard experiences, and help one another make the most of their vacations.
That community also became an important example of how social media can be used to educate travelers, build trust, create meaningful engagement, and develop a recognizable travel brand.
What began as a personal passion for helping friends, family, and fellow cruisers eventually grew into a professional travel career built around education, advocacy, personalized service, and community-building.
Minoru brings extensive firsthand cruising experience to his clients, along with specialized knowledge of cruise ships, stateroom categories, dining, beverage packages, shore excursions, onboard experiences, pre-cruise planning, and the many small details that can make a big difference in a vacation.
Professional Training and Credentials
Minoru has invested extensively in professional education and travel-industry training. His credentials include:
- Certified Travel Associate (CTA) through The Travel Institute
- Travel Agency Proficiency (TAP) certification
- Certified Cruise Counsellor (CCC) through CLIA
- Verified Travel Advisor (VTA) through ASTA
- Extensive supplier and destination training with major cruise lines, resorts, tour operators, and vacation brands
Ongoing education is an important part of MinMin Travel. The travel industry is constantly changing, and staying current on ships, resorts, destinations, policies, promotions, technology, and industry developments allows us to provide clients with informed and up-to-date guidance.
Personalized Travel Planning
MinMin Travel provides personalized planning and booking assistance for a variety of travel experiences, including:
- Ocean and river cruises
- All-inclusive resorts
- Customized European vacations
- Domestic U.S. travel
- Hotels and resorts
- Group travel
- Pre- and post-cruise stays
- Shore excursions and activities
- Travel protection
- Complex and multi-component itineraries
Depending on the trip, our services may include personalized destination and resort recommendations, cabin and room-category guidance, comparison of travel options, itinerary planning, booking assistance, secure payment authorization, travel documentation, and continued support before and during your vacation.
Clients also benefit from MinMin Travel’s relationships with major cruise lines, ALG Vacations, resort brands, tour operators, and other trusted travel suppliers.
The MinMin Travel Difference
When you work with MinMin Travel, you receive more than a reservation number. Our approach focuses on thoughtful planning, clear communication, education, and ongoing support.
We can help with:
- Personalized recommendations based on your travel style, priorities, and budget
- Cruise ship, stateroom, resort, and room-category guidance
- Exclusive rates, promotions, amenities, and agency perks when available
- Pre-cruise hotels, transportation, and travel logistics
- Shore excursion and activity planning
- Customized itineraries and travel documentation
- Travel protection guidance
- Secure booking and payment authorization processes
- Proactive problem-solving and client advocacy
- Responsive support throughout the planning process
From choosing the right cruise ship or resort to coordinating the finer details of your trip, MinMin Travel is here to help make the entire experience easier, more organized, and more enjoyable.
Helping the Next Generation of Travel Advisors
MinMin Travel is also proud to have played an important role in helping new travel professionals enter and succeed in the industry.
Within its first few years, MinMin Travel helped four advisors who were completely new to the travel industry get started, learn the business, complete professional training and certifications, gain practical booking experience, and begin building successful travel businesses of their own.
The support went well beyond learning how to make reservations.
Advisors received guidance in areas such as:
- Travel-industry fundamentals and professional standards
- Supplier systems and booking procedures
- Cruise, resort, hotel, and vacation-package sales
- Client qualification and consultation
- Customer service and client communication
- Travel documentation and payment procedures
- Commission tracking and business operations
- Professional certifications and supplier training
- Personal branding and business development
- Social media marketing and audience growth
- Facebook business pages and travel-focused Facebook groups
- Content creation, travel deal marketing, and community engagement
- Developing a niche and positioning themselves as a knowledgeable travel resource
A particularly important part of MinMin Travel’s advisor-development approach has been teaching new advisors how to use social media as a genuine business-building tool, rather than simply posting occasional travel deals and hoping someone responds.
Drawing from Minoru’s own experience building the Royal Caribbean Refreshment Package Cruisers community, advisors have been able to learn how a well-managed Facebook group can become a powerful way to connect with travelers, share useful information, build credibility, generate conversations, and develop long-term relationships with potential clients.
Advisors have also been encouraged to explore opportunities to create and grow their own Facebook communities around travel interests, destinations, cruise lines, or other niches. This allows them to build an audience that reflects their own interests and expertise while developing an independent professional identity.
The emphasis is not simply on selling travel. It is on learning how to become a trusted resource.
That includes understanding how to create helpful and engaging content, answer traveler questions, promote offers appropriately, establish a consistent online presence, build relationships within a community, and turn visibility into genuine client trust over time.
MinMin Travel’s own social media experience has demonstrated that a successful online travel community can become much more than a marketing channel. It can serve as an educational resource, a place for travelers to connect, a source of referrals and leads, and an important foundation for a travel advisor’s personal brand.
Through hands-on mentorship, structured education, supplier training, social media guidance, industry resources, business support, and real-world experience, MinMin Travel has helped aspiring advisors move from having little or no professional travel experience to confidently serving clients and building travel businesses of their own.
Expanding Again in 2027
That commitment to advisor development will continue into the next chapter of MinMin Travel.
Beginning in early 2027, MinMin Travel plans to expand once again and open opportunities for a new group of aspiring travel advisors.
New advisors will have access to a structured training and professional-development program designed to help them learn the travel industry, develop strong business practices, complete important industry education and certifications, gain practical booking experience, and build the skills needed to grow a sustainable travel business.
Training and mentorship will extend beyond supplier education and booking systems to include areas such as client development, social media marketing, branding, Facebook community-building, lead generation, content strategy, and business growth.
Advisors will have the opportunity to learn from MinMin Travel’s experience developing successful travel-focused online communities and will be encouraged to build their own presence, identify a niche, create meaningful content, and develop a client base that is uniquely theirs.
Our goal is not simply to give someone access to booking tools.
It is to help motivated new advisors build the knowledge, confidence, professional credentials, marketing skills, practical experience, and business foundation they need to create something of their own.
Your Journey Starts Here
Whether you're planning your first cruise, returning to a favorite destination, celebrating a milestone, organizing a group vacation, or dreaming about somewhere completely new, MinMin Travel is ready to help turn your ideas into an unforgettable journey.
And as MinMin Travel continues to grow, we remain equally committed to helping both travelers and the next generation of travel professionals discover just how far the right guidance, education, opportunity, and support can take them.
Why Book With MinMin Travel
By booking with MinMin Travel you will receive all of these benefits above. Often, you will save hundreds vs booking directly. Even when the price is the same, you'll benefit from our support, expertise, training, and excellent customer service. For all cruises, we do not charge any planning fees and our services are 100% complimentary for you to use.
For all inclusive resort planning, custom itinerary design, and flight ticketing, we do charge a nominal service fee for our time but all fees are disclosed transparently upfront before bookings are made.