Training leaders often talk about scale as if it is purely a technology problem. In reality, scale is a people and alignment problem long before it becomes a systems challenge. That reality comes into sharp focus in a recent Training Impact Podcast conversation featuring Stan Kravitz, Director of Global Tourism Sales and Partnerships at American Dream.
American Dream is not a traditional retail environment. It is a destination built around what Stan describes as retail-tainment, a fully integrated mix of attractions, dining, and shopping designed to deliver an all-day or multi-day experience under one roof. Indoor amusement parks, water attractions, skiing, entertainment venues, and hundreds of retail brands operate side by side in a weather-proof environment just minutes from New York City.
Stan’s role sits at the center of this complexity. He is responsible for building and enabling a global network of tourism partners who sell, package, and represent the American Dream experience long before a guest arrives on site. His work provides a real-world example of what extended enterprise enablement looks like when performance, reputation, and customer experience are directly tied to how well partners are trained and supported.
Stan brings decades of experience across hospitality, tourism, and transportation, having worked on both sides of the sales equation as a buyer and a seller. That background shapes his philosophy. He understands how tour operators think, how resellers evaluate risk, and what customers actually care about when planning a trip.
When American Dream began building its tourism operation, the challenge was not just awareness. It was sequencing. Coming out of the pandemic, group travel demand was limited, while individual travelers were already returning to the market. Rather than attempting to activate every channel at once, Stan focused first on online travel agents and individual traveler channels that could generate immediate return while the broader ecosystem matured.
This decision highlights a lesson that resonates with training and enablement professionals. Focus matters. Trying to train and support everyone at once often leads to diluted impact. By aligning enablement efforts to the most viable audiences first, organizations can build momentum and credibility before expanding further.
As demand returned and awareness grew, the partner network expanded deliberately. Local operators were added, then regional and international partners, many of whom worked through receptive operators that bundle transportation, lodging, and attractions into complete itineraries.
What stands out is that American Dream did not treat partners as interchangeable. Fit mattered. Expectations mattered. If a proposed promotion or partnership could not realistically deliver a strong customer experience, it was reworked or declined. This discipline protected both the brand and the partners involved.
That approach mirrors what effective franchise and partner training programs aim to achieve. Selection and alignment are upstream decisions that directly influence the effectiveness of onboarding, learning paths, and long-term performance.
One of Stan’s most practical insights is that enablement accelerates when partners experience the product firsthand. Bringing partners into the building changes the conversation. Once they see the scale, variety, and flexibility of the destination, it becomes easier for them to identify how American Dream fits their specific customer base.
This experience-first approach reduces reliance on abstract descriptions and replaces them with tangible understanding. Partners can visualize itineraries, bundling opportunities, and seasonal promotions that make sense for their audiences.
From a learning perspective, this reinforces a key principle. People sell and support what they understand. Training is more effective when it is grounded in real context rather than static descriptions.
Enablement at American Dream does not stop after onboarding. Attractions expand. New programs launch. Seasonal opportunities emerge. Stan treats education as a continuous process, supported by regular communication, refreshed content, and updated promotional materials.
He emphasizes that partners always ask the same question. What’s new. Answering that question consistently keeps the ecosystem engaged and relevant. It also prevents offerings from becoming stale in the market.
This ongoing approach closely aligns with modern customer and partner training strategies, where reinforcement and refresh are built into the lifecycle rather than treated as afterthoughts.
Operational clarity plays a critical role in partner success. Customers want to know how to get there, where to stay, and how experiences fit together. By supporting commissionable transportation options and bundling attractions into clear packages, American Dream makes the destination easier to sell and easier to experience.
These decisions reduce friction at the point of purchase and increase confidence for both partners and customers. For training leaders, this is a reminder that enablement is not only about content. It is about designing systems that are easy to explain, easy to support, and easy to scale.
The conversation with Stan Kravitz illustrates a broader truth. Training does not operate in isolation. Its effectiveness is shaped by partner selection, operational design, and clarity of expectations.
When alignment is strong, training investments pay off faster. Ramp time shortens. Brand standards are reinforced. Customer experiences improve. When alignment is weak, even the best training programs struggle to compensate.
These themes are explored in greater depth in the companion case study, How American Dream Built a High-Performance Partner Ecosystem for Experience-Driven Growth, which details the training structure, learner roles, and best practices aligned to the LatitudeLearning Training Program Roadmap.
🎧 To explore the full conversation, listen to the Training Impact Podcast episode featuring Stan Kravitz of American Dream.
📄 Download the companion case study: How American Dream Built a High-Performance Partner Ecosystem for Experience-Driven Growth
🌐 Learn more about American Dream on their website https://www.americandream.com/
