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The post Travel experts’ advisors see positives from the pandemic appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Travel Daily.

According to a recent survey by Travel Experts the aftermath of the Covid pandemic has seen a resurgence in the appreciation and use of travel advisors by consumers and the resulting boom in bookings and revenue. Byproducts of the new world of travel is more clients are buying insurance, booking longer stays and spending more on vacations.

Following two years of devastating revenues, travel advisors have experienced record-breaking numbers in 2022 and a continuation of outstanding bookings in 2023. “There is no doubt that the Covid pandemic had a devastating impact on the entire travel industry and particularly all travel advisors,” observed Sharon Fake, Executive Director of Travel Experts. “But the positives we have seen now is a greater understanding of the value of travel professionals and our affiliates tell us that 2022 and now 2023 have resulted in a new world for them and, in many cases, increased business, more clients and new relationships with suppliers,” Fake said.

Here’s what just a few of the Travel Experts’ advisors are saying: Holly Lombardo, Lombardo Travel, Atlanta, GA, said: “During the initial months of the pandemic, I was in crisis mode. My business had been wiped clean. My portfolio of clients had been built over 34 years and I had serious questions if my connection would be severed by months without contact. To my delight not only did they return readily to resume their travel plans, but because of the questions that swirled around traveling during the pandemic the referrals came pouring in.”

Lombardo added: “There has been a silver lining. Travelers reaffirmed their affinity to travel and experience the world and travel consultants play an even more important role. Travelers needed me and they valued my knowledge. Then of course, once they experience what it means to work with an experienced and dedicated travel consultant, they will never go back to going it alone. My business has doubled, and it continues to climb steadily higher.

Linda de Sosa, Bucketlist Travel Consulting, Houston, TX, said “Among the many other positives in the aftermath of the pandemic, I sell a whole lot of insurance now.”
Pam Walker, Walker Adventures, Palm Coast, FL, said: “The real positive is the increase in business. I am over the top busy and it seems to me that people are spending more as well.”

Teresa Panel McCombs, TP McCombs Travel, Raleigh, NC said: “The biggest positive is that more people understand the value of working with a travel advisor and the assistance we provide when something goes sideways with their trip. I have several new clients that never worked with an advisor in the past, but now not only want help with planning the perfect trip, but also want an ‘actual person’ to be there to support them if there are issues.”

McCombs added, “All my clients are purchasing insurance now as everyone understands how important it is to have travel insurance these days. Clients also understand why I keep pushing longer connections for their flights. Now if they have a delay, it’s fine because I advised them to do a 2-hour connection instead of the 35 minutes connection they saw on the airline’s website.” Claire Saunders, Austin, TX, said: “I feel like clients value the privilege of travel more now than they did before the pandemic. And I have also noticed another positive; that countries that weren’t too friendly towards American tourists now appreciate us and the dollars we bring into their economies.”

Laura Madrid, Resort to Laura Madrid, Atlanta, GA said: “During the pandemic we got ‘free PHDs’ in crisis management and learned to solve problems we did not even know existed. Those of us who stood by our clients and continued to help them, proved ourselves to be indispensable.” Madrid added: “We learned to go further and stay in destinations longer, rather than just country-collect. We learned that we and our teams can work from anywhere and still collaborate even when we are not physically together. We ignited our clients to travel now, travel more, travel further and to not wait to check off their bucket list.”

Eileen Anderson, Journeys Afar, Raleigh, NC, said: “Emerging from the pandemic, advisors often had challenges with longer than normal turnaround times for proposals/pricing from tour companies. With formerly reliable DMCs unable to meet incoming requests promptly, we had to get creative in establishing new partnerships, often with untested operators.”

Anderson added: “For me, this fresh start has been enormously rewarding. I now have multiple new successful European, South American and U.S. business contacts who I otherwise never would have reached out to. I owe this to our ever-expanding internal network of advisors who freely share tips and experiences, which enables us all to maintain high service delivery to our valued clientele.”

Kim Shott, Adventures Beyond Borders, St. Charles, MN, said: “I refer to the post-Covid surge as ‘The Covid Exodus’ which has created an unprecedented level of travel requests and has undoubtedly been positive in the form of new business, clients and increased profits. The pandemic lockdown inspired individuals to yearn for experiences and destinations initially considered as ‘doing someday’ in the future.”

The post Travel experts’ advisors see positives from the pandemic appeared first on Travel Daily.

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