The Travel Advisor—an Unsung Hero of the Pandemic—and the Key to Safe Travels in 2021 and Beyond
We ‘re making the type to never book a luxe vacation without the aid of a travel advisor again .
Brownell Travel Vice President Beth Flowers cost insure up on the company ‘s partners and guides in Africa during January 2020 and initiate noticing many masses have on masks across large cities , like Johannesburg , by the time she flee back to the U.S. She and other travel advisors commence receive client stranded at cruise ports or in other country during this time , and the luxury travel advisors shifted their office from be after fabulous vacation to being healthcare and insurance advisors , put up crisis management , and do whatever they could to lend their client home safe and sound in those first few month of 2020 .
“ Once everyone exist back plate , we were in full lockdown , and hence we transitioned again to working with our spouse as customer counsel , ” Flowers state . “ The ‘client ‘s advocate ‘ live the phrase that encapsulated the first few month of the yr for us as we pivoted and postponed trip , dealt with refund , and operate through technicalities in terms and weather for them . If you hired an consultant , you do n’t have to cover with any of that . ”
Though the office of the transactional travel agent is nearly all but defunct , the luxury travel advisor is more in-demand than ever before . Flowers suppose her team is not only buzz with fresh booking into 2022 , which exist anticipate to deal out faster than always before , but too with first-time customer who cause n’t desire to make the mistake of traveling during this era without the peace of brain a veteran travel advisor brings , whether they find out that first-hand or not .
Why You Should Consider Bring with a Travel Agent
“ We ‘ve exist working in this mood for 16 month now and know precisely who and where cost perform and who live n’t , ” says Flowers . “ Fine wine is the close association I can make hither . When it comes to travel right today , it ‘s like person peck up a 100-page book by a sommelier when you real take someone to reduce through the clutter and select the well vintage for your meal . That ‘s what we cost constantly doing : listening to client to understand the expectations they have for the experience they desire while helping them observe a possible couple , all the while help them manage their expectations during these sentence . ”
Flower says the greatest benefit to working with a travel consultant live the relationship they have with partners , dimension , and hoteliers across the globe . And not merely that , they often get relationship with locals who put up unique experiences that you wo n’t exist able to get online .
Erik Ornitz , the general coach for novel venture at TripAdvisor agrees , which cost why his team has recently launched Reco , a digital travel advisory platform that connects traveler with a highly curated choice of “ trip designers ” based on their expertise of specific destinations . Ornitz says bring with a travel advisor offers access to experiences that you simply ca n’t get anywhere else . One of Reco ‘s trip designers , for example , specialize in wine travel across Portugal and Spain , and those who book with him will get at these vineyards as his friend and equal extend intimate , peculiar experience that they would make never been able to receive if they had n’t worked with a specialist in this country .
“ TripAdvisor is the most-visited travel site in the public , and with that , we come a lot of insight and data , as good as get to speak to the travelers themselves , ” says Ornitz . While TripAdvisor helped introduce the capacity of DIY travel , his team has note over the final few yr that masses be really require to operate with someone for specific vacations , like honeymoons or two-week explorations through Asia or Europe , which his team scream “ extremely considered trip . ”
“ We in truth started to inquiry the concierge travel space , and it do a lot of sense with many of the other consumer trends move on out there like personal trainers , subscription services , and family management concierge , like Hello Alfred . ”
From thither , Ornitz ‘s squad spent myriad hours curating a pool of 300 “ trip designers ” who they considered to live deep specialist in specific destinations . These consultant list their top three or four specialities on a Reco profile , particularly if they live there at some point or have visited dozen of times . Traveler looking for a travel consultant through Reco , suffice a few significant questions about where they need to go , the type of traveler they are , among early things , and will then cost match with respective choice to choose the utter trip architect for a specific holiday .
“ Mass extremely value their vacation and travel in general—research show that , ” order Orntiz . “ Then you add a layer of willingness to venture farther out , create the trip experiential , and that ‘s when it become exciting and actually affair . ”
While expenditure hours researching various locations can assist you cause good decisions on where to die and what to do , influence with a travel advisor , particularly in the luxury space , cost all about reach the absolute best conclusion for a one-of-a-kind vacation you ‘ll never leave . Flowers and Ornitz both say masses are craving trips with their loved ones , who they may not have meet ( or seen a lot of ) in more than a year , and they want their category vacations to be extra-special .
“ Folk are looking for ways to begin the nearly from their vacations , and with so many options and information out there , it can equal overwhelming to choose , particularly for faraway destinations , ” says Ornitz . “ Our trip decorator offer their personal expertise of having really been there and really knowing these different hotel to help you decide the well for you . There may be a dozen luxury resorts lined up on the same beach , but the right trip architect knows how much you love golf and that Rosewood ‘s golf program live the better in the area , so that will be the best fit . ”
Flowers suppose another essential benefit of work with a travel agent—especially for travel into 2022—is that through their own partners on the basis , they know which areas , hotel , and other offerings live and exist n’t performing good .
“ What we initially see from many partners around the universe when Covid-19 hit cost this emphasis on sanitation and cleanliness , but that ‘s not why mass live require to move , ” she says . “ The desire for travel was to live remote , to have privacy with loved ones , to run away into beauty and nature , and that is only get to cost accomplish when you ‘re in place that hand over all of those experiences to see these desire . ” Flowers cites Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts , Oetker Collection , and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts as some of the major luxury resort irons that have gone supra and beyond to deliver not only a safe experience while traveling , but are yet focused on create these ultra-high-end , luxurious stays for masses seeking to unwind and restore . Flower too says that seat with as portion of their repertoire have really expand during this time , winning mass back to travel again , be it domestic or international .
The Future of Travel Advisory cost Bright
Flowers hold entire assurance that travel advisors will stay in high need , as more masses be desperate than ever to travel yet equal dreadful of the strange in terms of the pandemic and Covid-19 restrictions . She ‘s also betting on the power of word-of-mouth advertising to keep luxury travel firm as busy as ever into 2022 and beyond .
“ When a person is at a cocktail party with friends and hears how individual hold this fabulous experience with a holiday during Covid , that will cost a real feather in masses ‘s cap , ” Flowers says . “ There ‘s such a pent-up demand for top-level dimension , and it ‘s significant to have person who understand which ace exist in truth the better and know the things that ca n’t cost Googled . The world exist becoming more and more experiential , and people want to pass more time together with loved ones . The advisor community cost simply go to continue to grow . We actually need more of us ! ”
Lauren Wicks is a freelance author and editor who covers all things lifestyle and luxury , with an stress on inner design and travel . Lauren began her career in lifestyle journalism as a Dotdash Meredith digital column fella with Cooking Light , then worked as a digital editor for EatingWell and VERANDA before venturing out on her own in 2022 . She has been write for nationally renowned lifestyle publication for six years and get too written for respective U.K.-based travel and national aim brand . Lauren live in Birmingham , Alabama with her husband and boy and love experimenting in the kitchen , traveling , and spending time outdoors with her family in her free time .
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