PHOTO: Independent travelers need the support that packagers provide to ease their way in unfamiliar places, such as in this scene from a Monograms tour in Belgrade.

The shift toward more independent travel and smaller groups has swept the industry.

Although many clients like the idea of traveling independently, they often overestimate their competence in being able to fulfill their objectives for a trip and to fully realize the potential that their vacations offer for the experiences they desire.

Travel agents have an important role in providing counsel and guidance to clients to help them make the right choice on the continuum between independent and structured travel to ensure that the clients’ tour perfectly fits their preferences.

A Tour Inspection

In March, Agent@Home did a tour inspection of Avanti Destinations’ independent package for Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, that provided valuable insights into the independent travel experience, especially how it plays out in a foreign destination.

Salvador was a good place to evaluate how much independence is desirable. While a client may lean toward independent travel, it could be a mistake to travel completely independently to a place like Brazil, where a little support could increase clients’ sense of confidence and security at the destination and better empower them to fulfill their objectives for their trip.

Brazil is a Portuguese-speaking country where English is less frequently spoken than in many other destinations around the world. A non-Portuguese speaking American traveling to Brazil is going to need more support than a client traveling to London, for example, where there is no language barrier, thus making it easy for visitors to get around.

With escorted travel, most of the decisions are made automatically by the tour operator and are incorporated in the itinerary. For some clients that is the ideal solution.

Booking independent travel, on the other hand, puts more responsibility on travel agents to do the right thing for their customers. With independent travel, clients have to make more decisions and the counsel of a good travel agent can be invaluable in making sure the right choices are made to enhance the travel experience.

Here are some principles to guide decision making during the process of building a custom FIT package.

Educate your clients about the benefits of packaged travel. Most people like to see themselves as strongly independent travelers, when in fact their travel experience can be greatly enhanced with some professional support. It is safe to assume they will need some support at the destination, and without a strong local ally, such as Avanti, they may be somewhat at a loss as to how to make the most of their trip.

You may need to encourage them to take a little more support than they may initially think that they need. You should make clear to them that it is important to have some support in a foreign destination. It can be extremely minimal, depending on the client’s needs, preferences and style of travel. But having support can help prevent problems arising from not knowing how to do things in a strange place, and can greatly amplify the pleasure and value a client gets out of a trip.

Explain to them what services the tour operator offers and how the tour operator can help clients create a great experience and make the most of their precious vacation time.

You can structure a lot of free time into the trip to provide the desired level of freedom and independence that clients want, but without overdoing it. A little destination management support and service will greatly enhance the value of the trip. Work with the destination experts of the tour company to find the right balance so that your client will come home happy and grateful.

Learn about your clients’ interests and aspirations. It is important to try to understand your client’s preferences as much as possible. That will be easier if you have worked with the client before. Whether or not you have an established relationship with the client, it comes down to trying to best understand the clients’ preferences and tendencies before you construct their independent tour.

Maybe they don’t want to see all the sights. Maybe they want to take it slow and spend time relaxing in their hotel room. Maybe they want to spend leisurely hours at the best restaurants. Maybe they like going out to nightclubs, shopping, going to museums. Ask.

Find out clients’ natural pace of travel. It’s important to try to understand what kind of traveler they are, not necessarily how they think of themselves, but how they really are, how they really behave. Do they like to keep moving and see as many things as possible at the destination? Or would they prefer a more leisurely pace and to be more selective about sightseeing and activities, with more time to relax, savor meals at special restaurants or take it easy at the hotel?

Ask about their previous travel experiences. Again, it comes down to the right questions. Where did they go? What did they like about their last trip? What bothered them? What was their favorite trip? Did they ever have a bad trip? If so, where was it and what was bad about it?

Study and discuss the available options. When you have developed a good understanding of your clients’ travel preferences, study the options available from the tour operator and begin the conversation about which options to choose, making suggestions.

No matter how well they may know themselves, you can provide valuable counsel to your clients from an objective, outside point of view. Act as a sounding board to help clients sort through the possibilities to come up with an itinerary that will be balanced and suited to the their preferences and personality.

You will want to help them avoid errors in terms of over scheduling or under scheduling and to help guide them to the kinds of experiences they will truly enjoy, not necessarily what is standard practice.