March Madness, the annual college basketball tournament, wrapped up recently with a very exciting championship game. Kansas won the game by staging one of the greatest comebacks in the tournament’s history.

In sports, it always seems to sweeten the victory if the winning team has to come from behind against the odds.

Against All Odds

I believe the retail travel business is also in the midst of the greatest comeback in our history! There is no doubt that in the last few years even our most ardent fans, and maybe even the players ourselves, felt that the game was over.

The score was lopsided to say the least and we were tired and out of time-outs. But against all odds, we kept playing the game. Just like any team who seemed to be hopelessly behind, the best trait to have is courage: the courage to continue, and maybe even more importantly, the courage to hope.

Shifts in Momentum

The comeback that we are in now is following the pattern of most comeback wins in sports. It is unusual in that there is not one turning point but a series of what in the sports world are known as “runs.” Suddenly the losing team experiences a momentum change and runs up their score. As the game progresses there are usually a number of runs by both teams as the momentum will shift.

Courage and Hope

That is exactly how the Great Travel Advisor Comeback is playing out. What makes our game a bit unusual is that our opponent is not other agencies or suppliers but the confidence of our potential customers.

We have a great run when the news of the day leans to good news about pandemics but that run ends when war breaks out or other bad news trips up demand. The additional challenge we face is that there is no set playbook to use to beat this opponent and all we can do is to stay in the game with courage and hope.

All comebacks go through some good runs and some not-so-good runs where the opponent comes roaring back. So, when the momentum seems to be against you just remember to be courageous, sweat through a few more frustrations and know that victory will come in the long run.