10 Companies Travel Advisors Say Helped Them the Most in 2020

It has been a trying year for everyone and, arguably, for travel advisors, it has been a year like no other.

January started off on a positive note, with a majority of travel advisors and travel companies predicting a banner year. That quickly changed by the end of March, transforming into one of the worst years in travel history.

Many companies stepped up to assist travel advisors during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. These are just a few that travel advisors have said helped them the most.

AmaWaterways kept in touch with its travel advisors through weekly webinars and helped them stay afloat with new marketing opportunities.

"Despite the current challenges we are facing across the industry, we stand alongside our valued travel partners and remain committed to investing in them, providing training, tools and inspiring content they need in order to engage their clients from home," said Kristin Karst, executive vice president and co-founder of AmaWaterways.

"Our contacts at Disney were outstanding keeping in touch with us. Early on, there were a lot of questions with no real answers," said Greg Antonelle of MickeyTravels, LLC. "Thankfully our direct contacts were terrific in providing timely communication. If they didn't know the answers to questions, they'd research, confer, and get back to us quickly with answers.

With things ever-changing during the last nine months we faced challenges we never could have expected. Thankfully, the folks at Disney excelled on the communication front during these difficult times.

While there were frustrating times due to closures and cancellations, we always felt comforted by our direct contacts at Disney for their spectacular one on one communication with us."

Royal Caribbean Group has been a lifeline for travel advisors.

"The entire Royal Caribbean Group have been outstanding working with travel agencies and advisors throughout the course of the shutdown," said Patty Perry, president/owner of Cruise Vacations International. "I especially thank Vicki Freed, senior vice president, sales and trade support, with Royal Caribbean Cruises, for her weekly Coffee Talks. The talks kept everyone informed and optimistic, something we all needed! The RC group has been financially supportive too by paying commissions on canceled bookings, and doing so in a timely manner."

The cruise line is also offering three-year, interest-free loans of up to $250,000 to travel agencies under financial stress from the nine-month shutdown of cruising during the pandemic.

"We know our travel advisor friends are suffering, too, and we will get through this tough period together, just as we always have," said Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO. "Our travel partners have stood strong beside us for more than 50 years, and we are determined to be there for them now. We're going to get to the other side of this challenging time together."

One way that Playa Hotels and Resorts helped travel advisors was by giving them the ability to give back in their communities.

The "Heroes Service from the Heart" campaign allowed advisors to gift more than 30 free trips to their community heroes who stepped up during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

"We felt it made perfect sense for the travel advisors to pick the winners as they are in the best position to identify the local heroes," said Playa's Vice President, Travel Industry Sales, Andrea Wright. "These are their clients, doctors, nurses, etc, in their towns. We also wanted them to feel that powerful emotion of giving without any expectation but to say thank you from the heart."

One of the biggest problems for travel advisors, when there is no travel, is getting paid.

Collette raised the bar higher with a new commission payment program, that pays agents in advance for bookings. The new structure includes $100 for land-only bookings, $125 for land and air bookings and $200 for any booking with the company's Travel Protection Plan.

Apple Leisure Group stood by its travel advisor partners this year.

One of the ways the company supported agents as cancelations began to pour in was by creating a 125 percent future travel credit (FTC) and a series of videos for advisors about all of the things they could do on VAX VacationAccess so they didn't have to wait on hold.

"Over time, we were able to put more technology behind these self-service options, and now advisors can rebook a vacation and pay for it using their future travel credit and never have to get on the phone to do it," said Scott Wiseman, senior vice president and general manager-travel agent brands strategy for ALGV.

Many companies helped travel advisors by launching new tools. RIU sees travel agents as one of the keys to its continued success and is investing in advisors with its new RIU Pro platform.

The platform gives travel advisors seamless access to its brand center, the redesigned RIU Partner Club, incentives, offers and more.

"Travel agents have been key in our history. It all started with that first visit to Germany's travel agencies in 1954, through which my father Luis Riu Bertrán booked out the 80 beds in our first hotel, Riu San Francisco. Since then, our relationship with professionals in the sector has done nothing but grow. Given the tradition, loyalty and the enormous importance they have for our business, it was key for us to offer professionals the very latest technology, so they can accompany us for the next 65 years, at least," explained Luis Riu Guell, CEO of RIU Hotels & Resorts.

With clients more concerned than ever with the safety of taking a vacation, Sandals Resorts has helped travel advisors make the case with free travel insurance.

The company also created tools for virtual wedding planning and unique solutions for couples who are getting married during a pandemic.

Some companies like La Coleccion Resorts by Fiesta Americana put together promotions that were a win for clients and travel advisors.

The Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana promotion is just one example. Travel advisors can earn up to $100 cashback and free nights on every booking. Five advisors with the most bookings will receive a free trip for two people to this resort.

Most importantly, this promotion will help travel advisors make bookings as clients will receive exclusive discounts and perks, too.

Safety is taken seriously at Palladium Hotel Group, which is ensuring that travelers feel confident in their bookings.

The hotel group invested in creating strong safety protocols, brought agents to its properties to build confidence in booking their properties and is offering guests included insurance during their stays.

"Our guests' safety and confidence in travel prompted us to launch this new initiative following our announcement of Palladium Hotel Group's improved health and safety protocols, we wanted to continue innovating and providing tangible ways for our guests to have a worry-free vacation," said Pilar Arizmendi-Stewart, vice president of sales and marketing for the Americas for Palladium Hotel Group. "We are taking every measure possible to take care of our guests and continue fostering confidence in travel."