While the lack of travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic has halted business for many workers in the travel industry, leading host agency Travel Experts is confident that thousands of independents contractors (ICs) will thrive after the pandemic subsides.
Host agencies from ASTA to Virtuoso have been working with ICs to keep them afloat while the demand for travel is at its lowest.
"We have all been sharing information," said Sharon Fake, Director of Operations for Travel Experts. "Virtuoso has a collaborative team doing conference calls and we have been exchanging information with more than a dozen other host agencies."
With travel plans getting canceled months in advance, travel advisors are needed just as much as they are when consumers are planning a trip.
"Travel is an essential industry and the travel advisors are the consumer advocates," said Susan Ferrell, President of Travel Experts. "Travel advisors, the brick and mortar agencies and thousands of ICs, have been the unsung heroes for millions of consumers as vacation plans have been dashed by the exploding COVID-19 crisis over the past few months."
Ferrell added that "These travel advisors have come to the rescue of the public at a tremendous personal cost to them. Rather than earning money, they were getting refunds for their clients."
Travel Experts executives continue to work with their team of travel advisors while they work tirelessly to support their clients during the crisis, usually by getting them refunds even if they have non-refundable bookings.
"We used our crisis communications procedures that were already in place and interacted closely with ASTA and Virtuoso to distill information from the government agencies to put things into a less complicated format for our travel advisors," said Heather McIntyre, Manager of Technology & Finance for Travel Experts.
"What they need most are facts. They want to know what to tell their clients. We are trying to help them help their clients," said Fake. "We arranged the information about our supplier procedures and updated this regularly in an organized and easy to use reference that was accessible to our ICs," said Fake.
Luckily, the situation had led to many travel advisors forming stronger partnerships with their suppliers, many of whom have been very understanding during this unprecedented time. Many suppliers have even takenmeasures to help travel advisors once travel resumes.
"We are proud that our advisors have been very professional and have handled these issues in a respectful way," said McIntyre.
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