For Travel Experts' advisors, dealing with the impact of the coronavirus has been nothing if not eye-opening, in terms of what they have learned about how to protect their clients and their businesses - now and in the future.
"The biggest takeaway is that we need to read the fine print in both insurance plans and tour wholesaler packages to protect our clients' interest," said Claire Canady, manager of the company's North Carolina operations. "Our staff and our advisors have gained insight on how to deal with credit card disputes and commission recalls as well as a variety of liability waivers."
She noted that the luxury host agency's travel advisors have become increasingly more proficient in obtaining refunds for their clients, while also learning to discern between suppliers' different procedures and refund processes.
"We quickly set up an online resource to provide our independent contractors (ICs) with the growing number and varying type of procedures provided by the suppliers, including the airlines, hotels, cruise lines and tour wholesalers," Canady said, adding that Travel Experts has unveiled a new "user-friendly website with information updated daily."
The company's executive team also unveiled a series of new policies and educational tools to help agents better deal with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
It reduced monthly fees and is allowing ICs to carry over recalled commissions until new payments are received.
Additionally, Travel Experts debuted a website detailing information on supplier waivers, cancellations and refund policies, and is providing "support and direction for issuing airline tickets and understanding airline waivers."
The host agency has also outlined all information for its members on filings for Small Business Association and Paycheck Protection Program loans, and unemployment benefits for eligible ICs.
On the educational front, it is providing product and service training for the "new normal," the company said.
The company is also educating its members on how to do business moving forward, with a focus on best practices learned about liability waivers, avoiding credit card disputes and commission recalls. It has hosted small-group webinars with advisors to share best practices on communicating and marketing to clients and participated in weekly calls with Virtuoso's collaboration team to discuss best practices.
Additionally, the company has introduced video outreach to all ICs from Travel Experts staff and executives; unveiled weekly engagement activities to boost morale; created "entertaining and contributory" videos; complied IC suggestions to create "a domestic travel idea map" to promote future travel; and more.
"We have taken this time to solidify our relationships with both our travel advisors and our suppliers by showing that we can help them all doing business better and become successful together," Canady said.
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