Travel advisors weighed in on the ramifications of Gogo Vacations and American Queen Voyages shuttering their doors, along with the termination of the JetBlue-Spirit merger, noting that nothing is off the table in the post-pandemic era.
“If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s we have to be savvy businesspeople,” said Becky Lukovic, owner of Bella Travel Planning, an affiliate of Travel Experts. “A catastrophe can be a time where clients are in distress: flight cancellations, emergency health situations, strikes and terrorist incidents. It can also take the shape of bankruptcies, suppliers not paying their partners and more.
“In a time where advertisements are going out left and right that our industry is perfect for a hobby, these things are a neon sign pointing to the fact that we have to be trained, we have to be smart, we need a community of fellow professional advisors to give advice and our collective experience means more than ever.”
For his part, James Berglie, president of Be All Inclusive, said he finds it concerning.
"It's worrisome that Flight Centre decided to discontinue US TO operations through Gogo Vacations, as the options available to agents for reliable TOs in the US are diminishing," Berglie said. "More competition in any industry is usually a better thing, and less competition raises concerns. This situation shows there is opportunity for those in the industry to enhance their services and earn some market share from Gogo's exit."
In the view of JoAnne Weeks, vacation division director at Acendas Travel, neither Gogo nor American Queen Voyages were performing exceptionally well, and the post-pandemic times “just sealed their fate.”
“Off the top of my head, I can’t pull one vendor over another who may be at risk. However, this is a stark reminder that all of them are vulnerable in one way or another,” she said.
“Businesses like Gogo were operated so ‘old school’ and never really showed any kind of advancement to stay relative in our industry. It goes to show that if they failed to continue evolving as necessary, they would most certainly be left behind.”
Weeks added, “American Queen just couldn’t get their act together competing against American Cruise Lines and Viking. They just couldn’t keep up.”
Spirit Airlines plane. (photo via Spirit Airlines Media)
On the airline front, Weeks said that the termination of the JetBlue-Spirit merger would not impact her business, as the agency doesn’t sell budget carries. “That being said, the ceasing of the merger will no doubt help,” she said. “Too few carriers mean less competition and higher fares.”
Meanwhile, Lukovic, when asked if she thinks other companies may be vulnerable in the post-pandemic times, said she “absolutely, 100 percent” believes they are.
“Right before the pandemic, we had a flurry of high-level, trusted suppliers stop paying their partners. Many advisors discovered this when their clients arrived to the hotel and the bill was not paid, or the driver or guide was not there.” she said.
“These weren’t with outlier companies, but with ones right in the fold. Now, with many suppliers having dealt with refunds, credits and not being able to operate for a significant time, I believe many are still in recovery mode – we just may not know it.”
“It’s
prudent to choose partners with accountability to someone: a
consortium, a representation company, a personal connection,” Lukovic
concluded. “It doesn’t completely insulate us from risk, but at least we have someone else to turn to if things go south.”
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