Travelers are concerned about their safety when they travel.
The Global Rescue 2018 Travel Safety Survey found that 82 percent of respondents expressed concerns for their safety during their anticipated 2018 travel, which falls in line with AIG Travel's survey that discovered 45 percent of female travelers feel less safe than in the past and rank safety as a top concern when evaluating travel destinations.
As it seems so many people are concerned with travel safety, travel agents have an opportunity to ease their clients' minds and provide them with the necessary travel safety tips they'll need to have a great vacation.
Not only will your client notice and appreciate the extra steps you take to inform them of travel safety, but through your travel safety assistance your client may have a more enjoyable trip and be more likely to write a rave review for you. Here are a few things you can do:
Include Emergency Information on their Itineraries
Before handing over your client's itinerary, create a section that includes things like the embassy and consular addresses, phone numbers and email addresses for the destination they're visiting. You may even want to add the local police or emergency numbers and advise your clients on setting up their phones for international calls with their local provider before taking their trip.
Add Regional-Specific Safety Tips
You'd be surprised by how many people don't research their vacation destination before traveling. Help your client out and ensure that they understand the climate of the area they're visiting by copying and pasting the U.S. Department of State's travel warning page to their itinerary. These travel warnings often include safety tips and suggestions on neighborhoods or activities to avoid that your clients will find super helpful.
Furthermore, suggest your client enroll in STEP or the U.S. Department of State's Smarter Traveler Enrollment Program. By enrolling, your clients will receive up-to-date email notifications on safety and security concerns of their destination country.
Fight Safety Myths and Provide Safety Tips on Social Media
While many travelers have safety concerns, we make it a point to try to bust safety myths and biases about certain destinations because we want travelers to see the world and not be held back by false narratives, and you should want the same for your clients. When they're more informed on travel safety tips or realize which safety myths are false, they can travel with clear minds.
To help with this, share articles and studies on your social media accounts, your blog or through email blasts. You could share TravelPulse's latest article on female travel safety tips from a travel security expert, or post a slideshow of the safest cities to visit in Mexico which breaks down how the destinations are as safe or safer than U.S. cities, thereby busting the myth that Mexico is an unsafe destination.
Stay connected with TravelPulse on social media or through AgentAtHome and you're sure to find plenty of travel safety articles and information to share with your clients.
Offer Travel Insurance to Your Clients
You can't guarantee your client that nothing bad will happen on their vacation, but you can prepare them fully by offering them travel insurance that will protect during an emergency. Travel agents can sell their clients travel insurance (and make a commission too) that covers them in case of a terrorist attack, bad weather like hurricanes, lost luggage, during medical emergencies or canceled flights and even evacuations.
Give your clients the peace of mind they deserve by equipping them with travel safety tips and insurance. Not only will it elevate your customer service, but it will increase the likelihood of your clients' travel safety experience on their vacation.
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