This week, in place of my traditional Agent to Agent format, I wanted to share with my readers what happened with me during Hurricane Irma and how travel agents should be prepared to prevent, and bounce back, from catastrophe.
I was actually out of the country when Hurricane Irma hit.
I left my mother and my husband to deal with our office and home. We live on the water so, of course, we were told to evacuate. My husband, who was watching the weather updates, did not evacuate but went to higher ground.
Our house has had no power since September 11th. We were lucky because a huge oak tree fell right by our business and, thankfully, did no damage, but we were out of power and internet at the office for two days.
It could have been worse, but we made sure to prepare ourselves for any potential catastrophe.
We have VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Therefore, wherever we may be in the world, the phones will always ring. Unless the server of the entire phone provider is down, VOIP guarantees that you will not lose business.
Even though we have an actual office, everyone who works for my company can do so remotely from any location. This is also a plus because, again, it practically guarantees you won't lose business.
Before, during and after the storm, we made sure we took care of all of our clients by working closely with our tour operator and vendors.
Today, the biggest challenge comes now that the skies have cleared.
Florida and Texas are both in a state of crisis. We are a national travel agency, so our clients are everywhere, but many are from these hard-hit locations. Our clients cannot travel right now because, of course, they have bigger things to deal with.
So our marketing needed to change immediately.
We kicked into proactive mode and immediately started additional advertising in other states that were not affected. Calls began coming in.
As a travel agent, you have to be diversified. We sell all products, but we have decided that, right now, it's in our best interest to focus on Europe and, of course, the Caribbean and Mexico.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Travel Agents Prove Their Value During Hurricane Season[/READMORE]
It's especially important to understand that the Caribbean islands' main source of income is tourism. We need to support our tourism now more than ever.
Rebuilding is what this nation is about. Florida is huge for family travel in the United States. Now it's important for all agencies to pay attention to tourism in these hard-hit areas of the country, showing the Mouse and our amazing beaches some love.
It's time to send out an e-mail blast and ask your clients how they are doing. Work hard to start encouraging them to travel. Your business needs this, the hard-hit areas need this and our country needs this.
Yes, we all typically compete for business, but this is a time in our country that we need to rally together.
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