Agent to Agent: Picking up After Irma

PHOTO: Tampa Bay in the rain. (photo via Flickr/Carlos Castro[IMAGE CAPTION]

Dear Tammy: First, Hurricane Andrew. Now Hurricane Irma. Before you know it, we have to deal with Hurricane Jose too.

How is all of this force from Mother Nature going to affect the travel industry? I have a feeling my business is going to be dealt a huge blow as well as the industry. What do we do now?

Tammy: I was directly affected by Hurricane Irma. My office and home were affected. As of this writing, we have no phones and no electric (I’m writing this from Greece).

However, before the storm hit, we forwarded our phone calls to an agent outside the area. We also made sure we took our server so we have our clients and business. We made sure to protect our books and important papers as well. Our safety and the safety of our clients come first.

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The most important thing we need to do as an industry is to help clients wherever help is needed. Are they safe? Do they need help evacuating to a new area? We do what we can, but we also asked the clients to call the airlines directly in these situations because of the variables and options the airlines have to give.

In this case, we did what’s best for our clients, not for us, and put them in touch with exactly who they needed to talk to.

Once you know that your clients are safe, the next thing to think about is the clients who would be heading to those areas?

Did you have clients heading to Florida, Texas or the Caribbean, but now they need new vacation plans or a new destination for their wedding? Then you need to make sure they are taken care of and all the details are covered.

Once the clients are taken care of, it’s time to turn our attention to rebuilding the affected areas of the travel industry.

If you work closely with the resorts that have been affected, check in with them and see how their progress is doing. Once you know that they’re set to go, consider publicizing that they are open for business and encourage your clients to visit. If they are struggling to re-open, let your clients know in case they have plans to visit and see if there’s something that you can do to help.

Can you refer your clients to a sister destination?

It’s going to take time to recover from the destruction that we’ve incurred these past few weeks. Rebuilding will have to take place, and it’s important for us as travel agents to continue to encourage travelers to do just that: travel.

When the time is right and it’s safe to do so, we need to get them back to the areas that were hard hit this hurricane season.