As vaccinations reach an ever-widening swath of the American public, and as booking numbers begin to pick up again, it would appear the travel industry is slowly but surely turning a corner on the road to recovery.
It's an opportune time to take a look at the many ways in which travel advisors supported their clients throughout the pandemic and also paid it forward with acts of kindness.
First, there were those agents who rescued stranded clients at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
"I had a traveler starting a dream vacation to Greece and Italy in March. I received very frantic messages that many of the towns and cities were already closed," said Ryan Doncsecz of VIP Vacations. "VIP worked frantically to help get this family out of Italy to other destinations still open. The amount of time, stress and money this jetsetter saved by allowing a travel professional to help handle the relocation is countless!"
For some - including me - there's virtually nothing more anxiety-provoking than fighting insurance claims, which is exactly what Claire Schoeder of Elevations Travel did for her clients.
"My client canceled a cruise for non-COVID reasons, but the insurance company was balking, as they assumed it had to be COVID related," she said. "I worked with them to provide additional information ... and documentation to show that his work-related cancellation had nothing to do with COVID. With the additional information we collected regarding his promotion at work, his claim was paid on appeal."
Then there are the stories of agents who gave back.
Lori Swinderman, owner of Upon A Star Travel & Concierge, launched Mexico FamTrips late last year, and from there created Te Amo, a charity providing donations of all sorts to Mayan villages.
She explained Te Amo this way: "Te Amo is a reflection of the efforts of travel professionals and their generous hearts to give back to local communities surrounding the tourist areas all across Mexico. It's our way of giving back to the people that need it the most and who are the origins of Mexico, the indigenous communities."
Another agent, Julie Pflaumer of Destinations by Julie, who leads a travel advisor Facebook group, found a way for an elderly client and his two friends to fly high - both literally and figuratively.
The client, a veteran and pilot in his 90s. had hoped to attend the Reno Air Races in Nevada in September 2021 with two buddies, also veterans and pilots in their 90s.
Because one of the men had fallen ill, the trip was thought to be too risky a venture due to their age. As an alternative, Pflaumer found a bi-plane excursion near where they lived in Oregon
She ran the idea past the Facebook agent group members, noting that she would like to pay for the excursion herself.
The donations rolled in - enough so that the group raised more than enough funds for the excursion for all three men, donating the remaining funds to the assisted living residence where they resided.
What I find particularly touching about this story is that Pflaumer, who formerly operated heavy equipment in an open coal mine in Wyoming for 10 years, watched some of her older colleagues die before they were able to realize their travel dreams.
Now, Plflaumer's agency caters to shift and oil workers. "I don't want to watch people's dreams dissolve," she said.
In a way, that is exactly what many travel advisors have been doing since the onset of the pandemic. They've kept the travel dreams alive for their clients - which in my view, is pretty cool.
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