Before Covid-19, Claudi Glina, lived in São Paulo, Brazil, always self-traveling in the country and abroad with her husband and children. Her secret is to always book hotels and flights online because "that seems like the easiest option".
During the pandemic, after many days at home, in early August, Glina's small family wanted to leave. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traveling increases the likelihood of nCoV infection and spread. Staying at home is the best way to protect yourself and others from Covid-19. However, the tourist's female family is still ready to go and put health and safety first.
Never before has it been so difficult to plan a vacation. Photo: dental-tribune
But trouble began to happen. Glina was almost in despair when she discovered that it had never been so difficult to plan a vacation. She did not know which tourist properties had reopened. If they accept guests, she still has a lot of concerns about safety and health procedures for her family. She is confident that she is an experienced tourist. But she could not find the desired information on the internet at this time. And then, she found a "secret weapon" to help her accomplish her goal.
Glina sought the help of travel agencies through a recommendation from a friend. She is supported by travel consultants to complete the trip. When she first found a travel agency, she had "could not be better" experiences.
After that, it all went easy for her. From the list of hotels provided by the travel agency, the female family chooses a package resort, located an hour away from where they live. The whole family had 5 fun days at the water park and resort swimming pools.
Thanks to the advice of the travel agency, the whole family had 5 fun days at the water park and swimming pools in the resort.Photo: theinnatdromoland
Female tourists feel safe at the resort, where there are full Measures for preventing the spread of viruses and ensuring social disparity according to standards. Glina admitted during the pandemic, she could not feel safe when traveling without expert guidance from the travel agency. Getting help from travel agents to have a safe trip is the new "weapon" for travelers in pandemic secrets.
Glina is not alone in relying on advice from travel agencies for the first time to plan trips. Mary Grennan, who lives in Galway, Ireland, is planning with a travel agency for a multi-week trip to the US next summer. Grennan initially wanted to go to America alone. She tried to plan to visit many different points but had difficulty in arranging itinerary.
Grennan was surprised to find that her trip to America overall her one was less expensive after receiving the advice. Photo: fiverr
When a friend introduced Siobhan Byrne Learat, the owner of the travel agency Adams & Butler, the female tourist expressed doubts. She is afraid to pay more when hiring a consultant. But in the end, Grennan was surprised to find that her trip was less expensive overall after receiving the advice.
"She gave me the prices of some hotels cheaper than any I found on the internet," said Grennan. The best part is that the deposit she gives to Learat can be refunded two weeks prior to the departure date and converted to accumulation points, if the trip is canceled.
Similarly, Jackie Roby, living in Boston, USA also sought out a travel advisor for the Riviera Maya and Yucatan journey with her husband in July. Eric Hrubant, founder of CIRE Travel, booked hotels, arranged excursions, shuttle services and even help pre-select a seat on the flight so the Roby couple has the longest distance from the others.
The female traveler praised the consultant from the travel agency for "knowing everything and saving us a lot of time and stress." Photo: booking
Many international travel agencies and networks are reporting an increase in the number of customers who have never bought a tour before during the pandemic. According to the American Association of Travel Advisors, business performance of the industry has slowed significantly since March. Most travel agencies in the US are down 75% in revenue compared to the same period last year. However, despite the bleak business overall, travel agencies are still getting more and more requests from customers who were the first to use consulting services.
Alex Sharpe, CEO of Signature Travel Network, said the number of new customers in the service increased 20% over the same period last year. And most of these customers used to travel by themselves.
Many international travel agencies and networks are reporting an increase in the number of customers who have never purchased a tour before during the pandemic. Photo: urbanadventures
"They care about hotel health and safety guidelines. But they also want to know how hotels and travel agencies treat their customers. They either offer refunds or points for points. Are the trips canceled? Do they now have flexible cancellation and rebooking policies? ”said Alex Sharpe.
John Lovell, head of the Travel Leaders Group, a network of more than 45,000 employees worldwide, says the company is also seeing a surge in new customers - more than it was in the pre-pandemic period. The top request that the airline receives from customers is advice to guide the way to travel in a new situation.
Ejzenbaum, an advisor to a travel agency based in Brazil, said she has had 15 new clients since June, after domestic tourism activities began to reopen. "Normally, if I have 6 new clients in a year, that number is a lot. 15 customers in a few months, that number is huge," she said.
A travel consultant said her tour orders tripled in Dublin, Ireland. Photo: jongdeng
In Dublin, Ireland, Siobhan Byrne Learat receives 5-10 requests per day from new clients. Before Covid-19, that number was 2-3. There are many incidents in Ireland where tourists are tricked by service providers when they want refunds due to the effects of the pandemic. People have come to realize that it is the right thing to seek out travel advice. Most customers turn to her to ask questions about accessible destinations, or to refund policy if trips are canceled.
The reason for more and more tourists to buy tours is that they need to rely on internal information that agents have, such as: where open, where is still limited, quarantine rules at destinations like that. Come on. In addition, in an uncertain tourist environment between Covid-19, customers are also looking for ways to protect their vacation money in case of cancellation or need to delay their trip. They also need a representative to help them negotiate and get the money back.
