Frank Belzer is a board member for Visit Florida and chair of its
marketing committee. He is a former senior vice president, marketing,
for Universal Parks and Resorts where was responsible for managing
relationships with the trade globally.
In closing out 2019, I remember reviewing a performance analysis of all resellers for a supplier, and it was clear at the time that the independent travel agent segment had once again outpaced other channels. As we looked deeper, we found that we had seen double-digit growth, year over year, for the previous four years.
This data was not totally unexpected; our research had indicated that more and more consumers, especially millennials, were keen on using independent travel counselors to assist them with travel decisions and planning. We expected this healthy trend to continue into 2020 and beyond.
But then Covid-19 hit, and everything stalled. Is it reasonable to conclude that as travel resumes, so will this trend?
To begin, one must first look at why the channel was performing so well to begin with. It’s worth noting that many people in what could be called the 100% digital space -- both resellers and supplier-direct -- were, and will continue to be, very confused by the continued strength of travel advisors.
Some who are immersed in the online version regarded, for instance, home-based advisors to be amateurs and wonder how, in their view, an army of moms working out of their garages using an outdated approach could be outperforming those spending countless dollars on search, re-engineered websites, e-commerce booking engines, bots and artificial intelligence.
It doesn’t make sense to them, but it did to us. And we saw this happening not just in the U.S.; it was an international trend, as well.
It was easy to identify three areas of strength that define why travel agents provide an incredibly special value proposition. Here is what we learned:
• Most chose to specialize in certain destinations and are viewed as experts.
• The purchasing process for flights, attractions and almost everything else has become more complicated online or by dealing direct with multiple suppliers. Agents simplify the path to purchase.
• Advisors provide a level of personalized service that simply cannot be found in other channels.
How will these three strengths -- specialization, simplification, and service -- apply to the post-Covid consumer wanting to purchase travel? There is no doubt that all three of these attributes, when combined, will continue to provide a very compelling reason to buy from travel agents.
But not without some adjustments to fit a world modified by pandemic.
Specialization will now require an agent to become expert on the current travel restrictions, state and city laws, individual destination requirements and required vaccinations or preparations that the consumer will want to know about.
They will also need to be up to speed on cleaning and sanitation practices that are being utilized by hotels, cruise lines and resorts. This will not just mean having resources to quickly provide answers to questions; to maintain their level of authenticity, they will need to make judgement calls, offering authoritative recommendations for certain products and advising against others.
Simplification will now involve not just helping consolidate the purchase of tickets and reservations. It will also include helping to simplify the complexity that occurs as limits on capacity and other protocols become a normal part of every travel itinerary.
Service? The bar has been raised. Whatever was done pre-Covid to take care of clients and provide a measure of differentiation is no longer sufficient.
Expectations around the definition and the meaning of good service have been transformed forever because of lockdowns. Restaurants and even discount retailers now provide delivery, often free, to your home. Everyone has had to raise their game, even online streaming services. Everyone must offer more.
Consumers have spent the last year witnessing everyone “do more” for them, and their expectations have been reset. To ignore this is to be conspicuously out of step, particularly in a product as service-intensive as travel. (And note: once cancellation policies tighten up again, travel insurance will be a must-have.)
It is clear to me that the travel agency channel will have an opportunity to continue growing and help more travelers than ever before. And this will, of course, continue to baffle those who believe in alternatives to human interaction and person-to-person consultation.
That said, I believe that although many will do well, there will be some who fail to tweak their approach sufficiently. I am not suggesting wholesale transformations but rather the idea that what has already made travel advisors successful -- their secret sauce of specialization, simplification and service -- will be in even higher demand in the post-Covid world.