Jamie Biesiada
Catalonia’s recent vote to secede from Spain is the latest example of a situation agents may face when talking with their customers: Addressing political unrest in a popular tourist destination.
According to Haisley Smith, vice president of marketing and development at Brownell Travel in Birmingham, Ala., the most important thing agents can do is simple.
“Stick to the facts,” she said. “Just the facts. Don’t editorialize.”
To do that, Smith said, agents should direct their clients to a legitimate and reliable resource, the Department of State.
In addition to issuing travel alerts and warnings, the Department (travel.state.gov) keeps updated web pages on countries around the world detailing safety and security, as well as other important travel information.
Listening to client concerns is also key.
“What they really want to do is just get it out and air their concerns,” Smith said. “It is our job to listen, but not necessarily lead or direct them to form an opinion. Just be a good listener.”
Finally, Smith said agents should not attempt to convince a traveler they will be safe in any given destination.
“By providing the facts, being a good listener, it’s up to the traveler to make those calls,” she said. “If they are nervous, then that is only going to be exacerbated if they do travel.”
That heightened nervousness could, in turn, lead to a bad trip, something all parties would rather avoid.
Craig Mungary, owner of Elite Global Journeys in Fresno, Calif., said clients sometimes get jumpy about situations that won’t likely affect their travels (for instance, in Spain, a traveler would be more likely to witness a large-scale protest in Barcelona than elsewhere in the country). He informs clients if that is the situation with their travel plans.
“Just because you read something and it’s affecting a certain element of the country doesn’t mean that it’s going to have an adverse effect on your vacation,” he said.
Mungary also leverages his contacts to speak with the likes of hoteliers and tour guides on the ground in destinations where his clients are headed to give them updated reports, which lends to his credibility as an agent.
“I think it’s vitally important that we have the ability for our clients to reach out and talk to someone firsthand who’s on the ground there, and we can give them firsthand experience,” he said.
According to Mungary, talking to clients about current events that may be negatively affecting a destination ends up being a good thing for agents.
“You’ve done yourself a disservice by not pointing it out to the guest,” he said. “And I also think that that shows the value of a travel advisor.”