5 things travel advisors should focus on right now!

During these unprecedented times in the travel industry, it is essential for independent Travel Advisors to focus on their business plan and how they can make changes to prepare for unforeseen circumstances in the future.

Travel Professionals International (TPI) outlines five main points all Travel Advisors should focus on during this time:

1. Don't Forget Your Marketing Plan 

Even in times of uncertainty, Advisors need to remember their communication with their clients is crucial. Although not all your clients may be experiencing trip interruptions, it is essential to communicate to your entire list of clients that you are here to support them and will continue to be there when they are ready to book their next dream vacation. 

TPI Advisors have access to a TPI COVID-19 Portal with endless information at their fingertips. The marketing section of the portal includes templated emails to send to their clients regarding supplier updates and government guidelines for returning home, along with a social media corner with images and messaging to post on their business pages. Keep that constant contact with your clients and let them know that when this all passes, you will be here to help them plan those much-needed dream getaways.

2. Stay Organized 

In time, this too shall pass, and the Travel Industry will come out stronger than ever! As a trusted Advisor to your clients, you want to be ready for the next wave of inquiries and bookings. TPI is advising their Advisors to "get organized."

Now is the time to make sure all your client profiles are updated and any administrative work that you have been pushing aside is up to date. You won’t remember what the policy was 24 months from now, so ensure that you have all of your invoicing up to date and CRM notes updated. It will help you in the long run. TPI has created step-by-step process and webinar training to help map out the must-dos for their Advisors.

3. Educate Yourself!

Now is the time to level up your training, from partner specialist courses to professional development sessions. It is the right time to brush up and learn new skills and softwares that you have wanted to learn but never actually had the time to do it. TPI is hosting a daily session to improve Advisor knowledge on various tools such as Sabre, CBO, Mailchimp and other marketing and tech tools.

4. Your Host Agency is Your Best Support

With more than 930 Advisors across Canada, the leading and esteemed host agency has made a significant impression on their trusted Advisors during this time, with their outstanding support plan to assist their Advisors. TPI Advisors have a long list of resources made available to them by their Head Office team to help them during these trying times.

• Daily town hall calls hosted by TPI CEO, Zeina Gedeon, along with National Director of Sales, Caroline Hay and the Head Office team to answer Advisor questions regarding supplier policies, insurance and daily COVID-19 government updates.
• TPI Advisors have access to up-to-date supplier notices in their learning management system and an active Facebook group, which is monitored hourly by the internal team.
• TPI Advisors have been provided with ongoing communication, including email triage templates to inform their clients, consumer-facing social media and email templates. TPI also prepared a templated letter for Advisors to send to MPs to request support for small businesses at this time.
• They have created a one-stop TPI COVID-19 Portal for Advisors to have access to all the ever-changing information consolidated for them at their fingertips.
• TPI has actively been in conversation with ACTA and other small business federation to come up with various measures like interest-free loans, tax credits and compensation for the independent contractors to help our Advisors during this tough time.

It is in times like these that being a part of an award-winning host agency is a substantial benefit to an Advisor’s confidence and trust.

5. We Are in This Together!

Whether you have a host agency supporting you to navigate through this or you are a member of an active travel agent Facebook group, now is the time to come together. Use the resources that you have available to get through tough times together.

TPI keeps an open conversation on their private Facebook group. Advisors feel comfortable asking any questions on the page and will receive responses from both their fellow Advisors and a head office team member. These are the types of tools that make an Advisor feel like family. TPI sees tremendous value in these open communication platforms, as do Advisors.

Our industry is very resilient and has come together again to battle this crisis. We appreciate everything that our industry partners are doing to support our Travel Advisors.

Together, we will recover from these unprecedented times and come out stronger!

Sponsored article by Travel Professionals International.

Looking for the right host agency to help support you? Call us at 1-866-627-2122 or email us at info@tpi.ca to learn more about joining Canada’s leading & esteemed host agency.

Don't miss a single travel story: subscribe to PAX today!