The Importance of a Travel Agent in a Crisis

"Picture it...The United States of America...early 2020...a pandemic of unprecedented consequences..." I feel like I will be having this conversation with my grandchildren one day while sitting around the kitchen table eating cheesecake. Yes...I plan to be a golden girl when I grow up. I definitely am giving off Sophia vibes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc in our lives and I don't think I need to go into the details with you. We are living it and finding our new normal. Because travel is such a big part of many of our lives, I thought it would be a great time to take a deep dive into the travel industry. As I mentioned before, the pandemic is unprecedented. The travel industry has NEVER seen anything like this in modern times. At the beginning of the travel bans, many companies likened it to what the industry experienced after 9/11. We soon came to the realization that the consequences would be more prolonged. It will take years to recover and many companies may not be able to do so.

Let us talk about February 2020. I was in a conference call with fellow advisors and we discussed the virus that we were hearing about in China. There was a ship in Japan that was under quarantine and we were learning about the details. I remember someone mentioning, "If it makes it to Europe, we are screwed." No one knew how bad this was going to get. There was no way that this virus would infect the United States. We were so wrong...it was about to get much worse.

Fast forward to March, I attended STAR University in Ft. Lauderdale, which is a new franchise training for Cruise Planners. I remember arriving at the airport and seeing a few people wearing masks and I thought that it was odd, but nothing out of the norm. During the training, we were encouraged to not shake hands, wash our hands and cough into our elbows. At this point, there was no talk about social distancing...this was still new and again, we had no idea how bad it would get. The virus was discussed, but it was not labeled a "pandemic" at this time. While in the area, I was scheduled for two ship inspections...one for Holland America and one for Carnival. A ship inspection is when an advisor tours a ship to see the common areas and room categories. I have been on a couple of these over the years, and the only difference this time was that I had my temperature checked before boarding. I remember thinking as I always do on these inspections...I am so jealous! Typically on an inspection, you are not cruising, but you still get the vacation vibes. Both of these ships departed later that day and arrived home safely with no infection the next week. I believe that this was the last cruise before the mandatory pause in cruising.

Late March and into April, all hell broke loose. Travel bans were in place and the travel industry scrambled to address mass cancellations, postponements and a lot of upset travelers. My day job gave mandatory orders to work from home - if we are able. For those that don't know, my day job focuses on group travel with a university. I would work from 7-5 and even later each day returning emails and phone calls. Trips were being cancelled, some were postponed and several travel companies had not made decisions on upcoming trips. It was a frustrating time for everyone. As a person who likes to make customers happy, I worked overtime to address every issue as fast as possible. However, there were so many unknowns. How long would the pandemic last? When would travel bans be lifted? Why have I not received a refund? Why am I not receiving a refund? Why does insurance not cover a pandemic? So many questions.

For my business, I was busy in the evenings re-booking and cancelling trips for clients.

Fast forward again to late Summer.