Tour Operator Executives Share their Biggest Tips for Travel Advisors

This week, the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), celebrated its annual conference and marketplace, bringing partners from all over the world to San Diego to network and gameplay for business over the next year and beyond. 

One of the biggest messages was that, just like travel advisors, tour operators are needed now are than ever to help consumers navigate increasingly complex and ever-changing protocols and regulations. While operators continue to stress that importance, advisors need to do so, as well. 

“I think the value proposition for the travel advisor has greatly enhanced, people want to travel…people get it a little more,” USTOA’s Terry Dale said. 

When asked how advisors can boost business as demand continues to come back online into 2022, here’s what a few tour operator executives said. 

Charge Fees
Scott Wiseman of Apple Leisure Group (ALG) said that it is time now for travel advisors to recognize that their services are worth more than ever, and to put a price on them. 

“Now is the time for advisors to put a price on their expertise. They should not be afraid to charge for their services,” he said. 

For those who haven’t charged fees, start slow, Wiseman said, maybe with a cancellation fee that would enable them to earn some compensation for the work they’re doing regardless of how COVID-19 or weather or another crisis impact travel. 

Figure out what works for you and your clients and then go from there. While it doesn’t have to happen all at once, even a small start can lead to a changing business model and less reliance on supplier compensation. 

“It is one thing to add value but I think it’s time to put a dollar amount to it and really monetize,” he said. 

Stay Patient
COVID-19 is still the major news story driving the travel industry more than 18 months later after it first took hold of the world in February 2020. Every time the industry thinks it’s in the clear, more news impacts travel, from Delta to Omicron to whatever comes next. 

It’s incredibly easy for so many travel advisors to have become overwhelmed over the past two years. But the ones who have been able to survive and thrive through the period are the ones who have stayed patent. 

“I would remind them of the old adage patience is a virtue,” USTOA’s Terry Dale said. 

“I don’t know how many times I heard through the pandemic that they booked and rebooked a single piece of business and that’s gotta be tough. Patience is a virtue,” he added. 

Have a Backup Plan
Consumers want to travel. So many people are dead set on travel with dates and funds sorted out far in advance. The why and when of the travel decisions are locked in place for a lot of clients. It’s up to the travel advisors to figure out the how and where. 

“Have some backup plans in mind even if they are templated for your clients…to switch them to if something happens,” Elizabeth Crabill, the CEO of CIE Tours said. 

And it’s sometimes not even enough to have that second plan ready, she added. 

“I believe a lot of them are already doing that and getting very good and having plan B and plan C in place.” 

Some advisors have done this so regularly during the pandemic period that a new buzzword was invented—trip-stacking. 

Differentiate Yourself on Service
COVID-19 has made the pitch for using a travel advisor easier to communicate than ever before. Advisors need to lean into it, not only on the service but on value, too. 

“They should be selling the value that they provide and differentiating themselves on service,” Jeff Roy of Collette said. 

“This environment has gotten really complex and when you are selling through a travel agent to a consumer…there’s a lot of info going out” he said. 

With things constantly changing and the list of requirements to travel constantly growing, “it’s really important to get those in the hands of the customer early.” Not following that communication could lead to delays or forced cancellations or loss of money or worse. 

Advisors need to communicate early and often to their clients about what’s required. Letting a client know in plain language what they need to do and when is not only going to make their life easier, but also help them keep regular clients coming back for more. 

“Number one,” Charlie Ball of Holland America said, “if your customer has an opportunity to carefully and accurately fill our pre-trip info, invest the time to do it.” 

Choose Your Partners Wisely 
Ball also added that “any travel agent who is choosing vacations for their clients need to find partners who won’t leave their customers stranded.” 

Remember those early days of COVID when advisors were not only losing commission but were spending time trying to get a client’s money back? That can still happen. 

“We are still in a period of time when difficult things happen to nobody’s fault – choose people who will stand behind you as an agent so a bad result is made as little as possible,” he added.