Travel Agents Answer The Call During Hurricane Harvey

As Hurricane Harvey continues to wreak havoc on greater Houston, travel agents are doing their part to assist clients and non-clients whose travels have been disrupted.

One such agent is Christopher Grum, owner and CEO of Premier Custom Travel in Sugar Land, TX. Grum has been monitoring cruises, hotels and airports, and he began posting live video updates about travel to his company’s Facebook page once the weather started getting bad on Thursday.

“We realize that there are bigger and more important things in the area, like flooded homes, evacuees, but we wanted to help those who had travel plans figure it all out, even if they didn’t book with us,” he told Travel Market Report.

Using social media at a time like this allows him to get information to his clients – and anyone else – immediately, Grum said. “In many cases, we have had updates on our website and social media minutes if not hours before it was posted to the official supplier sites. We’ve seen a lot of frustration from travelers out there, and we’re doing our best to get them accurate and up-to-date info as quickly as possible.”

Lisa Chambers Fletcher, director of education and training for Gifted Travel Network, is also posting cruise ship schedules and airline travel waiver updates on GTN's Facebook forum. Additionally, "we've reached out to our independent contractors who live in the area and asked if anyone needs anything. Our ICs have offered to cover any travel emergencies for traveling clients whose agents live in the hurricane zone, and might be without power or cell service," she said. 

Grum and his staff have many clients’ whose trips have been affected by Hurricane Harvey. The agency’s staff has effectively filled in as suppliers’ call centers when suppliers were closed for the weekend and at night.

Grum’s staff even assisted travelers who had not booked with them but had questions. “To me it just re-emphasizes the need to work with a good travel professional whenever you travel and to purchase travel insurance,” he said.

Continued impact on travel
The need for travel agents’ assistance due to storm-related travel interruptions won’t slow down anytime soon. “As of today all cruises from Galveston have been canceled, and both our airports are closed, with United not expecting to resume operations until Thursday at the earliest,” Grum said on Monday. “So there’s a lot to do travel-wise and that’s keeping us very busy.”

United Airlines announced Monday it had canceled all flights to and from George Bush Intercontinental Airport until at least noon on Thursday, Aug. 31. Southwest Airlines canceled all flights to and from Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport for Monday and Tuesday. Operations at both airports are still stopped until further notice, due to runways flooding.

Since Sunday, FlightAware reported more than 5,000 canceled flights across the U.S. Most airlines are still allowing Houston travelers to make flights changes without fees.

Meanwhile, the Port of Galveston, which shut last week, remains closed through Monday.

Tour operators, however, are moving ahead as scheduled.

“We do not have any tours that are impacted by the hurricane,” Collette executive vice president Paula Twidale told TMR. Guests booked on Collette tours who were scheduled to depart from affected Texas airports have been accommodated, she said.

Trafalgar, which operates an Adventures of the Lone Star State End Houston itinerary, said none of its trips were affected by the storm. No future departures are expected to be affected either.

Other ways agents and their clients can help
The nonprofit Tourism Cares said it is in contact with Texas travel and tourism industry officials assessing damage to Houston, Rockport, Port Aransas and other Texas communities as they consider the best ways for the industry to assist the recovery.

Tourism Cares stressed that those donating should keep long-term recovery in mind, in addition to helping on the ground now, as the needs of the community will change over time in the long recovery phase that comes after a disaster.

Tourism Cares shared the following advice on how best to help:

• Give to more than one charity. Spread your funding to organizations that have different goals.
• Give to recovery as well as immediate relief. The urgent relief phase often gets the bulk of attention and funding, but don’t forget about recovery, which is often longer, harder and more expensive. Recovery also requires different kinds of organizations and capacities.
• Fund local organizations. Try, for example, the mayor’s relief fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation or the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
• Save some of your giving for later. No matter how much you plan on giving, take some of it and set it aside for year-end holiday giving. The picture of local needs will be very different at that time, allowing new choices for making an impact even with small contributions.