The chairman of Advantage Travel Partnership says travel agents which use the next 18 months to reassess their businesses and clients’ needs will emerge “stronger and fitter” from the current crisis.
Steve Esom is hopeful business could start to return to a ‘new normal’ in a year and a half but said it was up to companies to “fill the gaps” in how they work after the government outlined its post-lockdown vision.
He said: “The new normal will not be like the old normal. Customers will not behave as they have done before.
“Each of us will have to look at our businesses to really identify those parts of the businesses which are serving up customers well and maybe parts that are legacy and will not be as important in the future.”
As well as looking at new opportunities, customer groups and potentially bringing ideas that have been on the backburner to fruition, agents will need to adapt to serving clients in different ways, including more distance selling such as via the telephone or on email.
Esom said: “There is no doubt the way we serve customers will change. There is no doubt customers will be wary of the physical locations.”
He added: “It’s in periods like this that reputations are won or lost. It’s at times like this we can come into our own.
“It’s been a difficult time and there is no clear route out of this. We all have to plan and replan, but in 18 months things might be trending back to near normal and it’s businesses which use these periods to really understand what they have and what their customers really value that will emerge stronger and fitter.”