Comment: A letter from travel agent to operator

Can tour operators imagine how frustrating it is for us travel agents to constantly be told different things? It’s infuriating.

As well as keeping us regularly updated, we need our trade partners not to tell us ‘your clients will receive a full refund’ and then to back-track and offer only a credit note or the option to rebook for a later date.

We agents are working around the clock trying to cancel and rebook or rescue holidays that our wonderful clients have already booked but we are not able to give them the answers they need.

Our clients are our future, but they – and we – are running out of patience. We agents do not have short memories and our support for those trade partners who are not helping us now will be in doubt.

We also need more clarification, as Abta and the likes of Simon Calder and Martin Lewis are not helping. We feel disappointed that not one person from the industry has gone on TV to tell consumers how hard we are working behind the scenes. Agents are being reduced to tears as clients shout and direct abuse at them – no one deserves this.

We also have clients wanting to rebook but we are tied to the ‘11 months prior to departure’ rulings on scheduled flights. This is a global issue. Surely all airlines and Iata should get together and extend this to 18 months prior to kick-start 2021 bookings?

We want to save our industry. Many of us have decades of experience and have worked through previous industry disasters including Sars, the ash cloud, the Boxing Day tsunami, hurricanes, tornados, swine flu, terrorism, and foot and mouth, not to mention all the tour operator and airline collapses. But our love of the industry and professionalism got us through all those and we want to get through this too.

So please, operators, be united and keep us regularly updated.

And remember: our clients are your clients too.

Jenny Jackson,

Luxury Travel Gurus