Great working relationships with partners are fundamental to business success, says Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson
As we approach the end of the summer season, I can almost hear the collective sigh of relief billowing across the industry. Relief, because we have made it through the first full summer since the pandemic.
The past few months have been incredible in so many ways. It’s not been a normal summer by any means, and the challenges have meant that service levels and communication with customers have been at least triple that of pre-pandemic times.
I, for one, am fiercely proud of our entire team, who have gone above and beyond to make sure our customers have been prioritised at all stages. From cancellations to schedule changes and from lost baggage to passport confusion, it’s not been plain sailing. But our people have stepped up and have unequivocally demonstrated the value of using a reputable travel agent.
Anyone working within the industry knows how important it is to have partners you can rely on when a customer’s holiday doesn’t quite go to plan. Communication, transparency and loyalty go a long way to resolving a situation. Unfortunately, I’ve been disappointed to see so many examples of inter-industry finger-pointing and blame-shifting this summer when we should have been working in sync.
Media sensationalism
I’ve lost count of the reports I’ve read recently unfairly depicting scenes of “chaos”. We all know there’s nothing like a bit of sensationalism, particularly when it comes to travel. It’s been a huge frustration, and one that I know is shared across the industry, that travel challenges were grossly exaggerated in the national media when operators, airlines and agents alike were working tirelessly to get holidaymakers where they needed to be.
Even more frustrating than reading stories about travel that don’t show the full picture is reading responses from travel businesses that have been quick to point the finger at another area of the sector.
For an industry that has always been celebrated for working together, there have been times this summer where the narrative has felt like it was every business for themselves, whether that’s been through media reporting or social media.
We had a recent instance where a valued partner shared a comment with a tabloid newspaper that insinuated that Barrhead Travel was to blame for a situation that involved one of their cancelled flights. We were not at fault. And although the operator subsequently apologised and offered to change their remarks, it felt bitterly disappointing to have been on the receiving end of public blame‑apportioning.
Mutual objectives
Things go wrong in travel – of course they do. And they can go wrong even without the added complications of post-pandemic recovery.
However, any issues this summer have been exacerbated because of market conditions and the acute challenges that the industry has been up against since travel reopened. The stakes – and emotions – have never been so high. But there are no winners in a blame game, which only serves to damage customer confidence.
Our industry has been under intense pressure and scrutiny, but there is simply no room for trying to pass the buck. Advocating for recovery across all areas of the travel ecosystem is something we should all be concerned about.
That’s not to say that there aren’t internal industry debates and conversations that must happen to resolve issues and help us move forward. However, these discussions will only be productive if there’s implicit trust and the confidence that we’re all on the same side.
I believe that great working relationships with partners and industry colleagues are fundamental to business success. In fact, I’d say we do collaboration and partnerships better than any other industry.
There’s no doubt that we are all working towards the same end goal. But we need more empathy with one another. I hope by working closely and regrouping with our partners, we can illustrate the progress being made to restore outbound travel.