Barrhead Travel Group boss Jacqueline Dobson has pleaded with tour operators to communicate better with travel agents in times of crisis.
The president of the travel agency chain told Travel Weekly’s Future of Travel Conference that while operators were quick to put extra resources into contacting direct customers, this wasn’t always the case with trade partners, warning it could “reflect badly” on the trade.
“We don’t always get the help we need. Operators don’t put a team on to help us, [but] they do for customers. They just let us deal with the booking,” she said.
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She also called on operators to explain what was meant by “reasonable cost” when it comes to agents rebooking clients during a crisis such as the recent earthquake in Morocco.
“When it’s our own Atol booking we can control it, but if it’s a tour operator booking it can be a nightmare,” she said, adding: “What is a reasonable cost [to rebook a client]?”
She pleaded directly with operators: “Communicate with us”
She added: “If the communication was there about what we can or cannot do, it would be a lot easier. It would help if they gave us clear instructions and help clear their phone lines.”
During the recent summer bank holiday disruption, airlines and airports also came under fire from agents and consumers for a lack of information and staff in airports respectively.
Abta’s director of industry relations Susan Deer told the conference it was important accuracy was not forfeited for speed when it came to giving information to the trade during a crisis.
She said: “It’s always a challenge when the situation is moving very quickly. There’s always going to be a rolling information flow and you may not be able to say at hour one what is going to happen at hour two. We don’t want to sacrifice the accuracy of information for the speed of information.
“You have to make sure the sources of information are right. Even getting something out there to say, ‘this is happening, we’re looking into it, but we haven’t got an end point’ can sometimes be the right answer.”
Speaking about Abta’s own response, she said bulletins were used to get information to members after working out the right course of action and whether to involve the Foreign Office, airline associations or an individual airline.
Celebrity Cruises vice-president and managing director EMEA Giles Hawke said the disruption seen this summer once again proved the worth of booking through an agent or operator.
“That’s the message we need to get out there: yes, you’ll still be impacted by the disruption, but if you book a package you will be looked after,” he told the Future of Travel Conference.
Travel Counsellors managing director Kirsten Hughes, speaking on a separate travel agency panel, said the experience of Covid had “put things in perspective”, meaning crises which previously would have been perceived as major were now a “distraction, more than anything else” because they paled in comparison with the scale of the pandemic.
“I think the stress level has changed,” she added.
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