The founder of G Adventures says travel agents have been “heroes” during the pandemic, helping to support customers during crises caused by travel restrictions.
Bruce Poon Tip also believes there are “huge opportunities” for agencies as travellers will continue to seek their support and advice.
He told a Travel Weekly webcast: “Travel agents are the heroes…throughout this whole pandemic.
“As a tour operator, we had thousands of people stranded when the world shut down. It was the ones that had travel agents that had a voice that could represent them, to get them back home safely.”
He said the travel industry must capitalise on that legacy and promote the way agents can help during crises and disruption.
“You need an advocate when you travel, anything could happen,” he said.
“You can get a discount on an OTA [online travel agency] but you have to think about when when things go wrong…from Icelandic volcanoes, tsunamis, to whenever something goes wrong, travellers need an advocate at home.”
He said the age of Google meant that travellers can source a great deal of information online but agents must highlight how they can offer extra services that are “super important”, especially as Covid restrictions vary and change around the world.
Poon Tip is also proud of his staff for the way they continued to work with agents even during lockdown.
“We really did a great job supporting the travel industry, even when people were not travelling – we were still training, out there answering questions, supporting agents as best we can,” he told the webcast.
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G Adventures to run live virtual tours of destinations for agents
G Adventures is still introducing new services for agents, such as its live virtual tours of destinations to educate the trade and raise funds for local communities.
The operator has partnered with Heygo, a livestreaming platform, to show tours with a G Adventures chief experience officer.
Commenting on booking trends in the UK market, Poon Tip noted there are increasingly short lead times.
“Since January 1, 46% of our travellers now are travelling before May,” he said.
“Younger travellers are among the top bookers…and 66% of travellers have said they want their money to benefit local people. That is a huge shift from pre-Covid.”
Active, outdoor tours are popular, such as climbing Kilimanjaro, trekking to Everest base camp and the Inca Trail.
“The best thing about right now for the travel agent is customers are so open to doing anything to travel,” he told the webcast.
“We’ve never seen such cooperation and collaboration with customers. Our satisfaction scores are off the charts.”
He explained: “We think we’re inconveniencing customers more because locally we have to follow guidelines and restrictions.
“We have timed visits to Machu Picchu…but our customers are loving it.
“It’s such a breath of fresh air for a tour operator like us to have customers that are just so open to change, adapting to the situation, and very connected to the destination like we have never seen before.”