TRAVEL DREAMS & TRAVEL AGENTS

The other day I was going through an interesting article shared on LinkedIn about the present day travel trends etc, then in the midst there was a pop up prompting us to download’ TheTravel agents Survival Guide ‘Out of curiosity I was about to click the link (pressing the click or send button is too addictive for us)but some force within me made me pause for a few seconds Is the situation that scary ??Are we conventional travel agents really on the drowning mode that we would be thinking of a survival kit ??So how could ambitious people make their career and reach great heights for which we chose this profession out of the thousands of options available whilst coming out of colleges (or at times even before that). Since the moment we think about surviving it is like pressing the pause button on the growth mode where taking risk would never be on the cards. Then I thought that rewinding memories through my experiences, the advises and guidance from my superiors, the valuable client feedbacks /motivating notes and off course the valuable words from our mentors and role models in the industry which in the challenging times were the real catalyst to keep moving forward . I realised that the Online Travel agencies are actually helping us in an indirect way by forcing us to be always on our toes the moment a client checks travel option with us .Because unlike the years when we started now information is available to all at a click(At times I feel this information OVERLOAD is the real evil, we are now getting too much information on anything than that is required or at times we might never require which actually confuses rather than instilling confidence).Yes off course the way we respond to the clients has undergone a drastic change The responses are now more quicker, price comparison have became a mandate.

Also to those who feel insecure what Travel agents might do for a living when the travelers of the world exclusively prefer OTA’s as travel partners ;a few words for them we in our career have sold perhaps the one of the most intangible & priceless product on the Globe” Dreams”. We inspire people to think beyond boundaries, speak to the client with patience(at times similar to the mother of a new born baby) to understand what his travel choice is and the kind of traveler he/she is .Then to streamline the best possible inclusions within his budget, advise the best time to travel to a destination, clarify all his fears or confusions .After all the procedures and booking process in case if at midnight when the client arrive at airport at any latitude n longitude of the world to find it a bit difficult to locate the driver for arrival transfer a single call to your travel consultant who would pick the call and say ‘Sir ,I had just ten minutes back too(since that was his second call to check if you arrived after calling by the time the driver should be reporting at the airport) checked with Mr.XXXX who is waiting at the arrival Hall near the Mc Donald’s outlet for you with a placard in your name. The deep breathe of respite that a client takes with his kid and wife in a new country on his first day of a tour is priceless. Till the client touches back his hometown after his Holiday the travel agent will pick up the clients each and every call with the same energy and passion he showed when you first met him with a desire to go on a holiday.

So the day the online travel agencies would respond on the toll Free Numbers to the clients with their booking numbers/ids with this Accuracy , Warmth & Human Touch then might be would think of selling something more Simpler and with lesser effort(or perhaps when all options fails even check the contents of the survival kit for travel agents). As of now working under pressure to design the perfect holidays ,co-ordinate with people at different corners of the globe at different time zones, speaking different languages and pushing our own limits with a smile; gives us the sense of gratification .

Till then keep travelling to explore the borderless world with Travel Agents & Happy Selling to all my Industry Partners.