Whether the topic is where to go, whether to travel at all or what insurance to buy, travel advisors should lay out the facts but not make the decisions. That’s the key piece of advice from four experts from different parts of the travel industry in a webinar held by the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), where Erika Richter of ASTA, Julie LoFreddy of InsureMyTrip.com, Gabe Saglie of Travel Zoo and Katherine Hamm of the LA Times offered up insights for writing about, surviving and selling travel in an age of coronavirus.
Within the comments they made are a number of important tips for travel advisors.
Data is the key to keeping the story straight. InsureMyTrip.com, a travel insurance comparison site, relies on On Call International (oncallinternational.com), the CDC and the U.S. State Department as sources of information. TravelZoo follows the CDC, the Department of Health and WHO. Travel advisors are “right smack dab in the middle of this”—and they have a big role to play in helping travelers understand what is happening and laying out their options, Richter noted. While “everyone wants a yes or no recommendation,” though, “these are questions travelers need to ask themselves in a conversation with their travel advisor.”
The Takeaway: Travel advisors should play a consultative role, offering options but not telling clients what to do. The best advice is “to do whatever makes them comfortable, to make a decision that works best for them” and fits their individual travel style, Richter said.
The phones have been ringing off the hook at InsureMyTrip.com, a travel insurance comparison site, and sales of policies that include Cancel for Any Reason clauses are up 165 percent since January 21. “Travelers want a contingency plan,” LoFreddy said—and that includes travelers who have never purchased travel insurance before. But travel insurance is very fluid and very complicated, and policies purchased prior to the outbreak differ markedly than from those being sold now. “Today we are telling people that if they are scared, their only option is to buy Cancel for Any Reason policies—but if you don’t buy it immediately, as soon as you book the trip, you may not get the coverage.” Be aware that many providers are pulling back from offering emergency medical coverage and evacuation services for those who get sick abroad—key concerns, as they usually are not often covered by U.S. medical insurance. The costs of being quarantined abroad also may or may not be covered, and vary with the date of the policy.
The Takeaway: Travel advisors should refer clients to insurance agents, and preferably to third-party providers, rather than attempt to understand the details of what is covered by each policy.
Travelers are looking for information. Saglie noted that traffic on his travel-booking site is the same as ever, but consumers are spending more time per visit. “Hesitation is there,” even from avid travelers and particularly in the short term, and likely will affect Spring Break and last into the summer months. Cruise bookings for 2021 remain robust, though; “the assumption is that by 2021 we’ll have a much better handle on things.”
The Takeaway: Hang in there. Use the time to reinforce your connection with clients as a source of information and support.
Where the industry expected 2020 to be the year of international travel, the virus “is flipping the formula,” Saglie said—but “the vast majority of the public is still looking for that green light to travel, and there are many alternatives.” He suggested drive markets and places you can reach by car and train as good options; abroad, consider countries like Portugal, which is still Level 1. Instead of staying home for Spring Break in New York, where the first cases are being seen, consider Long Island, the Poconos or Vermont. ASTA’s Richter, though, said the choices of where to travel are too personal and too varied for simple answers. “Call your travel advisor; talk through your bucket list; map it out,” she said. “It’s a big world out there.”
The Takeaway: Call your travel advisor to find alternative destinations.
While the cruise industry has become “a punching bag” in the news, consider that you can walk right through a hotel front door with no screening, Saglie noted. The cruise lines now have much more aggressive measures in place to screen every passenger.
The Takeaway: Consider a cruise. And above all, #keeptraveling.
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