Go For Gold

10 Steps to Being Prepared for the Post-pandemic Booking Surge

We have compiled a list of 10 steps you can take to ensure that you and your agency are well prepared for the changes in the Canadian travel market following this pandemic.

We will review:

  • CRM Marketing
  • Foreign Independent Touring changes
  • Brushing up on sales skills
  • ITC and Sun Packages
  • Travel Advisories
  • Cruising
  • The importance of systems
  • New flight requirements
  • Travel insurance
  • Social media

CRM Marketing

This video covers:

  • Communicating with your clients
  • When to send marketing
  • Tailoring your marketing
  • Ensure profiles are up to date
  • Birthdays/anniversaries

FIT-Foreign Independent Touring

This video covers:

  • Tours
  • Supplier relations
  • Are your familiar with who are your BDMs, find out who’s back
  • Top selling tours/trends
  • Supplier Marketing to use
  • Supplier/loyalty program
  • Customer Incentives EBB
  • What destinations are suppliers going to?
  • What is open?
  • Hotel/tour Protocols?
  • Destination requirements?
  • Terms and conditions
  • What Deposits if any are required and when are final payments due?
  • Change penalties?

Customer Relationships

This video covers:

  • Overcoming clients’ fears and hesitations.
  • Get familiar with the supplier’s product changes and new policies so you are confident about the health protocols.
  • Instill confidence – great deals now!
  • 2022 dates are selling out – keep clients informed.
  • Cancel at any time – be familiar with the penalties of suppliers.
  • Keep in touch with clients.
  • Follow up on using their credit voucher – keep alerts on your profiles to remind you which customers have FTV

Post COVID

This video covers:

  • Sun Vacations– Are your familiar with who are your BDMs, find out who’s back.
  • What destinations are being served next?
  • What is open?
  • Hotel Protocols?
  • Destination requirements?
  • Terms and conditions.
  • What Deposits if any are required and when are final payments due? change penalties?
  • Top selling tours/trends
  • Supplier Marketing you can use
  • Supplier/loyalty program
  • Customer Incentives including EBB (Early Booking Bonus)

Cruises and New Protocols

This video covers:

  • Cruise lines–BDMs, are they back?
  • What destinations are being served?
  • New itineraries
  • New cruise protocols?
  • New destination protocols?
  • Cruise excursions-how will it work? Ship excursions or independent companies?
  • Revised Terms and Conditions
  • Deposits-changes and when are final payments due? change penalties?
  • Cruising trends 2022 and beyond
  • Cruise supplier marketing support
  • Customer incentives like EBBs

Travel Advisories

This video covers:

  • Where to find the information?
  • Health Vaccine passports?
  • Destination protocols
  • Testing requirements prior/during/after – any quarantines necessary
  • Places to be tested and costs
  • Cancellation policies
  • Educating your customer that requirements can change
  • Cancellation/change penalties

Systems

This video covers:

  • Whatever systems you use, review Invoicing, remarks, your terms and conditions
  • Alerts on your customers – example who has FTC
  • How are you cross referencing your trips (old trip/new trip)
  • Any remarks you need to add to your files
  • How to apply FTC’s in your accounting system
  • How to use the FTC with the suppliers
  • Ensuring you have attached all FTCs to trips
  • Clean up your files and update client information

Flights

This video covers:

  • New Flight protocols
  • New Routes and New Airline schedule changes?
  • Start dates of routes
  • Frequency of flights
  • Airline Protocols? Airport protocols – what to expect?
  • Destination requirements?
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cancellation and change penalties?
  • Supplier/loyalty program
  • Customer Incentives

Insurance

This video covers:

  • Stay updated and familiar with the latest insurance changes
  • Selling tips
  • If new to the travel industry, take the insurance companies online courses
  • Ensure waivers are signed and up to date for refusal of insurance
  • At TTAND we have an online insurance form
  • Learn about COVID coverage, costs, restrictions,
  • Don’t look to your peers for answers on insurance, contact the insurance company for answers to ensure you are giving correct information
  • Remember insurance is a good revenue generator!!!

Social Media

This video covers:

  • Tell great stories!
  • Share your value through tips on what you do for your clients
  • Don’t only share offers/specials
  • Go for social currency-likes, comments and shares and ALWAYS interact with people who like/comment/share your posts
  • Take followers behind the scenes and let them get to know you
  • Share your upcoming travel plans-where you are most excited to go next-what new travel trends they can consider-inspire, start conversations, engage

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    Bookmark this page and visit it weekly as we continue to add new content to support you with the 10 steps we recommend to ensure you are well-prepared for the future of booking travel in a post-pandemic world.

    Whether you are a brand-new agent or an agent with decades in the industry, we hope the details included here will ensure that your fee structure supports you and your business.

    If you would like to know MORE™ about The Travel Agent Next Door and how we can support your travel business and the list of tools available to you to assist you in working smarter and not harder reach out and have a call with us today.

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