After suffering for more than a year as one of the industries hardest hit by COVID-19, travel is finally experiencing a welcome recovery and, buoyed by renewed optimism, clients are excitedly planning long-overdue vacations. According to “The Year of the Travel Rebound,” a January 2021 Tripadvisor research report, 45% of U.S. travelers intend to travel internationally in 2021, with 80% planning at least one domestic leisure trip this year.
“Throughout the pandemic, we created a host of initiatives with the goal of keeping agents informed, inspired and engaged,” said Mary Ellen Burke, national director of sales for AMResorts, which is nominated in several categories as part of TravelAge West’s 2021 Western Agents Votes of Excellence (WAVE) Awards. “Every decision we made was with our loyal agents and their future success in mind … and we hope to continue collaborating to make more vacations possible because travel is resilient, and we all need a vacation more than ever.”
Throughout the pandemic, we created a host of initiatives with the goal of keeping agents informed, inspired and engaged.
In acknowledgement of the unusual situation in travel last year, this year’s WAVE Awards Editor’s Picks not only recognize suppliers, destinations and partners that help advisors deliver exceptional client experiences, but also highlight the companies that provided innovative virtual programming and offered support to their communities throughout the pandemic.
Pandemic Community Response
Even as COVID-19 shut down their operations, nominees in the “Best Pandemic Community Response” categories redirected valuable resources to help employees and local communities, as well as partners in the destinations where they operate.
“One key lesson of the past year is that we are truly stronger together,” said Keith Sproule, executive director for Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy (AKP). “Despite the challenges brought about by COVID-19 and the halt of travel, AKP was able to pivot efforts to practical emergency relief on an international scale.”
Working with officials to identify each community’s top priority, AKP assisted efforts to distribute food, hygiene kits and masks in Brazil; implement a COVID-19 food program in Kenya; and deliver medical supplies in Tanzania.
On a local scale, Norwegian Cruise Line provided $10 million in cash support to Alaska port communities impacted by cruise suspensions. Similarly, Tourism Authority of Thailand partnered with Thai restaurants throughout the Northeast U.S. to deliver hundreds of meals to frontline healthcare workers, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) provided the space for nearly 100,000 COVID-19 tests and more than 125,000 vaccinations to be administered at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC).
Tourism Authority of Thailand’s New York office partnered with Thai restaurants to deliver meals to frontline healthcare workers.
Credit: 2021 Tourism Authority of Thailand“While the LVCC was closed, we found ways to support our local community and help health officials reduce the spread of the virus,” said Lori Nelson-Kraft, senior vice president of communications for LVCVA. “We’re pleased our facility was able to benefit our workforce, the community and our visitors during this time.”
Travel Advisor Engagement and Virtual Programming
Communication between advisors and partners is key to creating memorable client vacations under normal circumstances, but working together was even more important during the past year.
Nominees for “Best Travel Advisor Engagement Program,” “Best Travel Advisor Support” and “Most Creative Virtual Programming” made lemonade out of pandemic lemons through innovative ways to maintain — and, in many cases, strengthen — relationships with agents by providing important information about COVID-19 and much-needed entertainment.
“One partner sent a box with a few wine splits, some cheese, dried fruit, crackers and nuts, and we all opened it at the same time on our virtual Zoom happy hour,” said Steve Orens, president of Plaza Travel in Woodland Hills, Calif. “It was all about connecting and not about selling.”
One key lesson of the past year is that we are truly stronger together.
Knowing food and drink are integral parts of many clients’ cruise experience, Silversea Cruises presented “A Journey Around the World in 60 Cocktails,” featuring drinks from its Sea And Land Taste (S.A.L.T.) culinary program; Uniworld Boutique River Cruises emailed favorite recipes to make at home; and AmaWaterways hosted virtual Sip & Sail Cocktail Hours with co-founder Kristin Karst and the line’s travel industry ship godmothers.
“The events were wonderful opportunities for travel advisors to come together and join our godmothers as they shared favorite travel memories and celebrated contributions travel advisors make to our industry,” Karst said. “The positive energy and confidence in the future radiating from these iconic travel leaders was infectious.”
To encourage connection, tour operator nominees G Adventures and Tauck kept advisors up to date through presentations by local experts, virtual travel experiences and destination guides, while ALG Vacations created a centralized resource to provide guidance and clarification about ever-changing COVID-19 travel requirements. Likewise, the Globus Family of Brands launched campaigns to maintain its relationships with advisors, as well as agents’ relationships with clients.
“Throughout the pandemic, we wanted to give advisors reasons to stay connected to their clients,” said Cory McGillivray, channel marketing manager for Globus. “From our ‘Dreaming Doesn’t Stop’ campaign to our recently launched ‘Plan Your Comeback to Travel’ push, we’ve armed our advisor partners with resources to leverage these campaigns with their own clients. We have stayed available, accessible and transparent with advisors as we have worked through this pandemic, and we are committed to staying that way for the long, exciting comeback.”
The 2021 WAVE Awards ceremony will take place on Oct. 7, 2021, at The Ritz-Carlton, Marina Del Rey, in Marina Del Rey, Calif. Visit www.travelagewest.com/wave for more information, as well as to cast your vote.
The Details
TravelAge West WAVE Awards
