A June 11 town hall-style webinar with the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) brought together three of ASTA’s executive committee board members together in a candid discussion on the future of travel.
The panel, moderated by Zane Kerby, ASTA’s President and CEO, featured Dave Hershberger, president of Prestige Travel Leaders; Denise Jackson, president and CEO of Balboa Travel; and Marc Casto, president of leisure brands for the Americas at Flight Centre Travel Group.
Here are their top predictions for the future of travel, along with strategies for working smarter during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Corporate Travel May Be Slower to Return
Jackson — who primarily books corporate travel and works in the meetings and incentives space — said there are several challenges that prevent her clients from resuming travel confidently.
Would-be business travelers attending meetings are struggling with the lack of clarity from airlines on revised schedules and flight policies, she says. And if a flight is delayed or canceled, low-capacity aircraft or a reduced number of flights could lead to her clients missing their events entirely.
“It’s not just about the Centers for Disease Control saying ‘go,’” she said. “It’s also about when the airlines are going to have the capacity or the ability with the schedules to get them where they have to go. And corporations do not want to be liable for their employees to be on the road and contracting COVID-19. They want to ensure their employees are safe, they’re taking the proper measures, and the suppliers along the way are ready and able to get them across the country in the safest possible way.”
She also notes that all large, in-person meetings have remained canceled, so she’s pivoted her strategy to learn more about planning events online.
“We’re seeing more of a demand for virtual meetings,” she said. “We’ve had to re-create that area overall, and we’ve entered into new strategic partnerships with virtual technology [companies] to be able to go beyond Zoom or GoTo Meetings, toward more of an experience-based meeting environment for those customers.”
Interest in Weddings and Student Travel Spikes
The consensus among all three advisors is that the leisure space may be quicker to return.
More specifically, Casto noted that there are two particular market segments that have been “showing some livelihood” as destinations begin reopening in phases: the weddings market and the student travel groups sector.
“Apparently, being pent-up for the last couple months has been very good for the wedding industry,” he said. “We’ve had quite a number of bookings the last couple of weeks, in particular. And we’ve also been hitting some pretty critical transaction numbers just this week with student travel.”
Advisors Should “Be a Butterfly, Not a Bear”
Many travel advisors have been viewing the pandemic as a time for hibernation. However, Casto recommends that travel advisors act like a “butterfly, not a bear.”
“The natural inclination is to hunker down,” he said. “And that’s exactly the wrong approach. Rather than be the bear waiting for Spring to return, let’s be the butterfly. Let’s reform in our cocoon and emerge much better and more beautiful for it.”
The natural inclination is to hunker down, and that’s exactly the wrong approach. Rather than be the bear waiting for Spring to return, let’s be the butterfly. Let’s reform in our cocoon and emerge much better and more beautiful for it.
At his company, the internal operating structure of the agency has been revamped during this time, including changing invoicing software and updating training modules for agents.
“If you’re a mechanic, and you have a car in front of you, you want that car to be parked on the side of the road,” he said. “You don’t want to be changing the tire or the engine when it’s going 100 mph down the highway. The car is on the side of the road now, so let’s fix it.”
Jackson’s agency has created a virtual “COVID Desk” to keep customers informed about the coronavirus. And, after hiring advisors back with the funds from her Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, these employees have been kept busy with internal, cross-department trainings, certification courses and local community service opportunities.
“This is just another time to decide what we are going to look like at the end of this,” she said.
Domestic Demand Won’t Last in the Long-Term
The board members also agreed that the sudden surge in domestic travel requests they’re receiving isn’t likely to last as borders open and clients emerge from lockdown.
“Some of my favorite destinations in the U.S. are national parks,” Hershberger said. “And I do think in the short-term, domestic travel will far outpace international. But there’s nothing like seeing the Egyptian pyramids, or seeing the Louvre [in France.] There’s nothing like going to another culture, which changes you, and changes how you view the world.”
A need for exploration, Casto adds, is “as hard-wired in our DNA as the need for water and the need for sun.”
“If people wanted to travel just to see sights, they could save tens of thousands of dollars by going to Google and typing in ‘pyramids,’” he said. “You’ll see images of every single pyramid there is, taken at every angle. But that doesn’t satisfy anything. People need to see the world.”
The Details
American Society of Travel Advisors
www.asta.org
