In response to the current crisis, TravelAge West has refocused our content to provide information that travel advisors can use to help them get through these tough times. (Visit www.travelagewest.com/industry-insight/coronavirus for examples of these stories.)
One of the recent articles that struck a chord with me, “No One Should Question the Value of Travel Advisors Ever Again,” highlights some of the extraordinary actions agents have taken in recent weeks to help their clients.
I’m fortunate to hear many such stories, and I’m always blown away by the hard work and dedication of the advisor community. I’ve never been prouder to share these stories with friends and family than I am today. I think the world is waking up to the value of advisors — something that will surely help the profession recover quickly once people start traveling again.
We know that there are no better judges of travel excellence than advisors, and so 15 years ago, we created the Western Agents Votes of Excellence (WAVE) Awards to give agents the chance to celebrate the suppliers that are most valuable to their day-to-day business. This year, we felt it was more important than ever for TravelAge West to keep up the tradition of the WAVE Awards. Even though we had to postpone the awards gala until September, we think it’s crucial to create an opportunity to bring advisors and suppliers together to celebrate our industry’s resilience.
In this issue, you can read about the tradition of the WAVE awards (page 14) and check out the ballot (page 18). And you can vote for your favorite suppliers by visiting www.travelagewest.com/wave/vote. This year, we’ll have two voting periods (April 1-30 and July 1-31) to give busy advisors more opportunities to cast their votes.
So please share your expertise and help us celebrate the best in the West. We can all use a reminder of the close partnerships that make this business so special.
