12/28/2020
I'm posting from a fellow independent travel agent:
Travel & tourism account for 1 in 10 jobs worldwide. I am one of those 1 out of 10.
Many people surely think that my job working in the travel business is to travel for free (I wish!). In reality, 90% of my job is spent sitting at my desk designing itineraries for couples, families and clients from around the world. I spend hours, weeks, sometimes even months working on single trips, making sure every detail is thought out and planned. And I LOVE doing it.
The travel industry has been dealing with the coronavirus since January — an additional two full months before it really began impacting daily life here in the US.
Fun fact: travel agents only get paid after their clients actually travel.
Most agents have been refunding their hard-earned money back to their clients by the thousands. They’ve spent these last ten months working tirelessly to negotiate refunds, postponements, and cancellations. And most have had few or no new trips booked now for months. But we do it without question because we have wonderful, personal relationships with our clients - something that credit card companies & Expedia do not - and we know travel will come back stronger than ever once this is all over.
So when you do decide to travel again - PLEASE use a travel advisor. It doesn't matter who, or what company - we're all on the same team. But please use a live person. Do not click a “book” button on a website ever again.
We support our local small businesses —please support us!
