And now that England have been kicked out of the Euros with their tails behind their legs, there is little else to distract us from the post-Brexit fall-out. The pound has slumped, and the political establishment seems to be more concerned with chasing leadership contests than governing the country. But just maybe some people are getting tired of reading and hearing about this new post-Brexit world. And just maybe some of these people are going to think about other things, such as holidays. And just perhaps they might come into your agency.
Well then so far, so good; at least they have come through your door rather than just going online and doing their own thing. So how to capitalise on the fact they are sitting in front of you? As often happens in tumultuous times, the expertise of travel agents becomes more important than ever, and the knowledge that you can offer your customers will keep them returning to the high street, rather than trying to do it themselves online.
The most important matter concerning the consumer this year is security. Terrorist attacks are becoming increasingly common and whether or not customers are at risk in a particular destination is uppermost in most people’s minds when choosing a holiday. Highlighting that a tour operator has a duty of care, meaning they would sort out any issues that occur, may be obvious to you as a travel agent, but may not be immediately obvious to many would-be travellers.
The other key concern of course, is Brexit. Many clients are going to be worried about the cost of holidays over the post-Brexit summer period. But point out that most operators forward buy to cover their currency needs for at least six months ahead, meaning that prices should be unaffected for summer bookings. Furthermore, if a client wants to book a tailor-made tour, then the tour operator will forward buy currency at the time of taking the booking, meaning firstly that the operator is unlikely to be taking any financial risks which could damage their business, and secondly there is little likelihood of the operator surcharging. Certainly this applies to Aito operators, and is a reassurance that the client’s budget will not get out of control.
Much of the western Med, Spain and Portugal is now nearing capacity, and the client sitting in front of you might well be nervous about going anywhere else. Time then to suggest old favourites, some of which may have received bad press this year. Greece is back on the map – and despite what the newspapers would have you believe, is not full of migrants arriving from Turkey. Egypt is still open for business and the Red Sea Riviera has been trouble-free this summer. And while Istanbul has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons, the south coast of Turkey has not had any recent problems. If your customers are still dubious, remind them again of the safety benefits of travelling with a tour operator.
The biggest benefit of course though is that while they’re away – they can forget about Brexit.
Derek Moore is chairman of Aito