Agent Diary: Do we do enough to show off the services we offer?

When ATC issues struck while I was in Corfu, I trumpeted the merits of booking with a travel agent, says Arundel Travel’s Helen Parry

My husband and I had a wonderful holiday recently in Corfu, one of our favourite Greek islands. We had a lovely time lounging around the pool – but sadly the atmosphere quickly changed when news of the air traffic control disruption filtered through.

From chatting to people around the hotel, it became apparent that lots of holidaymakers had booked and packaged their own holiday, and it was sad to see the last few hours of their trips being spoiled as they tried to arrange alternative flights home. My daughter Holly and her boyfriend were lucky, however.

It was sad to see the last few hours of their trips being spoiled as they tried to arrange alternative flights home

While they were caught up in the disruption coming out to meet us, they had booked a package through Jet2holidays, which meant they were looked after and informed every step of the way.

Do we do enough?

It came to light that many of our fellow sunseekers hadn’t thought to pop into a travel agent to book their holiday for various reasons.

They didn’t think agents could book holidays with different durations, party sizes or airports and thought it would be easier to do it themselves. It still surprises me that consumers think a travel agency can only arrange a certain type of holiday.

These discussions got the little cogs in my head turning and led me to question whether we do enough to show off the services we offer and the reasons to book a package. I am normally very wary of revealing that I am a travel agent when on holiday, but on this occasion I shouted it from the rooftops (not literally) and flew the flag high! I saw it as an opportunity to underline the benefits of booking a package and encourage people to use their local high street agency next time. Let’s hope they do.

I am normally very wary of revealing that I am a travel agent when on holiday, but on this occasion I shouted it from the rooftops

During the period of ATC chaos, it was sad to see some of the negative comments being thrown around about certain operators.

Don’t get me wrong, it can be frustrating for agents and customers when we’re waiting for updates to come through from operators and official sources. But it’s important to remember that airlines and operators don’t have a crystal ball that allows them to manage every extraordinary situation perfectly. I think we need to be realistic and give them time to get their resources together and roll out a plan.

Let’s stand together

As an industry I think we need to stop the blame culture and stand together as one. It’s a bit of an oxymoron telling customers one minute to book with us and a bonded tour operator for protection, before unpicking that good work when the chips are down by passing the blame. To me, this looks bad on both sides of the coin.

Being an Abta member is great, and I’ll be using more of the marketing resources they provide to make sure my customers continue to be aware that we are one

When we first opened the agency, we signed up for Abta’s destination operational bulletins and they have been an absolute godsend, especially over the past few months with the Greek wildfires and ATC disruption. I’d encourage those who aren’t signed up to do so as they provide real-time updates.

Being an Abta member is great, and I’ll be using more of the marketing resources they provide to make sure my customers continue to be aware that we are one, ensuring they know they can book with confidence.

Greece hosts the generation game

The holiday to Corfu was to celebrate my husband turning 60 earlier this year. Throughout the three-week trip, over 40 of our closest friends and family joined us at various stages for a full multigenerational holiday. It was incredible and worth the organisation! And we were clearly not the only ones who had arranged such a holiday, as the pool was surrounded by grandparents playing with their grandchildren, and mums and daughters sharing quiet time with their books while lads and dads played ‘friendly’ water polo matches in the water!

I must give a shout-out to the Katia Studios & Apartments in Kassiopi, particularly to owners Alex and Joanna, who were the ultimate hosts; for them, nothing was too much trouble for our gang and the other guests.