Agent to Agent: Getting New Bookings During the Coronavirus Outbreak
Dear Tammy: How do I get new bookings during this coronavirus scare? What do I tell my clients and other travelers who are calling me and asking me questions about how safe it is to travel right now?
Tammy: Great question. As a travel agent, you always need to be prepared for anything that can happen, as it’s important for you to be there for your clients. You never know when something might happen that could get in the way of your bookings, so you always need to have a plan in place. The good news is that the authorities that are in charge of protecting our public health are doing everything they can right now to contain the spread of the virus, so hopefully it will all end soon.
As of right now, the chances of any travelers contracting the virus is low. In order for them to catch the virus, they need to have already been in one of the areas that are known to have the virus, or be in contact with someone who is showing any signs of the virus, i.e. fever, cough, severe breathing problems.
A senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and member of the Infectious Disease Society of America states that travelers who already have a flight or cruise planned to somewhere besides China, there’s really no need to cancel. You can share this info with your clients.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website even includes a map that shows the potential risks that come with traveling to any particular country, so you can visit this map to find out about any travel health notices that are currently in place.
When it comes to getting new bookings, you can let people know that this just may be one of the best times for them to book a vacation. Why? They can expect there to be fewer people traveling right now, which means fewer crowds. And there’ll soon be better deals for traveling, so booking at this time will probably save travelers some money. They can even make travel arrangements right now and then have the option to make small payments to pay for their trip.
And of course, make sure that you inform all of your clients the importance of getting travel insurance. Travel insurance is really something your clients should always be purchasing, as insurance can cover many different things that can go wrong when traveling, including medical problems.