With an increasing number of newbies joining the ranks of travel advisors in Canada, it’s critical that the wisdom and experience of veteran agents be passed on to ensure their success and the continued success of the industry, says ACTA. With this in mind, at its recent Summit event in Toronto the association enlisted a panel of prominent travel sellers and career coaches to share some “actionable insights and proven strategies to help make their journeys a success.”

The panel discussion, ‘Strategies for Thriving Travel Advisors,’ included Judith Coates, Wired for Travel (TTAND); Naomi Rogers, Caledon Travel (Trevello); Joanne Patterson, Direct Travel; and Lynda Tomilin, Envoyage; and was moderated by ACTA chair Monica Johnstone (president of Uniglobe Travel Innovations).

Here are some of their insights, motivations, and best practices to help new travel advisors, and even maybe as a reminder to those who aren’t:

Judith Coates – Wired for Travel, The Travel Agent Next Door

• Think outside the box and of new ways to do things.
• Never say no to client; say ‘yes, if…’ There’s always a way, a new thing you can try.
• Never give up, be resilient and get back up when you fall down – because we fall down a lot; when there’s industry changes, the sun is still going to come up tomorrow and we’ll forget about it all in a couple of months and it will all be great.
• Be adaptable and roll with the punches: This industry is like riding on a stand-up paddleboard, and as you do it, you get used to it.
• What I do find my ideal client is have a conversation with them and about them; and I thinks it’s important to not give them any information in that meeting. Just listen to them and ask the right questions.
• Social media keeps me top of mind… I encourage you to join a group, or better yet, create your own group. One of my associates created a group called ‘Family Travel Tips’ two years ago – today, it has over 8,000 members, all young families who are looking for advice on where to go, where to stay, what to avoid, etc. That’s where she gets all her business.
• Save time by making sure to ask clients the right questions, especially if it’s a new client. Ask them if they’ve already checked with another travel agency or what they’ve found online and that will help learn what they’ve been doing and you can weed out the tire-kickers.

Naomi Rogers – Caledon Travel, Trevello

• My ideal client is someone who really wants to work with a travel professional and really values my advice. I never feel threatened by people by the Internet or who want to do it themselves.
• If I get the sense that someone is just tire-kicking or looking for the lowest price, I’ll just direct them back to my website and ask them to read my referrals – so when people come to me, I know they really want to work with me.
• There (can be) a long gap between the booking and the travel and I realized I was missing an opportunity there, so I put in place a system where I reach out to them to regularly and it’s allowed me to upsell, maybe suggest and book a tour. It’s better service and a chance to increase revenue.
• It’s really important to have a business plan and a marketing plan. You can be really good at something, but the world needs to know that. If you’re not good at marketing yourself, find someone who is.

Joanne Patterson – Direct Travel

• The bottom line is to make money so (I charge) professional fees for each and every product. But you also have to show them the value – it’s not something that you just charge. I have a spreadsheet that not only shows the fees, but also what value I bring to each and every booking.
• It goes without saying that travel insurance is more important than anything else right now; I make sure I quote whether they ask for it or not. And I always encourage the client to take post departure insurance… it’s so economical.
• I do customized vacations and a lot of the online sites provide me with net fares, so I control the commission. And what I do with the deposit is, I have the deposit of the supplier and I put my commission right at the front so that if that vacation has to be cancelled for some unforeseen reason, I’m still getting the value for the money.
• Of course, work with preferred suppliers where you get the higher commissions also for support.
• In the booking process, use all the online partner portals, it’s just easier that way. I rarely pick up the phone to make a booking.
• I really enjoy the itinerary platforms that are out there, there are so many of them. It’s an app that a client download, but I can upload the airline and make it all personalized. It provides a professional look and availability.
• I’ve started using AI, I think we have to embrace it because it’s out there.
• The travel industry isn’t always as lucrative as we want, so you’ve got to have the passion, and the adventure and want to travel.
• It’s a vast world, start small and focus on certain destinations.
• Really know the community you live in to know the clients; engage in rotary clubs or local businesses to home in and find out what your community is about.

Lynda Tomilin – Envoyage

• I don’t specialize, I think every single client is special. Make memories, don’t be money-driven
• Upsell, upsell, upsell – that ‘s the most important thing to do, right from the start of the trip. Sell them a pre-hotel; get them the park & stay rate; insurance is a big one; upsell the hotel room, class of service on the airline – boost them up for only $200 extra, we can get you into club class seats or business class where you’re going to be treated special. Just minimal things like that and you’ll be surprised how much you can upsell.
• I get a lot done at night – it’s quieter for me with no distractions.
• Get travel educated – attend as many in-house events in your area as you can; do online training; get on FAMs – the actual learning FAM trips; get to know your BDM; and piggyback with an experienced agent to learn from them.

FIVE FINAL TIPS

• Be a sponge, soak up everything (at industry events).
• Be curious, don’t just drop card in a box a trade show to win prize, talk to somebody.
• Be humble, we all make mistakes.
• Learn from people who are smarter than you.
• Be human – you can use AI or ChatGBT, but it will never take the place of your humanity, it will never put emotion into your quotes, it will bring passion. That’s what you bring to the table, that’s our strong suite, because we’re doing this because we’re passionate about travel and helping people achieve their travel dreams. It’s sets us apart from the order-takers.

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