There’s an old saying that when America sneezes, Canada catches a cold. And certainly in our industry a lot of events that take place south of the border have wide reaching impacts up here.
So it was interesting to virtually sit in on ASTA’s National Industry Forecast, held at Washington’s National Press Club in DC on 06OCT. Like its cousin ACTA, ASTA (the American Society of Travel Advisors) has a mandate to advocate for our industry, share knowledge and encourage professionalism.
To kick off the sessions, ASTA’s President and CEO Zane Kirby addressed the in-person and online audience, commenting on the many variables that affect us all: changing technology, weather, conflicts – and the perishability of our product. (After all, nothing is more perishable than the revenue from an empty hotel room). “Some days it feels like everything affects travel.”
But on the good news front, travel is surpassing pre-pandemic levels, with outbound travel from the US up 10% year over year.
The Industry Forecast featured two panels, one focusing on leisure travel, while the second honed in on TMCs (travel management companies – i.e. corporate travel).
Here are some key takeaways from the leisure panel:
- Many clients don’t understand the role of the travel advisor and think “we all are on the beach, working 1 hour a day”. It is up to us to educate them about the complexity of our work
- Service fees: It’s up to us to explain to clients how we work and are compensated. Older clients especially believe that time is more valuable than money and want the umbrella of security a travel advisor provides “just in case”
- A big concern: Where are clients getting their information from? They may feel very well informed not have the facts
- Suppliers soliciting direct business. They must be encouraged to recommend first that the client deal with an advisor, then offer the direct booking info
- AI: we can’t be afraid to use it, and it can be a huge asset - in combination with your own personality/brand. Not only can it save countless hours in, say, research or itinerary planning, but can be used with tremendous creativity, such as putting together podcasts that feature the client’s destination
The corporate travel panel also addressed concerns – and solutions. Again, some takeaways:
- The importance of working as a partner with the corporation, even sitting in on negotiations with suppliers
- It is up to the corporation to implement and mandate (not suggest) corporate travel policies. Not only does this mean that the traveller is using the supplier - airline, hotel, rental car firm etc. - that the company has an agreements with, but it means that every trip goes towards cumulative sales (and perhaps targets).
- And more importantly, when a traveller simply makes his/her own travel arrangements, the corporation will not know where they are in case of an emergency – a crucial element of “duty of care”
- Something that has not changed is the push-pull between traveller comfort and the corporation’s procurement department wanting to stretch dollars. Some accountants focus on the transaction fees, which may be 2% of the overall spend. Why not focus on the travel itself? Also, don’t ban all business and first class travel. You want your traveller to arrive rested and ready to hit the ground running (and presumably feeling positive about his/her employer).
- AI definitely coming into play to deal with routine emails e.g. sked changes. One panel member particularly endorses AI automation platform AMGiNE.
- Small-to-medium sized meetings are back, replacing zoom calls, the consensus being: “Nothing can replace face-to-face”
You can find out more about ASTA here.
