Every year, from June through the end of November, the Atlantic hurricane season reminds travellers why it’s always good to have a travel advisor in your corner.
Not that agents should need to prove their worth. But hurricane season and all of its unpredictability is often a wake-up call for consumers who are tempted to ‘go it alone’.
That was especially true in the wake of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.
The headline for this edition of ‘It Happened This Week’ is: Hurricane season has travel agents proving their value all over again
That’s actually the second part of the headline, after ‘Travel advisor, therapist, friend and miracle worker’. One agent used those words to describe her role after clients frantically contacted her ahead as Irma gained strength. “They were emailing and messaging me asking what they should do and what changes were being made to their plans.”
Irma formed first in early September, coming at the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands with a record-setting Category 5 strength. As Irma continued its destructive path, tour operators and airlines got passengers out of St. Maarten, Turks & Caicos, the D.R. and more, while cruise lines cancelled some sailings and rerouted others. The Florida Keys were also hit hard by Irma. Just two weeks later, Hurricane Maria had the industry and travellers scrambling all over again.
As always, travel advisors worked around the clock to rebook flights or get clients home. Flemming Friisdahl, founder and CEO of The Travel Agent Next Door, shared the story of a TTAND agent whose client had a destination wedding booked right in the path of Irma. “The agent was able to work with the suppliers, hoteliers and the destination wedding team and move it to another island and resort. There were close to 80 people in the group so this was no easy task. The customer was so grateful to the agent and was so happy she used a travel professional.”
Did the headline appear in Travelweek in 2011, 2013 or 2017?
Fill out the contest form below, with your guess and your email address. We’ll announce the answer and the winner next week, along with the next contest headline. Last week’s contest headline about ASTA-Canada ran in September 1975. Our winner for Week #29 is Geneviève Boisjoli with Voyages Aqua Terra in Montreal. Congratulations Geneviève!
Every Wednesday in Travelweek Daily, we’re posting an article from Travelweek’s archives, spanning the years 1973 – 2023. Guess the correct year the story ran, and you could win a $50 Amazon gift card. There’s a new headline and a new chance to win every single week.
