TORONTO — These are unprecedented times in the travel industry and many travel advisors are seeing the value of being a part of a supportive host agency, says TPI CEO Zeina Gedeon.

Not only are agents dealing with unheard-of volumes of cancellations and rebookings, they’re also deeply concerned about forward bookings and the future of their business.

Gedeon says she has a number of points travel agents should consider when choosing a host agency that’s right for them.

Advisor Support 

“TPI is known for Advisor support in the industry. We have the highest support staff to the Advisor ratio in the industry. TPI is providing their highest level of ongoing support to our Advisors with having an internal COVID-19 team during these unprecedented times.”

Gedeon says TPI has created a one-stop COVID-19 page, so TPI Advisors have all the latest information at their fingertips. TPI Advisors also have a long list of communication resources made available to them by their head office team to assist them during these challenging times. Daily town hall calls are hosted to answer Advisors’ questions regarding supplier policies, insurance and daily COVID-19 government updates. Advisors have access to up to date information on supplier policies on their learning management system along with communication client templates that have been uploaded on the TPI COVID-19 portal.

“Keeping open communication between TPI head office, our Advisors and our supplier partners are a vital part of TPI’s crisis management plan to help their Advisors to keep up to date with the changes as it continued to unfold,” says Gedeon.

Building Advisor Confidence 

A crisis is bound to bring some stress along with it, notes Gedeon. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Advisors are facing cancellations and numerous travel changes. “TPI continues to support its Advisors and instill confidence in how they are handling this ongoing situation. TPI is inviting motivational guest speakers on their daily town halls to talk about how Advisors can use this downtime to educate themselves to grow their business knowledge. TPI is also working with our supplier partners to continue to train and support our Advisors, so they are confident and ready for when the dust settles, and there’s a pent-up demand for travel.”

Stress Management

Says Gedeon: “Our Travel Advisors are proud and confident independent business owners. However, at times, the stress of this industry gets to be uncontrollable, and having a supportive team to lean on is invaluable. Joining a host agency is one of the best things you can do as an independent travel Advisor. At TPI, we have built a family-like community that helps our Advisors to thrive and provide a stress relief outlet.”

She adds: “We have a private Facebook group called ‘TPI Insider.’ TPI Insider was set up almost three years ago with the prime purpose of enhancing our community engagement from all our Advisors. It is the perfect platform where our Advisors can express their concerns and ask questions within a supportive community who understand each other and are sympathetic towards the situation while also providing them with answers to their questions.”

“We are a Family”

“At TPI, we are a family, and we support and help each other at every step of the way,” says Gedeon. “You are in business for yourself and not by yourself when you are a part of TPI. We are sure that together we will recover from these challenging times. We are working together to get through these unprecedented times, just like a family. Call us at 1-866-627-2122 or email us at info@tpi.ca.”