Update

The past two months have without question been a challenging time for all of us at home and at work.

I wanted to take this opportunity to get in touch with everyone to update you on things from my perspective.

Initially, back in March, when borders started to close, and things started to get serious my priority was to get all my clients who were abroad back home. This involved getting clients on the penultimate flight out of Cancun, one of the last out of South Africa and the last out of Adelaide. It was an extremely worrying time for my clients and myself. Fortunately, as I already work from home and because Travel Counsellors are already set up for home working we were able to navigate this testing time and even though I had to drive down to Heathrow myself to pick up my last stranded clients, everyone got home safe and sound.

The other huge consideration was for all my clients that we due to travel at the end of March and in April, which of course coincided with the school Easter holidays. As foreign office advice, countries entry requirements and visas were changing almost hourly I was regularly in contact with all those effected. At these times although I wasn’t always able to give an answer, or the answer people were wanting, but I was accessible and always at the end of the phone, message or email. This is something that the rest of the travel industry have certainly struggled with.

This has meant that disappointingly many trips and adventures have had to be postponed for now, and personally these are the worst calls and conversations to have. Although I have to say a huge thank you to all my clients for being so patient and understanding in these most difficult of times.

As policies, rules and regulations have been changing some companies have been playing fast and loose with the rules. It’s been a tough time to work through. I’ve seen airlines flying routes with empty planes, because if they cancelled the flight they would have to refund. Some operators have used creative wording to circumnavigate their own terms and conditions and others have completely changed the rules as we’ve gone along. This has caused even more confusion and frustration for many and I’ve even offered help and advise to people struggling to get answers even though they’ve not booked their trip through myself.

I’ve been working tirelessly to not only keep my clients informed but to do all I can to assist. Where possible I’ve moved final payment dates to help buy us time, I’ve been able to react quickly to help with re booking's and refunds and where possible I’ve tried to be as proactive and caring as possible.

This has meant I’ve been in constant contact with all my clients and it’s been interesting to see the questions of the moment changing. From little concern to ‘do you think we can still go’ to ‘its not looking great’ to ‘can you get me home’ and now it’s ‘when do you think things will change’ This is so difficult to predict. I do think that when lock down is relaxed there will be a push from many countries that rely on tourism to get things moving as soon as it’s safe. However, this process, and the logistics, could take time. Trade and travel will form a huge part of the international recovery so I’m confident it will be at the forefront of future decisions.

The positive news, and the green shoots, do seem to be appearing though. This week I booked two ‘new’ holidays. The first non-related Covid bookings in the past two months. Interestingly both were for front line nurses working in ICU Covid wings of their respective hospitals. I’m sure having something to look forward to played a big part in their decision to book. We have been sensible in selecting changeable airfares and hotel rates as a precaution.

Over the years I’ve worked in a travel industry that has overcome ash Clouds, terrorist attacks, Tsunamis, airline and operator failures as well as recessions and uncertain times. Nothing quite like this though, but we will get through it and when we do I’m convinced that we will all want to get away on our travel again. I already have a virtual waiting list of clients wanting to get away as soon as they can!

I will be here to help you through the process as I always have been. If ever a time highlighted the benefits of my service, it has been the last two months and I can’t wait to get back to doing what I do best. If you know of friends and family that have not been able to get the answers or advise they need from their travel provider, please pass my details on to them as I’d be happy to try and help.

I’d like to thank you all for your continued support and will leave you with some feedback I received from some clients recently caught up in the recent events.

“In the past, I have heard you say that the TC organisation is always available to assist if things go wrong on holiday and while I appreciated the sentiment, it was always taken with a pinch of salt. We are experience travellers and so I always felt that we would be able to sort out most issues faced while travelling outside of the UK. That changed on our recent holiday with the developing situation with Covid 19. Borders were being closed down and flight schedules radically altered as the virus took hold. It was a great relief to us that we had you and the TC organisation in our corner checking routes and managing the communication around options for getting home. The regular updates and communication helped us make informed decisions while still allowing us to enjoy our time away in difficult circumstances. I look forward to booking with you again when the current situation changes and hope that you and the family stay safe during this most testing of times.”

Stay safe and I look forward to speaking to you all soon.