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Jane Lee is Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Travel Planners International.
As I travel and meet hundreds of travel industry partners and advisors, it’s clear that we’re definitely a happy, excited, and grateful bunch of people. I’m amazed at what we’ve been able to accomplish with no less than Herculean efforts to get the world moving again.
Social media feeds are filled with confirmation that the world is moving again. The family is finally taking that cruise. Baby boomers are checking off their bucket list trips. Forecasts of demand for high-end travel have come true. A business conference is underway and filling up. Airports are bursting at the seams. The cruise line’s full fleet will return to the water, with sailing dates open until 2025. World cruises and long sea cruises are sold out in a few hours. My LinkedIn feed has dozens of “I’m proud to announce that I took a position at X travel company” posts. And the report that hotels can’t find or hire enough staff to keep bookings is a double-edged sword, but reflects high demand.
Is it taken? We’re back, baby!
It’s clear now that we’ve been holding our breath for two and a half years, unbeknownst to us. Before, with every piece of good news, there were “the other shoe dropped” moments that broke the momentum. Even now, I believe we are still afraid to breathe.
Who can blame us? After all, look at what we’ve been through.
Leaders: You have carried the weight of the future of our beloved industry for two and a half years. Knowing that you are responsible for the health and safety of those under your charge, you had no choice but to be a positive and supportive person. Tired and stressed advisors relied on their agency, host, or consortium leaders to provide guidance and support to help their clients get services, even though many leaders were unsure where the road was headed.
And it was an unspoken challenge that your family was “losing you” because you had no choice but to use every bit of your energy to serve others. Without missing a beat, you jump into action, use your gifts and talents to lead your team one step forward each day, leading with passion and commitment.
Deep appreciation and admiration for each of you — we couldn’t have done it without you!
• CounselorsI’m not sure anyone in your life can understand what it must feel like to navigate clients through a cycle of choice, frustration, and confusion.
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• Helen Coiro: Cruise lines should stay the course on Covid rules
• Frank Belzer: What Google Analytics Can’t Tell You
• Nicky Fitzgerald: Our business is about partnerships. Truly.
Those clients turn to you to fill in the blanks, to answer questions that are not fair and that no one knows the answers to. The endless wait times you’ve endured, if well-intentioned (and tired) call center agents can’t keep up with the rules and exceptions, the data is being released to contact you by relying on inadequate or ever-changing technology to support it. You do all this without paying and sometimes getting commissions back – your hard earned money is being taken out of your bank accounts.
You all are total rock stars!
• BDMs and national account managers: The travel industry is a relationship business, and you are hired based on your ability to build strong relationships face-to-face and employ methods to build the business with travel advisors. Your colleagues – your teammates – and call center representatives have no choice but to fill customer service and coverage gaps, solve problems and interpret rules that no one else can follow. By maintaining the relationships you’ve built over the years and serving your employers well, you become a miracle worker.
So many of you have done amazing — and are shining bright these days!
• T.M.CI can only imagine how it must feel to receive email after email, phone call after phone call extending the “no travel” period mandated by your client companies. Decades of work managing relationships, fine-tuning proposals to win the business, and then, quickly acting without your permission or expertise to make any difference.
See you and you’ll be back!
• Who will join us again.: We know it was hard to watch from the sidelines frustrated that there was nothing more to help you wait for the call to get you back in the game. Although we were often very envious that you spent at least a precious and wonderful month with your family on forced sabbatical, we certainly missed you. You shared your beautiful stories, realizing that those who work often lose time with their families.
Know all this, and when you come back, be kind, supportive and above all, thank you!
All I share is this: We have proven that when we come together, we can accomplish anything. We seem to be on the other side of this mess and stronger for it.
It’s okay guys. Now you can breathe.
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