The Fall and Rise of the Travel Agent

If you still can’t understand why travel agents are becoming increasingly popular in this do-it-yourself world, let me try and explain. In the past 72 hours, Lisa and I rescheduled numerous flights long before our clients arrived at the airport to find out they were cancelled due to Winter Storm Jonas. Thanks to our friends at Cox & Kings, we rushed an Indian visa to a client just in time for her flight. When a pipe broke at a high-end beachfront villa in the Turks & Caicos and our client received a measly fruit basket for his woes, we called the director of sales at the property and got his room comped. We upped a travel insurance policy to cover all costs when a client who booked a 5-week trip to Australia we designed suddenly blew out his knee. Lastly, we cancelled an upcoming trip to Colombia when a client read a story in The New York Times on how the Zika virus was not only causing birth defects, but was linked to the dreadful Guillain-Barre syndrome. 

We live in a world rocked with climate change, terrorism, a massive refugee crisis, and mosquito-borne illnesses. The question shouldn’t be why you need a travel agent, but why wouldn’t you need a travel agent who always has your back when you leave home in this volatile world? If you’re still not convinced, please read my story in the Boston University School of Hospitality Magazine. Then do yourself a favor and join ActiveTravels