As we approach the end of what has been a slow year for travel, it is fair to say that global travel agencies have a long way to go before returning to profitability. Before that can happen, travel needs to hit pre-pandemic highs and stay there for a significant time. However, with new covid variants emerging every few months, travel agencies have no say over when the world will fully reopen, and corporates and tourists will line up to buy travel products.
But this doesn’t mean travel agents are powerless in the situation. As you steer your travel agency into the unknown waiting for you in 2022, here are a few essentials to make the year into one that you’re proud of.
Automate, Automate, Automate
By investing in automation, you will be able to streamline processes, boost sales, bring down error and risk, and further make data-driven decisions throughout the year. It is also worth mentioning that you can save time with mass cancellations, changes, refunds, etc., which increases customer satisfaction drastically.
Travel agency software provides a major fillip to your back-end operations as well, as it helps manage business rules, revenue, accounting, and commissions, boosting efficiency greatly.
Apart from this, automation takes away the pain of preparing itineraries & quotes, looking up fares, setting up promotions & markups, tracking bookings, and configuring system-wide roles as well.
Deliver immersive and pain-free travel experiences
In 2022, make it a point to deliver travel experiences that delight your customers. Make it your mission to know what the client needs at each point in their journey and ensure you are the one to provide it. This involves going above and beyond as Malaysian Airlines did with its Hajj passengers. The airline worked on every aspect of the journey to make sure the religious pilgrims got everything they needed, including the right food, greetings, prayer equipment, and vehicle rentals to the holy sites.
As a travel agency, you can also delight customers with more offerings and add-ons, such as car rentals along with the standard flight and hotel bookings. Aside from this, you can offer travel insurance, which will build trust among travelers who are afraid of losing their luggage or getting sick.
Prioritize providing travelers a seamless booking experience, but don’t stop there. Give them a trip to remember by using AI-based recommendations based on their preferences. Also, invest in a platform that allows you to provide exceptional customer service through all possible channels.
If you have corporate clients, remember that they value personalization and would enjoy your services infinitely more if you provided them customized packages as per their budgets, duration of travel, interests, holiday type, etc.
Team up and scale your operations globally
2022 needs to be the year when you leave a mark on a global level. Team up with subagents by giving them a personalized user interface with private labeling or cobranding where they can sell to newer customers you weren’t able to reach.
Managing such a vast network has also become quite simple, with the emergence of subagency management platforms that allow your travel company to closely track subagency performance.
Another way to leverage the power of partnerships is by teaming up with different travel product suppliers, such as car rentals, transfer companies, sightseeing providers, travel insurance companies, etc., and adding value to the customer while also making extra revenue.
Partnering doesn’t have to be just with travel service providers. You can take full advantage of the resurgence of business travel and lock in corporate clients with personalized discounts.
Conclusion
The covid pandemic has reshaped travel, and as a result, travelers have come to expect hyper-personalization, a high degree of safety, and cost-effectiveness. You can ensure all of this and stand out from the competition by choosing the right travel agency solution.
The right solution will not just free you from manual, mindless tasks that don’t generate revenue, but it will also open new revenue streams and leave your customers wanting more. If you are interested in learning more, reach us at [email protected].
