G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip says travel agents must broaden their conversations with customers if they want them to be long-term clients.
Speaking ahead of the UK premiere of G Adventures-backed documentary film, The Last Tourist, on Wednesday (24 May), Bruce hailed the work of travel agents and called the UK market ‘amazing’.
But he warned of problems for agents who were happy to just sell customers holidays and not build a deeper relationship with them.
Bruce told Travel Gossip: “The biggest challenge for agents is creating a dialogue with customers where you’re not just selling them stuff.
“If you’re just selling people stuff that’s what a salesperson does. If you make customers’ lives easier and better, you become a partner with them, and they become a long-term client.
“You must find other ways of opening up that dialogue.”
He added travel agents had never played such an important role as they did now and highlighted how they ‘proved their worth’ during the pandemic.
“Travellers have more questions about safety and security,” he said. “It’s way more important they have a travel agent now.”
Bruce said G Adventures was ‘constantly’ finding ways of creating a dialogue with customers through its different marketing channels.
The UK market’s post-pandemic recovery was slower than G Adventures’ top two performing markets – the US and Canada, said Bruce (pictured).
“Last year we kind of benefited with the pent-up demand, but now we have to work for it because there is a cost-of-living crisis here,” he added.
“That pent-up demand traveller has now booked and travelled so we’re finding it harder now.”
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Speaking ahead of the UK premiere of G Adventures-backed documentary film, The Last Tourist, on Wednesday (24 May), Bruce hailed the work of travel agents and called the UK market ‘amazing’.
But he warned of problems for agents who were happy to just sell customers holidays and not build a deeper relationship with them.
Bruce told Travel Gossip: “The biggest challenge for agents is creating a dialogue with customers where you’re not just selling them stuff.
“If you’re just selling people stuff that’s what a salesperson does. If you make customers’ lives easier and better, you become a partner with them, and they become a long-term client.
“You must find other ways of opening up that dialogue.”
He added travel agents had never played such an important role as they did now and highlighted how they ‘proved their worth’ during the pandemic.
“Travellers have more questions about safety and security,” he said. “It’s way more important they have a travel agent now.”
Bruce said G Adventures was ‘constantly’ finding ways of creating a dialogue with customers through its different marketing channels.
The UK market’s post-pandemic recovery was slower than G Adventures’ top two performing markets – the US and Canada, said Bruce (pictured).
“Last year we kind of benefited with the pent-up demand, but now we have to work for it because there is a cost-of-living crisis here,” he added.
“That pent-up demand traveller has now booked and travelled so we’re finding it harder now.”
The post G Adventures boss tells agents to build a deeper relationship with clients appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
