Before booking your next holiday, you need to read this.
If anything, Covid-19 has shown us why you really should book your holiday through a Travel Agent. During this period Travel Agents have worked extremely hard, not with new enquiries but making cancellations and trying to secure refunds for their clients.
There was a time when everything was booked through a Travel Agent; flights, accommodation, car hire, lift passes, rental, excursions, and so on, but now, when we have the internet and bookings systems in the palm of our hand, what is the purpose of a Travel Agent? Your local Travel Agent is far from obsolete. In fact, with so much mystery and uncertainty behind the internet, your local Travel Agent could be the only one you can not only see, but trust too.
Specialised Travel Agents have first-hand knowledge of the destinations they are selling. They are constantly sent on Famils (Familiarisation) trips. These may sound glamorous, and anyone who has a Travel Agent friend on social media would have to agree, that these Famils on their business class flights with champagne in hand, high end hotels, cocktail parties etc, are enough to make the privileged envious, but in fact they are really hard work. From very early in the morning until late at night, it is hotel after hotel, room after room, restaurant after restaurant, experience after experience with the sole purpose to familiarise the Travel Agent with all the knowledge required about the area so that when a client comes in and says, “I want this, and this and in this location”, the Travel Agent has the immediate firsthand knowledge and is able to give the client exactly what they require.
Knowing the resorts, the Travel Agent can anticipate any problems a customer may encounter. With their experience, they for example can let customers know exactly how long it will take to transfer from one train platform to another and guide clients on seamless travel. A Travel Agent can suggest not staying in one property as there is noisy pub next door, or suggest which room to request as it has a better view. These are all aspects that booking engines such as booking .com cannot do.
So many times, we have read or heard people recommend, that when they are not familiar with the area, they will book up to 5 properties (that innocently) do not charge cancellation fees. The ‘customer’ then waits until they are in the resort then decides to go with the option that looks the best. The ramifications of this practice are horrendous. Why is this such a bad act? If one single person makes 5 bookings with the clear intent of just going through with one booking, 4 other people are possibly going to miss out, as this one person has ‘blocked out’ 4 other rooms, but then, when it comes down to the actual date, 4 property owners, get a ‘no-show’. They then have one empty room, which is too late to sell – due to a pretty selfish act.
Do you honestly know where your money goes when you booking through the likes of booking .com etc? A huge chunk of it doesn’t go to the hotel, nor does it stay here in Australia. We should all actively support Australian businesses rather than unnecessarily supporting offshore companies.
The staff at Deep Powder Snow Holidays live and breathe all things snow. Snow is our passion, as is Japan. We have all lived in ski resorts and have the knowledge and skills to be able to support you when planning your best snow holiday.
Next time you are planning a holiday, please don’t forget about your local travel agent. You can still support Australian businesses even when traveling overseas.
