Dan McCarthy, above, is Editor-in-Chief of Travel Market Report. He says to the travel advisory community:
‘If you’re hurting right now, know that you are not alone. These are extraordinary circumstances that are impacting just about everyone who is participating in the global economy. Some events, caused by concerns over COVID-19, are truly once-in-a-lifetime happenings like cruise lines voluntarily stopping sailing for 30 days, or Disneyland choosing to close its doors for only the third time in history, or Delta grounding 300 of its aircraft. All of us in travel are with you in dropping our jaws to these events.
‘It is okay to feel the pain, there is plenty of it to go around, but it’s worth looking toward, and preparing for, the future at the same time.
‘We’re looking at what advisors have done—the long hours they’ve spent making sure clients get home and making sure vacation dollars get reimbursed—during the crisis. Who do you think got everybody home? It’s always the agents, the ones answering the phones, who get people home. They got them home after 9/11, they got people home during hurricanes, and they did as travel restrictions started piling up this month.
‘We hope those stories will reaffirm your value, help you improve for the future, and, even if you’re suffering, you’ll realize how valuable you are to the travel industry, just how much support you have, and that, as goes agents, so goes the travel industry.
‘We wanted you to know that, through this crisis, Travel Market Report is here to help. Whether that’s keeping you updates on supplier policies and schedule changes on our COVID-19 landing page, or preparing you for the upswing when things do come back online, we want all travel advisors to know that we are standing with you.
‘If there’s anything that advisors need to know or something you want answers for, our email inbox (editor@travelmarketreport.com) is open to all.’
