5 Things Everyone should Know about Travel Advisors
I’m a millennial, I get it. I’ve spent more of my life with the internet at my fingertips than without it. I pride myself on being independent and resourceful and all about finding things out for myself. So, I can totally relate to the idea and assumption that using a travel agent to plan a trip is a practice of a bygone era and no longer relevant to this day and age. I am also a hospitality industry professional who has spent the last 17 years of my life meeting, working with, and depending on travel agents both professionally and personally. My unique insights on this topic will help you gain a fresh perspective and/or learn something new about travel advisors that can help with your next trip planning endeavors.
You don’t need to pay a travel advisor to have them work with you
While there are some ultra high end travel agencies that offer an annual membership to retain their services, the majority of advisors and agencies do not. Hotels work with travel advisors and pay them a commission when they make a booking. And if you’re thinking, “how can I trust that the travel advisor is recommending what’s best for me and not just the hotel that’s paying them.”, take it from someone who has worked at hotels and worked with travel advisors. They will book the hotels that they feel will make their client happiest because they think of travelers as long-term clients and will do their best to foster loyalty and trust. Likewise, the hotels are also motivated to deliver the best experience they can to ensure that the travel advisor continues to feel confident in recommending it to their clients. I call it the hospitality excellence cycle.
Travel Advisors have personally visited most of the destinations and hotels they recommend to clients
I know travel advisors who spend more time “on the road” than they do at home because it is of utmost importance that they see, touch, taste, and experience a destination and the hotels there before recommending it to their clients. Granted, travel advisors can’t go to every single hotel, however, the best advisors go to enough of them to be able to make strong recommendations. Additionally, hotels have sales teams who also spend a lot of time going to visit travel advisors. They will share all the details and information about their hotels and develop a relationship with the advisors that enables the advisors to confidently recommend a hotel.
“In 2023 I traveled to 11 countries, 39 cities and spent 134 days on the road. Meeting my partners and experiencing new destinations in the same way that a client would is imperative to both my success and the success of their travles as well.”
Travel Advisors pride themselves on being able to get perks, VIP status, and other goodies for their clients
A happy client is a loyal client and travel advisors know that everyone likes to feel taken care of, special, and like they made the best decision when choosing how they planned their vacation. With that in mind, travel advisors will do the work to get their clients the perks, VIP status and other surprises that can make a vacation feel that more special and luxurious. They can do this a few different ways, including becoming a part of a travel consortia that require hotels to provide special amenities for their guests or taking the time to develop genuine relationships with the hotel teams and working with them to identify the ways they can go above and beyond to impress a guest. This is the kind of effort that you will never be able to replicate with a simple online booking.
There are travel advisors for every generation, not just for your parents’ and grandparents
I promise that this is true! As a matter of fact, according to a 2023 article in Travel Agent Central, “the younger generation (millennials and gen z) is more preferential to traditional travel advisors”. A main reason for this is that travelers of this generation want to be sure that they are getting unique, authentic and not cookie-cutter experiences when they travel. They value insider information and the opportunity to be immersed in a transformational travel experience. While it isn’t impossible to achieve that on your own, it does require significant research and time spent navigating logistics and unvetted online information. The travel advisor has done that work…as a matter of fact, that’s their entire job! And while the average age of a travel advisor is still in the 50’s, there are significantly more advisors who fall within the millennial and gen z generation than before.
Booking a trip with a travel advisor doesn’t mean your vacation has to be expensive
Perhaps the main argument for choosing to book a vacation online or on your own is because there is an assumption that it will be cheaper than doing so with a travel advisor. If a hotel room is all you’re looking for, then perhaps booking online or directly with the hotel is the way to go. For those looking for a full travel experience complete with great tips and recommendations about which room category is best, where to eat and which activities are not to be missed, finding a great travel advisor can be so helpful. And travel advisors work within budgets! They do not have a one-size-fits-all approach to travel planning. The best advisors pride themselves on being able to craft the travel experience that is as perfectly tailored to their client as possible, and that includes working within a budget.
As a hospitality professional who has worked at and with hotels in off-the-beaten path destinations, I know firsthand the power and value of the travel advisor community. Did this post shed some new light on what travel advisors are all about? Did you learn something new or gain a fresh perspective?
If you’re a traveler wondering where to start when it comes to choosing a travel advisor, I’ve listed some of my favorite agencies below to get you started. Feel free to send me a message with any questions or for a personal recommendation based on where you’d like to travel.
Likewise, if you are on the hotel side and are not yet working with travel agencies and would like to find out if you should be and how to get started, I’d love to help! Feel free to send me a message.
10 Travel Agencies I’ve worked with and recommend
