Travel and Transport is embarking on a new era of journey management for its travel advisors and technology.
New products and services, along with our expert advisor teams, will focus on helping travelers and travel buyers navigate ever-changing rules and regulations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The tools help at three stages – planning, preparing and on-trip.
“Ultimately, we must help travelers gain confidence in traveling again. Our new framework helps our customers answer four fundamental questions. Firstly, can I travel? We need to offer the literal definition – the rules for the country or state they are visiting. Then second, may I travel – does the traveler have permission or need approval? Third, do I need to travel and fourth, if the answer is yes, how do I prepare?,” explained Kevin O’Malley, Chairman and CEO at Travel and Transport.
He added, “Buyers can answer these questions with help from our products and team in three stages, in what we are calling journey management. These are at the time of planning/booking, preparing for the trip, and when they are on-trip.”
Planning
Travel and Transport’s new Journey Prep tool allows travelers to search a country or state at the planning stage in Dash Portal, Travel and Transport’s all-in-one portal for travel managers, arrangers and travelers and Dash Mobile, Travel and Transport’s comprehensive mobile app. With Journey Prep, travelers get the most up-to-date information around specific restrictions and guidance, such as quarantine rules, which services are open and where masks are mandatory.
Advisors have been transformed to journey managers, with the same information made available to them through Travel and Transport’s Leap Advisor CRM. “Journey managers have next-level expertise, providing validated, useful information so travelers can make an informed decision about travel plans,” said Joel Bailey, Travel and Transport’s Senior Vice President – Customer Solutions. “By turning to advisors and tools, travel buyers can be confident that travelers have the correct information available to them and are not wasting time looking for answers online.”
“We have trained our advisors to have very different conversations with travelers now, especially as international and multi-destination trips pick up again,” continued Bailey. “They must make sure that multiple trips can go ahead taking quarantine and other measures into account.”
Reporting in Swift Data has been enhanced with better search functionality and map overlays, including recently announced LGBTQ+ content.
Preparing
Every traveler is sent a journey summary email when they make a reservation, and these emails have been significantly revamped to include information such as wellbeing advice and country risk ratings.
Additionally, travelers will receive a new Journey Brief webpage 48 hours ahead of each trip, with information including a packing list and comprehensive insight into what to expect in airports, planes, hotels, and car rental counters. The webpage features a table detailing airline hygiene practices including boarding protocols and which airport lounges are open. The John Hopkins dashboard of COVID-19 statistics is embedded into the page for travelers to see directly.
“What appears to be consistent in the current travel experience is inconsistency,” continued Bailey. “As a result, we’ve built our Journey Brief webpage to offer the best tips available for all travelers. Regardless of the airline or accommodation they are using, there are some basic steps that all travelers can take to keep themselves and those around them safe,” said Bailey.
On-Trip
If a traveler is denied boarding, Travel and Transport can hold risk or insurance company details in its Leap Advisor CRM, so travel advisors can reassure the traveler and provide them with a phone number.
“Our alert notifications i.e. Bolt Alerts (proactive disruption alerts), itinerary emails and pre-trip reporting in Swift Data, our comprehensive data tool, have all been enhanced to arm travel buyers and travelers with the intelligence and confidence to get traveling again. It’s complex and confusing, especially when people are traveling for the first time post-pandemic. So we need to offer that support across our solutions, all powered by our Command Center” said Bailey.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
