The COVID-19 pandemic will mean fewer agents in the business, but those who remain will be more valued and better compensated, says Mike Foster, the president of Nexion Travel Group Canada.

Nexion officials were on a Zoom Chat with the media on Tuesday in advance of this week’s CoNexion conference, which will bring some agents and dozens of suppliers together or a virtual show.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Nexion Travel, which has some 5,000 members in Canada and the United States.

“Our history has really been to help advisers adapt and become more profitable,” said Jackie Friedman, Nexion Travel Group President. “Unlike other agencies we don’t sell travel. We don’t have any direct consumers. Everything we do is to help our advisers be the best they can be.”

Nexion has been providing agents on both sides of the border with valuable advice on seeking government assistance and has created a COVID-19 information hub on their website. They’ve also created a Virtual Escapes publication and do weekly chats with advisers to keep folks in touch with one another.

Foster is a member of the boards of both ACTA and TICO.

“We’ve been very active in seeking support for advisers” on such things as CERB and employment insurance, he said.

Despite the difficulties in the industry, Foster said he’s seeing more and more people becoming travel agents.

“It’s a great opportunity for people who are new to the industry” and a great time for existing agents to re-examine their core business.

“It’s hard to fix the plane when it’s flying,” he said. With travel down significantly, advisers now have time to look at their niche and the future of that niche, as well as looking at their websites and other aspects of their business.

“The adviser will never be more valued than when we come out of this,” Foster said. “I think the advice of a human being after the experience of dealing directly with suppliers or with an online agency has shown the value of ... an agent.

“Secondly, I think we will be getter compensated than ever before. I think advisers are going to take more control over fees in the future and change they way they do business, whether it’s cancellation penalties, whether it’s fees. There’s a potential for changes in commission, too."

He also expects fewer agents down the road.

“There are people of my age who are thinking of retiring sooner rather than later, there’s people who may just give up on the industry. But I think there will be fewer advisers, they will be more valued than ever, and they will be better compensated.”

Foster said Canadians are definitely interested in travelling again. But there is some reluctance, and the mandatory quarantine requirement for returning Canadians hasn’t helped.

“As we’re seeing with places like Hawaii, we have people not wanting to cancel,” said Robbi Jumaa Hamida, Senior VP of Nexion Travel Group. “They just keep rebooking and rebooking until the time they’re able to go.”

Hamida said more than 1,200 advisers have already signed up for this week’s CoNexion event and that next September’s scheduled Nexion NCL cruise from NYC to Bermuda sold out in less than three days.

Friedman said she thinks it will be “several years before we get back to 2019 travel levels” but that “there really is pent-up demand.”

Family travel, with some folks heading out in “travelpods,” are big right now, she said. There also has been a good deal of domestic travel and that trips to Caribbean and Mexico are building.

She also expects the cruise industry to be operating at around 40% capacity next year.

“Avid cruisers, they cannot wait. They’re booking and re-booking.”

The CoNexion event runs from Thursday, Oct. 1 to Saturday the 3rd. There will be seminars for agents on how to use social media to their advantage, how to grow their agencies, and other subjects. Advisors also can meet with dozens of suppliers and take part in fund events with mixologists, deejays, Italian chefs and much more.

To register and access, visit www.CoNexionAtHome.com . You can see all the conference information at https://nexion.com/conexion-2020/.