It’s an often repeated phrase – “in a post COVID world” – but in the travel industry it’s a good barometer of its status. That barometer is different to different members of the industry; and for The Travel Agent Next Door, it meant keeping staff employed during the pandemic and reporting a whopping 66% increase in sales over 2019 and paying close to $3 million in commissions last year.

While it’s exciting to see the rebound back to or above 2019 levels, there are still many agents who are figuring out their next steps and how they can get out of their comfort zone to bring in new clients.

Hence the theme of this year’s TTAND conference, "Breaking Barriers Together,” which aimed to inspire and educate agents all week with learnings, meetings and relationship building. There were supplier sessions as well as guests speakers including author and business coach Geraldine Ree, and corporate trainer Gary Gzik, CEO of BizXcel.

TravelPulse Canada spoke with Flemming Friisdahl at the Majestic Elegance Costa Mujeres, where just shy of 250 agents and 64 suppliers gathered for a week. He says the perception of home-based agents is changing, though not every agent is back to where they were pre-pandemic. A question he often asks his agents is “what are you doing to find new clients?”

“I think that consumers are looking at home based agents in a different way, they're much more used to them now because we were all working with people from home the past two years," says Friisdahl. "It’s not like in the old days with storefronts where you’d go in and sit down with the agent for an hour. Travellers can now get their agent 24/7, not just 9-5 Monday to Friday. I believe strongly that the existing traditional storefronts will change.”

Friisdahl says home-based agents are also more agile; they're able to keep their costs more in line. They're more able to maneuver through times where big companies had big overheads. There are also a lot of agents who retired or left the industry. Those factors can be a big asset to home-based agents and something they should use to catapult their sales.

“I believe strongly that some agents are not aggressive enough, it’s important for them to get out of their comfort zone and be uncomfortable. So many people stick to doing what they’re comfortable with, because they’re afraid to make a mistake and screw it up. That’s the mistake – doing what you’ve always done just because you’re scared to do something different.”

He speaks from experience, as he told the crowd about the company’s issues with a new technology system that was implemented.

“We don’t get it right all of the time, but I’d rather have gotten it wrong doing something new.”

Friisdahl agrees brand trust is key, and that trust now extends to personal agents, where it once was was tied to brand name retail travel outlets. It’s something he says is important for agents to do, to establish their brand and credibility and use that to bring in new clients. A key component of that credibility is the proper training and regulation of a home-based agent, which is why TTAND agents go through an intense two-year training. TTAND also offers a 1:10 ratio of staff to agents, a rarity in home-based agencies.

“There are other agencies out there with agents who that don’t have the training we do,” he says. “They’ll send a client to a family resort for a honeymoon. They’re not as educated, they don’t know travel as well as we do.”

That in itself might be the differentiator between using a travel agent and new AI such as ChatGTP to plan trips.

“I think AI is going to be the future. I mean, none of us will stop it. Do I think that they will take away from the travel agent long term? No. Using the Vatican for example, what AI does is tell you how to get there. Does it tell you that you can get to the front of the line with Globus? No. It's not going to tell you that the rivers in Europe, the Rhine might be low at these two months out of the year.

I also believe that it'll give them the people who will only use that would only have booked a trip on their own or OTA.”

For now, Friisdahl says the bubble of post COVID isn’t gone yet. He says bookings are up and clients are spending more – one agent did more than $200K in commission last year, and another just sold a $86,000 cruise.

“If someone would’ve told you, you weren't going to travel for three years, or two years back then, nobody would have believed it. I believe strongly that the big thing that we've seen is the average transaction is higher because people are wanting to do well. They don't necessarily just want to go sit in the beach for a week. They might want that from maybe one vacation, but they also want to go to the Arctic.

“Clients want to be more intimate; they want to have more diversity, they'd rather spend a bit more money on it and get what they want.

Our conference is a good opportunity to get a pulse on where things are in the industry,”