Travel agents are here to stay – Trafalgar

At the luncheon, at The Saxon Hotel, Tollman reiterated the value of travel agents in arranging holidays, in this day and age of convenient internet travel bookings – and the support that Trafalgar continues to give the trade.

Travel agents prove their worth through offering clients great service, expertise and in-depth knowledge, which cannot be replicated on websites. But travels agents bear the responsibility of giving their clientele the correct advice, and being seen to be taking care of them every step of the way.

“They come to you, because they believe you add value to the buy cycle,” Tollman said. “The importance of a travel agent now, is greater than ever … We are unequivocally behind the trade.”

A good example of the value of travel agents, he added, was during the recent Costa Concordia maritime disaster. He related the story of an American passenger who received short shrift from Italian authorities and the ship’s owners regarding her travel arrangements, but eventually managed to sort them out only after contacting her travel agent in Houston.

“The only people who could get anywhere, were those who had booked (their cruise) through a travel agent,” he said.

Tollman also explained Trafalgar’s new branding, including the new “red door” imagery inviting travellers to discover Insider Experiences on Trafalgar’s guided holidays.

Central to Trafalgar’s rebranding is its positioning as the world’s most knowledgeable tour operator, he said: “If we want someone to travel with us, we have got to know more about the destination than anyone else.”

Ana Fasulakis and Gavin Tollman

Trafalgar offers its guests this through initiatives such as Be My Guest, in which they enjoy an authentic meal in the home of local hosts, or through teaching them a little of the local language and sending them to local markets to source fresh produce, for use in a cooking lesson. Tollman said that Be My Guest had “fundamentally transformed our offering”.

In order to reach a wider audience and counter stereotypical perceptions that guided holidays were regimented and inflexible, Trafalgar in 2010 also launched At Leisure, in which guests are given more free time to explore destinations and have more flexible starts every day.

The results of this offering have been spectacular, he said, including that 89% of guests in 2011 were first-time buyers of a Trafalgar holiday.

“In the entire industry, this has been the single most impactful success,” Tollman declared.

In addition, Trafalgar’s Family Experiences – holidays geared specifically towards families – had proven very successful, providing children in particular with opportunities to learn about other places and cultures through fun and adventurous activities.

“What better way for a family holiday, than a guided holiday?” he asked.

Underlining the Be My Guest concept, family connection and the centrality of food to the Trafalgar offering, was the personal gift that each of the luncheon guests received: a copy of A Life in Food, the cookbook-cum-memoir penned by Tollman’s aunt, Beatrice Tollman, a doyenne of the hospitality and travel industry.