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INSURE EARLY- TO BE SURE: I suggest that travel advisors have their clients secure quality Travel insurance as soon as a deposit or full monies are paid. The Policy should be based on the known travel details and the client’s written Pre-Existing Medicals to allow assistance and liaison between the clients, the insurer and the booked travel suppliers.

This is crucial if a claim is being made and efficient help is needed rather than having an external 3^rd party try and work it all out–without knowing the intricacies of how best to assist and who to contact. Having a policy issued ASAP also affords protection per the insurer’s PDS conditions but also secures coverage based on the current client’s medical status and before any more external events, deleting areas you cannot travel into. Using wisdom in advance and considering precautions is essential, thereby not relying upon non-transparent, unusual, cheap or untested travel insurance coverage that floods the industry daily.

AIRLINES DEALING DIRECT! WHAT A CON JOB! Within the travel industry, many airlines are developing or have already developed their own NDC (New Distribution Capability), which is so fragmented, biased, and silly that it defies logic in the eyes of most experienced travel agents.

Any NDC system or direct marketing cannot deliver informed choices to consumers as it is constructed, aimed at and delivered by one entity- one Airline.

If somebody requires multiple airlines to be booked to match a travel itinerary, then going directly to any airline cannot deliver such diverse options to you. Their systems are not built to do so.

If a traveller wishes to stay with one Airline and use their inventory with some special offers (!!) whilst not comparing market options and not dealing with a human travel advisor, then they will get sucked in. Suppose a traveller wants to receive personalized attention to an itinerary, comparing it against relevant competing options. More quality choices and a balanced explanation of rules and benefits are needed in that case. I suggest travellers rely upon a professional travel advisor who also accepts legal responsibility in what they offer and secures them via an accredited ATIA travel agency!

GET READY FOR THE INVENTION OF NEW WORDS: once upon a time, there was a simple word called “taxes”.

Now, Governments are using semantics to lodge names onto new taxes/fees/levies/charges that keep confusing and upsetting our clients and travel industry colleagues!

Without expanding, glance through some of the current spate of fees-taxes-levies-charges worldwide!

How about city taxes, carbon-neutral fees, Airport security fees, Cruse tipping fees, Cabin baggage fees, Tourist taxes, CBD fees, ETIAS visa fees, ETA visa fees, Landing fees, city infrastructure fees, Passenger ticket taxes, Frequent Flyer tax, International departure tax, International Arrival Tax, the September 11^th Fee, Customs User fee, Security Fee, Animal and Plant Health Inspection fee, Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection fee, Air Passenger Duty fee, Valet parking Fee, Admin Fee, Offline fee, Online fee, Passenger Movement Fee, Conservation Tourism tax, Venice Daytripper fee, Overnight tourism tax, Waste management fee, regional Catalonia charge, Wales and Scotland Hotel Tax, Japan OverTourism Hotel fees, etc etc.

Such fees are supposed to go directly into the coffers of what they are listed as being levied against, but there is limited or no proof of this. Maybe most governments and councils have invested heavily in copying a thesaurus to name such charges. The one fee not levied yet is “A fee for charging a fee..” Maybe that is next…..

COVID MADE THIS HAPPEN! There has been a marked increase in travel advisors and industry supplier staff working from home and/or making physical office appointments without needing to stay within their agency office permanently. Professional travel advisors can set specific times with their known or referred bona fide clients. It reduces wasted time in many circumstances with travellers, especially those “tyre-kicker” travellers who wish to extract IP from travel advisors without making commitments. A higher chance now exists for travel advisors to dedicate their expertise and experience to clients that truly matter, which places other uncommitted travellers into a world that requires them to do their research and risk their data and bookings to the ether world of the internet. After the COVID-19 drama (which still exists!), this new level of consultancy has become an expanded consultation-level business model that many travel advisors and clients utilise.

TRAVEL INVESTMENTS HAVE CHANGED SO MUCH IN THE PAST FEW DECADES!

When I started in the late 1970s, most of our mature travellers and Mums and Dads would be frugal and travel within pre-set budgets, into mainly 4-star cruises and Hotels and Economy class flights, standard cruise cabins using Taxi transfers and not needing to pay for seating requests or other outstanding (!!) ancillary services.

These days the same demographic of traveler are using their well-earned Superannuation monies, their investments, their accumulated Salaries or cashing up their assets to travel by themselves -and enjoying a higher class of travel or they are paying for their children and/or grandchildren to travel with them or via their saved monies,.

I consider this to be the future of mature-aged travellers as we go forward as travel agents deal with this new breed of mature-aged travellers who are financing other generations. More extensive Business-class airline seating, larger Cruise cabins and more interconnecting Hotel and Resort rooms now match this new phase of travel requirements. Even Train cabins can be dedicated to family groups.

The 18- to 35-year-olds are investing in more Luxury travel spending, making quick travel decisions based on what they have been recommended, read, or are influenced heavily via social media channels and friends. Even though their initial travel bookings may be via Online bookings, those who have had past travel problems or those who accept the advice of parents or friends seem to be defaulting to their local travel advisor to save time, thereby reducing the risks associated with dealing with entities that they are unsure of, and at the same time “deconfusing the confusion” ™ © to negate the need to sift through the confusing travel optins.

SELF-WELLNESS and SELF-INDULGENCE and SELF INVESTMENTS are booking!

Many travellers are either earning more money, creating more “personal time”, utilizing RDOs, travelling via extended Holiday leaves or just using retirement or superannuation monies- to focus on themselves or their families.

I am noticing more travel investments into wellness or health resorts, booking deluxe resorts and hotels that offer privacy with accompanied foods or specific exercise or meditation classes. To satisfy these needs, they are also adding better variants of Airline comforts, airport lounges, cruise-inclusive options, and deluxe Train carriages.

The more mature traveller seems to want to extend their desires into securing private foodie tours, cooking tours with extra requirements to do language courses or escaping into oblivion into private retreats or distant Island holidays. This trend will continue as AI with Virtual Reality sessions becomes the new norm to excite and encourage travellers to see what they can get before they pay any money! As I write, the travel industry already encompasses this new level of AI and Virtual reality.