DENNIS Bunnik is Chair of the Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO).
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We’ve always known the travel industry was complex with many moving parts but none of us was prepared to have to unwind it on a global scale.
For the past few months that is exactly all we have been doing as an industry — working with clients — many of them scared, frustrated and then angry at not being able to get the answers they wanted quickly enough on what happened to their bookings.
As an industry I think we didn’t help ourselves. The lack of a cohesive multi-sector industry wide consumer PR strategy and the fact we were all caught in the middle of the crisis meant we didn’t always speak in one voice. At times this added to the confusion with travellers on what they should expect.
We need to reset the conversation and remind the public that we’re actually on their side. We need them to know we need their support because they will need us to be here when the borders reopen. Without a strong travel industry, our wings will be clipped permanently and no-one wants that to happen.
Most Australians are very reasonable people and once things are explained clearly they understand.
To try and help reset the conversation the Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO) has created a video that aims to make sense of the complexity. To make things simple and easy to understand.
The video tackles the question of why travel credits are being offered over refunds and why refunds are taking so long to be processed.
It explains what happens when you book through your local travel agent — where the money goes and how unravelling the 6.5 million holidays Australians had booked this year is so complex.
We then explain why refunds are taking so long. Just as your car works far better going forward than backwards the travel industry systems were never designed to operate in reverse in these volumes. Where refunds are due, they will happen. It will just take some time.
It’s a simple message but we hope it gets through. We hope that it takes the pressure off travel consultants and agency managers. We hope it takes the pressure off staff working for tour operators and wholesalers. And above all, we hope that is helps create understanding and reduces the stress for both consumers and the frontline travel staff.
Since its release last week our video has received around 30,000 views across social media. The most pleasing is the number of travel agents around the country that have shared it with their clients. Let’s keep this momentum going. Let’s take back control of the conversation. And let’s show our true value and that we are all on the same side.
The CATO video can be viewed at traveldaily.com.au/videos and also on Facebook by CLICKING HERE.
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Source: traveldaily