It’s been a year like no other. At Nomadic Travel we have weathered all kinds of geopolitical crises in our 20 year history – wars, terrorism, SARS and even volcanic ash clouds – but nothing compared to what this pandemic has thrown at us.
However, despite the agony of seeing our clients’ carefully planned and longingly anticipated summer trips tumbling like ten pins from March onwards as the full chilling blast of Covid was felt, we have – as eternally optimistic as ever – taken some huge positives from the whole experience.
The first major plus that came out of the chaos was that the sheer scale of this unparalleled event tested our systems to the absolute limit and we were delighted to find that we passed this brutal examination with flying colours. Not one of our clients has been left a penny out of pocket by the devastation wreaked by the wholesale cancellation of their trips and our long-held relationships with our carefully chosen suppliers have proven extremely robust as they have been exemplary in giving refunds where required.
The next major positive is that so many of our travel-obsessed clients are determined to travel at the next possible opportunity and accordingly we have been able to re-book around 70% of our affected 2020 programme of trips to alternative dates in 2021 with a minimum of fuss. Again, the flexibility of our trade partners in working around the clock with us to unpick and re-stitch travel plans was key to this and we salute them for their versatility and tenacity in such trying circumstances. Knowing our individual contacts so well within these outstanding companies was crucial in our ability to act with such swiftness on our customers’ behalf.
Next we quickly came to realise just how much our role as travel planners (make that re-planners!) is valued by our loyal tribe of travelling clients and we were kept going when under severe pressure by the innumerable encouraging comments we received. We even had customers who had no trips currently booked getting in touch to say they were thinking of us which was incredibly heart-warming. Again, thank you all!
Finally, over the past six months of turbulence we have seen increasingly in the media, reports regarding how consumers are reappraising the value of booking with a travel agent due to the problems Covid has caused for those who faced the cancellation of self-booked and thus often financially unprotected holidays. Those travellers who had booked with a trusted agent have commented by contrast how much comfort they have taken from having a friendly travel consultant to speak with who was completely familiar with their travel arrangements and was on hand within a few rings of the telephone to take responsibility for sorting out the disruption to their travel plans. Consequently, we’re aware that as international travel rebounds, agents like ourselves will be in much greater demand as the travelling public increasingly seek the guidance of experienced travel professionals and the reassurance that their money is fully protected.
Looking to the future, the road ahead remains rocky and there’ll undoubtedly be more twists and turns to come. We know that many of our clients are reluctant to travel until the way is clearer whilst others are keen to continue to do what they can when they can within the boundaries of the UK Foreign Office advice. Either way, we are here to assist you and answer all your Covid-related questions. As you know, we are always ready to start a travel conversation. It’s what we love to do and we know, from all the exchanges we have had this year with our amazingly resilient clients, that you do too.
Keep smiling,
The Nomads
