The biggest conference of independent travel agents in Canada is happening this week in Jamaica, and Flemming Friisdahl, Founder and President, The Travel Agent Next Door and his team couldn't be happier.
"We were pushed hard. Some people suggested we should do a virtual conference. And I'm probably a little more old school, but I still like people getting together. There's nothing better than knowing that there's people around you, that are like minded and care about you and want to see you succeed."
There are approximately 230 attendees this year, most of them agents. Key suppliers are also in attendance, offering one-on-one meetings and informative group sessions.
"From what I'm hearing from the team is that attendees are really, really pumped. They're excited to be out of country. They're excited about the opportunity to spend time with the other agents, which they haven't done. I've talked to people that have known each other for the last year and a half, two years and have never met."
This is the 6th year of the conference, which was postponed twice due to the pandemic. While the blueprint is the same - a series of engaging informative sessions mixed in with social mingling events - there's a different message this year: travel in a post-pandemic world.
"What I've gathered just from speaking with agents is that a lot of people want to travel. But what might be keeping on the cusp of booking, is that they're scared of COVID. What happens if they get it in destination? Does their insurance cover it? Those types of concerns."
It's getting feedback from agents that lead to the creation of "The Think Tank", a session that is designed as a feedback / brainstorming event led by the TTAND team and focusing on issues that relate to agents. It's such a popular session that it was extended by 20 minutes for this year.
Friisdahl says the "Think Tanks" create discussions that fall into several different buckets and leave agents pumped when they return home. But the key takeaway is putting those discussions into action.
"How do we apply the learning to actually help you to succeed in your business? That's what we're trying to do."
One of those key discussion points was whether to charge a service fee, and if so, how much? Agents may be reluctant to charge as the possibility of losing commission revenue and clients over an extra charge, is a concern. It's a subject that has come up many times during the pandemic, with mixed reactions from agents.
It's another area TTAND is helping, by offering a simple easy to use tool for agents to charge clients; three quick clicks and it's added to the client invoice.
"There will be speed bumps as we go forward selling travel. How do we move forward? Suppliers have security. But why should the agent who's done all that work for free up until that day, not be paid?"
TTAND also offers Premium Passport Protection, assurance that costs approximately $60 CDN and is the only company that can sell it. It's commissionable and Friisdahl says it's an important tool to help travellers feel comfortable to finalize the booking. It's all part of building consumer confidence to travel.
"It's why I believe the conference is so important. I think it's important that the Canadian industry sees we're traveling because it might encourage other agents. It's really getting to meet people you don't know. The reason to get our top performers to stand up and for you to meet them, is because you can learn from the people who are very good at what they do.
There's so much business out there. We're not trying to conquer the world. We're just trying to stay consistent for what we're doing."
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