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Government agencies have been busy reporting since the Omicron variant of Covid-19 faded into the background earlier this year. very busy. Busy to the point where they turned down the business and are looking for someone else to take over.
Trade seems to have finally reached the level of consumer awareness that everyone predicted in the onslaught of the pandemic. Travelers understand the value of professional travel advisors and what they bring.
However, I do worry about people being turned down, either because the advisor is just too busy or because they don’t think it’s worth booking.
Will the traveler leave a bad taste in their mouth? Will they gravitate towards traveling on their own again? Will we lose the ability to move from smaller bookings to larger bookings as we age?
One solution to this problem is to build relationships with other advisors (experienced or new to the industry, especially if the latter are looking for business) and connect them with potential clients. Hopefully many people are applying this tactic now.
But what if you don’t know other advisors looking for work? Do you want to scale to
One company believes it has the answer.
Lucia founder Grace McBride entered the industry as a luxury advisor for New York-based MilesAhead. Realizing the industry-wide challenge of scaling to meet growing demand, she co-founded TripKit, a service and platform to help travel advisors. It was acquired by a private buyer last summer.
McBride then realized they needed to address another challenge and entered Lucia, a freelance marketplace where travel advisors can post the services they need. There are also “co-pilots” — vetted independent contractors, former agent assistants, and active workers. We are looking for additional income by working with our suppliers. Let’s get to work. This makes him similar to Fivrr and Upwork, says McBride.
“This is so many industry proven things. We’re just trying to bring that to travel,” she said.
Travel Advisors looking for additional help can pay Lucia a subscription fee ($29/month or $290/year) to post areas they need help with and what they are willing to pay for. Platform co-pilots can select tasks of interest, negotiate prices, and get to work. Lucia receives a commission, but most of the money goes to the co-pilot.
Advisors outsource different types of work. McBride expected most people to ask for help with pre- and post-booking tasks, but many are “incredibly creative” with their posts. However, I had to print and ship the itinerary. The co-pilot was in charge of the work. He was already out of the office for a few weeks and needed someone to handle client emergencies and answer phone calls.
McBride said he hopes Lucia will help agents grow their business, especially at a time when the demand for advisors is so high.
“I see eligible clients being turned down every day,” she said. “I think it will be a challenge for an industry that has been through a lot and is trying to maintain a strong reputation to come out of the pandemic. We’ve faced some pretty big challenges over the past few years, and I think sustaining demand is going to be very important for the industry.”
Lucia’s main focus right now is advisory, but McBride also sees potential in working with luxury boutique hotels and private aviation in the future.
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