Sam Clark: 'Is this the end, or a new beginning?'

14 Sep 2021by Sam Clark

We know how hard it’s been to be in the travel trade this past 18 months or so. Quite apart from the reality of the pandemic, the UK government has implemented confusing and often contradictory policies that are constantly changing.

Sam Clark

Chief Executive

Sam Clark

Chief Executive

Clark said businesses like ETG owed it to colleagues in places like Sri Lanka (pictured) to keep going

It was recently laid bare in The Times by [chief travel writer] Chris Haslam, and it didn’t make for pleasant reading for those of us in travel.

That said, I believe we need to move on. We must look to the future, as a business and as individuals. We owe it to ourselves, our friends, and colleagues throughout Asia and the rest of the world, who are struggling much more than us without any income.

We also owe it to you, our staunch supporters, friends and industry partners.

As a sector, we’ve been dancing around about what our mutual clients can and can’t do for a long time – what we at ETG could do was organise Maldives holidays, very briefly, last winter. Like most companies, we’ve done our best to engage and entertain during that time while conserving cash and resources ready to come back as strong as ever.

Now, though, furlough is coming to an end, and there will be no sector-specific support for the travel sector. We need to repay the enormous faith shown by so many people in the specialist travel sector – customers who have postponed bookings for over a year, agents who have supported them in doing so, and employees who have stuck the course on or off furlough.

We need to repay our trade bodies, partner companies and the travel press, who have fought our corner with the government. There wouldn’t be a specialist sector left without you.

We know only one thing for certain about the UK traffic light system, and that is that sooner or later, the government will lift the restrictions and bring us in line with the EU and countries like Canada. We will travel freely again, though perhaps with testing and rules stretching for some time into the future.

We cannot control what the government does, nor be bound to wait on them, so the time has come to start doing what we do once more. We need to make it possible for the public to book and organise and plan holidays once more. It’s only through this that we can rebuild confidence in the travel market.

As an industry, we need to work together to help inspire people to travel again. We need to help cut through the confusion, provide as much clarity as possible as to what is possible and when and back it up, of course, with flexibility around refunds and booking conditions.

So here is my five-point plan for recovery and cooperation between specialist tour operators and the travel trade, particularly agents.

Offer inspirational travel content. One benefit of the pandemic is that many clients are now au fait with Zoom and other platforms. Let’s take advantage of this by bringing agents’ customers together with tour operators’ to deliver travel inspiration into their front rooms. Consumers might not be quite ready to book a holiday, but small, intimate and inspirational webinars are a great first step.
Provide clarity with simple and clear advice. The travel market is confused right now. The average customer has no idea where they can travel in the immediate future, nor even what they can book now for the future that is likely to go ahead. It is up to us to provide clear and simple advice.
Supply customers with simple and clear instructions for travelling. Testing, forms and rules appear far more arduous, scary and complicated than in reality (for the most part). It is our job right now to help clients navigate this with information on testing rules, in-country regulations and so on. We need to supply step by set instructions and even personal support where required.
Give flexibility with booking conditions and terms. With such little confidence among the travelling public, we need to be doing our level best to offer as much flexibility as possible around deposits, changing dates, booking conditions and cancellations. It’s almost like clients have forgotten how to book holidays; let’s help them with stabilisers to get "back on their bikes".
Ask questions of customers. The trade needs to know what people are thinking. DMCs, hotels and tourism boards need to prepare for the arrival again of tourists, in most cases, after a very long time. Each country has had a very different experience of the pandemic. Agents are closest to their customers and can get the best view of what they are feeling – what their challenges are, what questions they have, and so on. I’d encourage agents to call them and ask as they come back from furlough. See how they are and reconnect at the same time – you might even prompt a booking conversation.

September always feels like a new beginning, and last week, just as I got back from a wonderful holiday in Greece with my family, we started the month with a veritable glut (it’s all relative) of magnificent bookings.

These bookings encapsulated in their different ways what makes travel amazing. One was for a family gathering, with people from all over the world, in Sri Lanka, with a luxurious villa as the centrepiece.

Another was a holiday in Thailand, going all out to see and experience aspects of Thailand that most miss. Off-the-beaten-path trips like this will be even more exciting and important for economies like Thailand relying heavily on tourism income.

We’ve got no choice but to come back now and do what we as an industry do best. It won’t be plain sailing, and it won’t be a steady upward curve – expect bumps in the room and many hurdles to negotiate.

However, by working together, and channelling the best spirit of the pandemic response, building on the travel to Europe this summer, together we can begin the recovery.

Sam Clark is co-founder and managing director of Experience Travel Group.