Top Ten Benefits of Working with Travel Advisors

In a post-pandemic landscape, travelers are relying on travel advisors to help them navigate a more complicated post-pandemic travel ecosystem. According to a March 2023 report from the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), “50% of people are more likely to use a travel advisor today than they were in the past—a 14% increase year over year.”

Not only are advisors receiving a record number of client inquiries, but motivated travelers are increasingly seeking travel experiences that are unique, adventurous, and sustainable. This is where the ATTA community comes in!

If you are a supplier curious about working with travel advisors or want to grow your travel advisor network, I have good news for you. More than ever, travel advisors want to work with you. Yes. You. 

Developing strong travel advisor relationships allows businesses to connect with motivated travelers, helps streamline operations, increases company return on investment, and leads to greater client satisfaction with higher retention and more referrals.

Here’s how. 

The Value of Working with Travel Advisors

Travelers are even more likely to use a travel agent for unique and authentic travel experiences, like those offered by adventure suppliers just like you! When it comes to more specialized or off-the-beaten-path adventure travel, the trust developed between the advisor and client becomes even more critical to growing your network.

A travel advisor’s approach to travel planning is relationship-focused, both with the client and with the suppliers. Cultivating strong and collaborative relationships with advisors is critical to growing your own client  base, allowing you to scale your business without uprooting your current operations. 

A travel advisor serves as an advocate and resource not only to travelers, but to suppliers, destinations, and local communities. They’re uniquely positioned to communicate with travelers well beyond logistics, using their expertise and relationships to educate travelers on sustainability, region-specific issues or considerations, and best practices for traveling to and among local communities. 

Here’s how they do it!

1. More leads: According to ASTA , “Travel agents are the largest travel segment, representing 30% of total sales.” Along with the increasing demand for travel, travelers are also more motivated to work with advisors. According to an ASTA survey, 44% of travelers who didn’t originally use a travel advisor before the pandemic plan to when they begin traveling. Working with an advisor connects your business with travelers ready to reserve.
2. Warmer leads: In addition to receiving more leads, client leads from advisors will provide you with “warmer leads,” ensuring you’re reaching clients who are more motivated to book. The majority of adventure advisors, 78%, charge fees for their planning services. This financial commitment results in attracting travelers who have already invested in their trips (rather than fishing for information).
3. Clients are pre-qualified: With a focus on long-term client relationships, a travel advisor has a deep understanding of that traveler’s culture, language, budget, and travel preferences and expectations. An advisor won’t recommend a program, property, or activity if it doesn’t align with their detailed profile. This helps save you the time and resources spent qualifying and marketing to clients.
4. Client retention and strong client relationships: The trust established between travelers and advisors lead to long-term client relationships. This trust will extend to a greater trust in you and your business, creating an environment where communication can flow more smoothly.
5. Advisors’ travel experience helps streamline communications and manage expectations: With a wealth of travel experience, advisors can help guide your clients toward appropriate expectations of a trip. Additionally, advisors can serve as a buffer for inbound clients who may otherwise be hesitant to visit a destination due to their own language barriers or cultural competencies. If needed, the right advisor can help facilitate communications to smooth these language and cultural barriers.
6. You can leverage a travel advisor’s technology tools: In addition to helping facilitate communications between traveler and supplier, many advisors will also help suppliers craft and present proposals and documents since the advisor will often transfer these onto their own technology platform. This will allow you as the supplier to invest more of your time on trip content than proposal presentation, while still maintaining a professional appearance to the client.  
7. Amplify your marketing and communications: An advisor can be a megaphone for your marketing and updates among their clients. If you keep the advisor apprised of your products, offerings, and updates, you can ensure your communications and brand story will reach their clientele.
8. More repeat clients and referrals: Strong relationships with travel advisors will lead to happy clients. While a satisfied client may visit a property a few times and casually refer you to friends and family, a satisfied travel advisor will send you more clients, and refer you to family, friends, and their travel advisor colleagues.
9. Advisors can connect you to larger agencies: Beyond an advisor’s referral to their other clients and colleagues, many hosted advisors also have an opportunity to list your company with their host agency. Regardless of whether or not you’re preferred, this means it will increase your profile among the agency’s larger travel advisor base.
10. An advisor’s base knowledge will save you time in the planning process: Working with experienced advisors who have in-depth (or even general) knowledge of your company, destination, or product will save you a lot of time in explaining how to best structure a trip or what to expect.  This allows suppliers to focus resources on their specific areas of expertise, personal suggestions, and relevant updates about the destination – such as political situations, weather events, or anything that may impact travel to a region.
11. Bonus! A better return on investment for money spent: Working with an advisor will stretch your marketing dollars and allow you to focus your energies on your expertise. Not only that, but advisors who participate in FAM (familiarization) trips will maximize their time with your company or destination. Advisors take FAM trips seriously, entering with a base knowledge of the destination, asking you more qualified questions (often targeted for specific client needs), and sharing valuable feedback. 
    

Ready to Work With Travel Advisors? Start With ATTA!

Just like finding the right traveler for your product or destination, it’s important to find the right advisors to work with.

The ATTA member HUB is a great resource to connect with travel advisors who are looking for suppliers just like you. There, you can find travel advisors who focus on your destination or type of travel so you can ensure you’re finding advisors that are a good fit for your business. 

Not sure how to best approach travel advisors or establish advisor relationships? Get to know ATTA’s TAG team (Travel Advisor Group); they have a resource in the pipeline that will offer best practices!

Questions in the meantime? Feel free to reach out to TAG members on the HUB (must be an ATTA member to access).

Learn more: Better Together: Why a Travel Advisor-Tourism Board Relationship Can Be a Winning Combination