COVID-19 is what turned me into the travel consultant I truly am and has changed my perception of how I do business. I can lose my cool over the silliest things ( don't many of us); however, it took a world crisis for me to personally realise how good I am at my job. Over the years I have helped clients abroad when they've got stuck or needed any help and I have always prided myself to be available 24/7 ( yes have had a call at 4 am), but this year really took it to another level. I had a couple travelling on a Collette tour in South America and they made it four days into their 26-day trip reaching only Cusco in Peru.
#SuperHeroWife
I emailed the clients informing them that regrettably, we had to bring them home due to the COVID-19 closing down the world. At first, the flights were booked as normal, but with Peru being one of the first countries shutting down with no notice, that changed the whole situation.
I worked with the Canadian General Manager Brett Walker at Collette finding out what their procedures were. This was the beginning of a 24/7 communication stream and rescue mission with information changing daily, sometimes hourly. Flights were booked and cancelled and then re-booked and soon it became clear that because the clients were Canadians, the only option to get them home was with the Government rescue flights.
The clients had themselves registered with Ottawa before they left, but very little information and direction were given to them. (The information changed as well, sometimes daily) I took over the booking process and called the Government helpline in Ottawa to find out exactly when, where and how this worked. Once the procedure was clear I then started communication with the Embassy in Lima daily for information and guidance as to how to secure seats on those flights. This was a fairly complicated and frustrating procedure as the internal flights and airports in Peru were at a standstill.
Clients were in lock-down at their hotel at first and as COVID-19 spread among some of the guests, they eventually confined themselves to their hotel room for the last 10 days.
I emailed back and forth with my clients starting with a “Good Morning” greeting around 8 a.m. daily, even if there was no new information to give or just to let them know what was happening in Canada. Any time they needed information and wanted questions answered, I made sure to get right back to them. We also had general conversations and chats with suggestions of how to fill their time and referring them to links to what pertained to their interests.
Additionally, I contacted the family here in Canada every day around 5 p.m. with updates about what was happening on our side and to give reassurance of their parents’ safety.
On the day of the rescue flights’ release Colette, the clients and I had all our booking engines with all information ready to go and I managed to secure flights home 24 days after their tour was cancelled and booked them within seconds of the flights being released.
Once this was done, watching the airline confirmation number showing up on my screen confirming the seat, I burst into tears and danced around my office!!! Yes, I know... Colette took over with the internal flight in Canada and the clients came back to Vancouver safely and COVID-19 free. I couldn’t go to the airport to greet them but instead had a welcome home bouquet of flowers delivered on their day back.
This was probably one of the greatest challenges I’ve had in my career, but I found strength and determination to step up. It has given me a new-found confidence in myself and a voice to strive and prove that my colleagues and I, who take our jobs seriously, cannot be compared with price-cutting online booking engines. Only we will be there with all the knowledge, experience, ideas and determination to treat our clients as special individuals and as if they are part of our families.
This experience led me also to look more closely at what I do in my personal life and as many other people, we're heroes to our families and friends.
As for my clients . . . we are planning to go out for lunch very soon!
Kirsten- “Your Personal Consultant for all things travel”:)