Debbie Marshall, Silver Travel Advisor


Springer: Find a niche and stay ahead of the game


Legendary TV show host Jerry Springer told Advantage agents they have to find a niche to stand out from their competitors. Springer, who “apologised”


From left: Jo Kolatsis, Hill Dickinson; Steven Esom, Advantage; and Peter Greenberg, speaker


‘Treat over-50s with respect and understanding’


Agents should ensure they don’t patronise older customers when making sales to the “healthy and wealthy” market, said Debbie Marshall. The Silver Travel Advisor managing director said the industry could “capitalise” on the wealth and health of the over-50s market in the next 15 years provided they got their sales techniques right. “We have to think hard about these people. They have specific needs when they get older,” she said. But she warned agents not


to assume older customers weren’t digitally savvy, but also not to assume they were. She said 40% of over-70s are online and more than 50% of over-65s are on social media. She said using large fonts,


communicating clearly and using realistic photos rather than airbrushed pictures was essential.


She added: “Older people don’t like to be patronised. “You should treat them


with respect and take time to understand their needs.”


‘Travel advisories deter people from safe destinations’


Travel advisories can be overly cautious and detrimental to tourism in affected countries, but they also defend industry professionals against liability, Advantage Conference delegates heard.


Journalist and guest speaker


Peter Greenberg said advisories, such as those that have been in place in Turkey and Tunisia, “are scaring the crap out of people”. He believed the language used


in advisories in the UK and US was often too strong and went too far. The Foreign Office warns


against all but essential travel to some areas of Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt – but not against travel to the entire countries. “Even the first [of four] level of


state department advisories [in the US] says ‘travel with normal caution’,” said Greenberg. “It’s putting people off travelling to destinations that are safe and, in return, people from those countries


won’t travel in the other direction.” But industry lawyer Joanna


Kolatsis, of Hill Dickinson, warned that if agents don’t mention travel advice when selling holidays it can cause problems. She cited the findings of the inquest into the deaths of 30 British holidaymakers in Sousse, Tunisia, as an example of where relatives of those Tui customers who were killed complained their loved ones were not told the full extent of the risk of travelling to the country. “If you are selling travel to these destinations and are not telling people the correct information, it can come back to bite you,” Kolatsis told delegates.


“If you don’t tell people the correct information, it can come back to bite you”


for his show when he told delegates his life story and revealed he has used the same travel agent for 30 years, said offering something different was the key to staying ahead of the game. “You’ve got to develop a


niche,” he said. “Create a speciality and sell


yourself on that.” The message from Springer’s speech was that humanity should not judge people on who they are and where they come from, but what they do. He illustrated his outlook by citing the Holocaust, in which his ancestors had been killed after his parents fled from Germany to London, and the politics of US president Donald Trump, owner of the hotel in which the conference took place. After describing his


transatlantic voyage from the UK to the US as a five-year- old and passing the Statue of Liberty as an incoming immigrant, Springer said: “We are now trying to replace that statue with a wall”.


Jerry Springer: has


used the same travel agent for 30 years


17 May 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 17


PICTURES: NICK ROBB


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