TRUST IN TRAVEL Travel Weekly’s


Alan Bowen


Lucy Huxley


Caroline Donaldson


Giles Hawke Paul Charles


Simon Morgan


Travel Weekly webcasts: Leading industry figures reveal the plans they are layin RETAIL’S RETURN


Natalie Turner


‘Sector must rebuild trust in wake of refunds saga’


T


ravel brands will have to rebuild trust among consumers following the refunds controversy, an


expert panel agreed. Alan Bowen, legal adviser to the


Association of Atol Companies, said stories of leading firms such as Tui not paying suppliers had undermined consumer trust in the whole sector. “If you’re a small operator using


a hotel that’s also used by a large operator which hasn’t paid for the holidays that have already taken place, and you as a small operator have to cancel a booking, the hotel can’t give you the money back because it hasn’t been paid by the bigger operator,” he said. “This runs right through the


whole system. The problem is, the publicity this story and similar stories get is [wrongly] telling the consumer that [all] tour operators don’t pay money in advance to hotels. “It means people don’t believe


you when you explain that if a small operator doesn’t pay [upfront], you don’t get the room. And they don’t believe that we pay airlines before


10 21 MAY 2020


departure. People [now] don’t believe what we’re telling them.” Paul Charles, chief executive of the PC Agency, said “the trust barometer is very low” for travel because it did not “get off to a good start” over the refunds issue. He said: “Travel brands are going


to have to ask themselves, ‘How are we going to show that we care?’ “Part of this reset is going to be


about how responsible you are as an operator. Customer-care teams are going to be the ones that are invested in. They’ll become more caring, and the initial answer will be perhaps more of a ‘yes’ than a ‘no’.” Giles Hawke, UK chief executive


of Cosmos, said: “There’s something about trying to be clear about what you stand for to customers, why they should book with you as a tour operator or as a travel agent. “Operators and travel agents will


probably score well in the customer mindset in the future because we’re human beings running businesses, and businesses have values and those values sit within the people that work within those businesses.”


Agency bosses reveal how they plan to reopen stores


L


eading retailers are considering locked-door policies, distanced desks, protective screens and


customers engaging with agents on computer screens in-store. Tailor Made Travel, Barrhead


Travel and Midcounties Co-operative Travel have begun to draw up plans for a gradual return to the high street. There will be fewer agents working


in branches initially. Tailor Made Travel chief executive


Simon Morgan said the agency drew up health and safety protocols even before the lockdown. He said: “We bought masks, gels, antibacterial sprays and wipes, and wrote a policy around not touching each other. This has now grown into a bigger document with more procedures. We’ve put screens into half a dozen shops already.” Tailor Made Travel agents have


begun Zoom video-call appointments, which Morgan said were “great” because they could be recorded. He also predicted customers may come into a shop and talk to an agent through a computer screen.


At first we will not


allow customers in store; then we’ll adhere to the 2m distancing


Midcounties Co-operative


Travel head of retail Natalie Turner said the group could learn from its supermarkets, which have traded through the lockdown. Many Co-operative Travel stores


will only have two desks in operation initially, she said, adding: “We will pilot protective screens in our travel branches; it’s a given expectation. “To start with we will not allow


any customers in branches, and when we do we will adhere to the two-metre distancing.” Barrhead Travel product and


commercial director Caroline Donaldson said the agency was considering all aspects of reopening, including how employees travelled to work, shift patterns, seating arrangements, floor tapes and protective personal equipment.


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