Instead of helping their clients plan a long awaited trip or a vacation of a lifetime, these days travel agents are working overtime trying to sort through a mirage of cancellations and closures, while trying to find ways home for overseas travellers.
Instead of helping their clients plan a long awaited trip or a vacation of a lifetime, these days travel agents are working overtime trying to sort through a mirage of cancellations and closures, while trying to find ways home for overseas travellers.
When COVID-19 began to spread, Lesley Keyter created a folder to keep track of the travel impacts as airlines, cruise ships, and other operators began announcing reduced service. As countries then began closing their borders, her folder was soon overwhelmed.
“Goodness me, they’ve changed so much all the time, so it’s difficult to keep up,” said Keyter, the owner of The Travel Lady Agency in Calgary.
She’s often worked past midnight frantically trying to help large groups of travelers in Portugal, Spain and Italy find a way back to Canada.
“It’s been absolute hell, quite frankly,” she said.
Her weekly newsletter showcasing the best travel deals won’t include any advertisements in the latest edition, instead replaced with the most important information about travel restrictions.
On top of those stresses, she’s dealing with the new financial reality for travel agents of late: very few new bookings and likely a difficult period of low revenue for several months to come.
“There is a concern what’s going t