Coping during COVID-19
This week Travel Courier checks in with Lesley Keyter, CEO and Founder of The Travel Lady Agency, who has come a long way from sending out faxes to promote her business. Keyter continues to advertise cruise and adventure travel for 2021 and 2022, and has made some bookings for bucket list trips for the future.
What has it been like running a travel agency during this challenging time?
Well, I keep saying that I love being a travel agent but I don’t like being a bookkeeper and so much of what we have been doing over the last few months consists of ‘numbers work’ with checking for refunds, double checking cancellation penalties and following up with insurance claims.
It is not exciting work but it is something that has to be done. Oh, the joy of actually working on a real booking every so often – it reminds me why I love this business and why I am determined to stay the course. Being the owner of the business and leader of my team comes with additional duties and challenges. It’s my job to keep my team motivated and connected – even when I feel like hell. It’s my job to keep smiling on TV when there is not always a lot to smile about. It’s my job to send out positive updates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I sometimes feel like I am living a double life. Maybe I would have made a good spy or a member of the French Resistance. One of the biggest challenges is not letting those few angry bitter customers ruin my perspective of the travelling public and so I keep a folder with lovely, thankful emails from people we helped so that I can have some perspective and see the big picture.
We’ve now reached the nine months mark of the pandemic. How are things going right now?
Things are actually good now and I do believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. When the pandemic first started I thought this will be all over by the summer. How wrong I was. As it continued to drag on I had some negative moments but now I feel that we have weathered the storm so far and in a way it has made me stronger and more determined to survive and prosper.
Keyter appears weekly on Global TV
“We have had many phone calls from the public who have asked for advice on something they booked online. Many of them have said that they will book with a travel agent in the future. Travel is not straightforward any more – even just a flight booking can be a complicated procedure working through the entry requirements, cancellation penalties and insurance options. Having the consumer go through this process has given them a new understanding of how much value their travel agent brings to them.“
Lesley Keyter
What do you miss most about travelling?
I have travelled domestically within Canada with a trip to Vancouver Island. It was fabulous to get on a plane again and feel normal because travel has always been a big part of my life. I do miss travelling very much – especially discovering new places and revisiting favourite ones. I miss the preparation and planning for a trip. I had to have a chat with my suitcases to explain to them why I have neglected them! Seriously though – I miss the adventure, the sound of the airport announcements, the sea, the welcoming rattle of the drinks trolley just after take off on a long overnight trans-Atlantic flight and my ceremonial gin and tonic! I miss the excitement of checking in at a new hotel. I miss coming home from a trip to realize how much family and friends mean. The list is endless.
What are you focusing on right now? Are you doing anything to grow business through domestic travel?
Right now I am focusing on keeping my brand alive and well and out there. I continue to appear each week on local TV with travel new updates as well as every other week on talk radio. I am in touch with local media and have made sure to make myself available for news updates. I make sure to send out my weekly newsletter with travel suggestions as well as travel news and a little bit of humour in the form of my latest blog. I have been doing virtual consumer events as well as my Ten Minute Travel updates which have proved to be popular. Lots of interest – not necessarily bookings but keeping the public engaged. Before the pandemic we never did any domestic travel but now we have been doing a focus on this and have been successful and had good bookings. We have also had a good response regarding travel to Mexico, especially since the rapid testing pilot project in Calgary was launched. I continue to advertise cruise and adventure travel for 2021 and 2022 and have made some bookings for bucket list trips for the future.
If there’s one positive thing that’s come out of this situation, it’s been that more people have seen the value of using a travel agent firsthand. Do you agree? How can advisors get this message out?
I agree – we have had many phone calls from the public who have asked for advice on something they booked online. Many of them have said that they will book with a travel agent in the future. Travel is not straightforward any more – even just a flight booking can be a complicated procedure working through the entry requirements, cancellation penalties and insurance options. Having the consumer go through this process has given them a new understanding of how much value their travel agent brings to them.
Do you have any strategies to get through the next few months?
I am going to continue to market travel with strength and confidence. I have faced criticism online of some of my media endeavours but this is minor and will not deter me. I have faith in the travel industry and I know that there will be a pent up demand. The next few months – until probably the end of Q1 – are going to be tough but fortunately our Government has been supportive with wage supplement programs and other programs for affected businesses. Forward planning is important and I will be working on more group space in readiness for when cruising comes back strong in 2021 and 2022. I have been brain-storming new ways of attracting different sectors of the travelling public and also adding to my newsletter list and data base. Also, I continue to work closely with my suppliers who have been very supportive throughout this whole catastrophe. Those relationships are gold and need to be looked after.
How has travel impacted your own life?
I seem to have been travelling my whole life. My father was in the Royal Navy in Britain and so as a child we travelled the length and breadth of the UK with a spell in Malta for a while. I changed schools every 18 months and got used to being the new kid. When I was 15 we left the UK and emigrated to South Africa. Here was another travel moment and a chance to explore South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe – but I was destined to move again to Canada in 1995 with my family. So I am lucky to have had so many different travel experiences from sleeping in economy on an overnight train Bristol to Glasgow to luxury cruising around Cape Horn.
Travel has taught me to be curious about other people’s customs and to respect them. Travel has taught me that I am indeed very lucky.
How long have you been in the industry and what are some of your secrets to success?
I have been in the industry for 25 years. Arriving into Canada as a new immigrant I could not get a job in my field (legal work) so decided to start up a travel agency. Because of my legal background I thought corporate travel was the best way to go not realizing that you need connections and a network for that – of which I had none. Our first office was on the 8th floor of an office tower and nobody knew we were there. Needless to say our corporate work was very limited despite cold calling and presentations. So I thought I should sell leisure travel – but how would I get the word out? A kind colleague suggested that I start sending out a newsletter (by fax in those days). We had four or five fax machines churning away through the night and you can imagine the calls we got from irritated people who didn’t want our newsletter or – even worse – didn’t have a fax machine and were woken up in the middle of the night. But we persevered and started getting the message out and then I got a lucky break and was invited to present a weekly travel segment on Global TV which I have been doing for over 20 years. So maybe perseverance and good luck worked together.
What do you think is standing in the way of recovery?
Clearly getting the virus under control is key and the news of the vaccine is very encouraging. Also the steps that airlines hotels, cruises and other suppliers have taken to ensure good hygienic protocols is working to restore confidence in the travelling public.
Do you have anything to add?
Travel is in our blood and is part of our makeup. Throughout history mankind has wanted to explore and discover new places. In ages past that was a risky exercise and some explorers never returned. But that didn’t stop the quest to find out what was over the horizon. The travel industry will get through this crisis and will emerge, probably battered and scarred, but the urge to travel cannot be denied and we stand here and wait for that surge.
