Conlin Travel ‘s Ann Arbor office.
Travel professionals build customer loyalty during pandemic By SHANDRA MARTINEZ
Photos STEVE JESSMORE
In a year when most people stayed home, those in the travel planning business proved their value to clients. “COVID has really shone a light on the extra services we bring to the table,” said Chris Conlin, president and owner of Conlin Travel, the largest travel management company in Michigan. Conlin and others are finding an important silver lining in what will be remembered as one of the most devastating periods for the travel industry, which collectively saw a 42% decline in revenues, according to data provided by the U.S. Travel Association. While many travelers scrambled to get through to the airlines or the cruise lines to claim their refunds or rebookings, his clients benefitted from his staff’s special phone lines to the companies that put them at the head of the line. Those who followed the company’s counsel to buy insurance policies found recouping their money much easier. “We have a different level of service with them. A lot of people had travel insurance, so we were able to get money back and get refunds for people that wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise,” Conlin said. BOOKING AND REBOOKING Staff double- and even triple-rebooked clients’ bookings a few times over the winter as the goalposts for recovery kept moving. 8
Chris Conlin, President and CEO of Conlin Travel, poses with travel packages sorted on the conference room table at the Ann Arbor office.
MICHIGAN RETAILER JUN / JUL 2021
“All of our clients know how valuable we are, and looking down the road we are well-positioned for growth and prosperity, and that excites us as well,” Conlin said. Carol Grussing also has heard from clients who are glad that they had a professional travel agent in their corner when their travel plans fell apart because of the pandemic. She is the owner of Lenger Travel Center in the Grand Rapids suburb of Byron Center, which she has co-owned since 1985. “We’ve heard repeatedly from clients who said, ‘We don’t know how we would have been able to get through this without you,’” Grussing said. “Our client base has definitely become much stronger. We have people who used our services once or twice before say, ‘We’re never going anywhere else.’” She compares booking trips on the internet to changing your car’s oil yourself or perming your own hair. It’s a cheaper option, but many people are willing to pay more for the convenience and better results of having an expert handle the duties. PENT-UP DEMAND With the opening of European and Asian destinations expected to take a while, it’s going to take longer for the international travel market to rebound, so a lot of trips have been domestic. Cruises are in hot demand, with bookings for 2022 exceeding 2019, thanks to pent-up travel demand. Conlin says his clients tend to skew toward 50 and older. Most
