Travel and Transport has unveiled a raft of newย products and services focused on helping travellers and travel buyers navigate ever-changing rules and regulations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tools help at three stages โ planning, preparing and on-trip.ย Travel and Transportโs new Journey Prep tool allows travelers to search a country or state at the planning stage in Dash Portal, Travel and Transportโs all-in-one portal for travel managers, arrangers and travelers and Dash Mobile, Travel and Transportโs comprehensive mobile app.
With Journey Prep, travelers get the most up-to-date information around specific restrictions and guidance, such as quarantine rules, which services are open and where masks are mandatory.
Advisors have been transformed to journey managers, with the same information made available to them through Travel and Transportโs Leap Advisor CRM.
โJourney managers have next-level expertise, providing validated, useful information so travelers can make an informed decision about travel plans,โ said Joel Bailey, Travel and Transportโs Senior Vice President โ Customer Solutions. โBy turning to advisors and tools, travel buyers can be confident that travelers have the correct information available to them and are not wasting time looking for answers online.
โWe have trained our advisors to have very different conversations with travelers now, especially as international and multi-destination trips pick up again. They must make sure that multiple trips can go ahead taking quarantine and other measures into account.โ
Reporting in Swift Data has been enhanced with better search functionality and map overlays, including recently announced LGBTQ+ content.
Every traveler is sent a journey summary email when they make a reservation, and these emails have been significantly revamped to include information such as wellbeing advice and country risk ratings.
Additionally, travelers will receive a new Journey Brief webpage 48 hours ahead of each trip, with information including a packing list and comprehensive insight into what to expect in airports, planes, hotels, and car rental counters. The webpage features a table detailing airline hygiene practices including boarding protocols and which airport lounges are open. The John Hopkins dashboard of COVID-19 statistics is embedded into the page for travelers to see directly.
If a traveler is denied boarding, Travel and Transport can hold risk or insurance company details in its Leap Advisor CRM, so travel advisors can reassure the traveler and provide them with a phone number.
โOur alert notifications i.e. Bolt Alerts (proactive disruption alerts), itinerary emails and pre-trip reporting in Swift Data, our comprehensive data tool, have all been enhanced to arm travel buyers and travelers with the intelligence and confidence to get traveling again. Itโs complex and confusing, especially when people are traveling for the first time post-pandemic. So we need to offer that support across our solutions, all powered by our Command Centerโ said Bailey.
