Do I need to get tested for COVID-19 before I travel? What about when I return home? How do I arrange testing on my trip? What happens if I test positive while traveling?
These are just a few of the pandemic-era questions and concerns that travel advisors are fielding from their clients. Not only are these challenging issues to address in general, but the answers vary from destination to destination, making it all the more difficult to manage.
To help agents with this ongoing challenge, Globus Family of Brands has just debuted its “Yes! You’re Covered” program, a full suite of information that advisors can use to reassure clients that they don’t need to worry about these details if they are traveling with one of the company’s brands — everything will be handled for them.
“Travel advisors are carrying the extra burden of needing to be experts on all the ‘what ifs,’” said Steve Born, chief marketing officer for Globus Family of Brands. “We wanted to provide advisors with something clear and solid — something they can proactively put in front of clients to let them know that they are covered. It’s an enhanced level of benefits to help reassure clients that it’s okay to move ahead with booking.”
Travel advisors are carrying the extra burden of needing to be experts on all the ‘what ifs.’ We wanted to provide advisors with something clear and solid.
Globus Offers Peace of Mind With Its COVID-19 Policies
Benefits of this program’s coverage include arranging all necessary on-trip COVID-19 tests; Globus-paid testing for the return trip home (when needed); a backup plan (or Plan “See”) in case of closures or barriers to planned trip activities; travel protection that covers COVID-19-related on-trip expenses; and the continued assistance of the Globus operations team in the rare instance of an on-trip positive case.
In short, travelers will never have to make their own arrangements or figure out what to do if things don’t go as planned.
“It can be really reassuring to say that everything will be taken care of,” Born said.
Globus hopes that getting the word out to travelers will give clients the confidence to plan upcoming trips, ultimately getting more business on the books for travel agents.
Globus also provides travel protection that includes a “cancel for any reason” benefit, while its Peace of Mind Plan allows travelers to move their trip to another destination, vacation, date or brand within their portfolio, without penalty, up to a specified time before their departure.
Born points out that travel advisors can also use Globus’ “great track record of keeping travelers healthy” during the pandemic to reassure clients and encourage bookings. After nearly 1,000 Globus and Cosmos tour departures, 99.9% of guests returned home without incident. And, according to Born, the very rare cases of a positive test have taken place at the end of a trip, meaning there was no transmission among the group. What’s more, the company says Avalon Waterways has recorded zero on-trip COVID-19 cases following hundreds of river cruise departures in 2021. (It’s worth noting that Globus currently requires all staff, crew and guests to be vaccinated, a policy that has been extended through 2022, contributing to its safety success during trips.)
Yes! You’re Covered goes beyond the traditional benefits of booking with a tour or river cruise operator. We want to generate revenue for agents and help them jump in on travel’s recovery.
And, as of Feb. 7, Globus has added one more tool to agents’ arsenal: a pre-trip support line within its call center that advisors can use to ask questions or talk through scenarios with a Globus representative, to make sure each individual client’s concerns are fully addressed.
“Yes! You’re Covered goes beyond the traditional benefits of booking with a tour or river cruise operator,” Born said. “We want to generate revenue for agents and help them jump in on travel’s recovery.”
The Details
Globus Family of Brands
