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Are you keeping up with the new vocabulary of travel? The voice of luxury is awash in new buzzwords, it seems. And they all are pointing to the same good news. Luxury travel advisors are having a moment; luxury sales are soaring; and the most well-known global luxury consortia, Virtuoso, is feeling the love.

Barbara Khan has sold a lot of Silversea cruises, and a lot of transatlantic cruises, in her career—but she had never sailed either. So when she was offered the chance to sail a repositioning cruise on Silver Moon, 14 days from Lisbon to Barbados at no charge, she jumped at the chance.

Angie Schwartz, on the other hand, has sailed across the Atlantic many times. The idea of spending two weeks at sea never grows old for her. She and her husband, a former Navy submariner, “love crossings, and we love sea time,” she says. So she, too, signed up.

Travel advisors are still faced with many challenges and opportunities in the aftermath of the pandemic. The challenges are readily solvable and will hopefully strengthen our industry, but some of the solutions may raise the hackles of those invested in the status quo. One of the most significant challenges is—despite months of complaints—communicating with travel providers on the phone or via the web.

Difficulties in communicating is not only the fault of the airlines, cruise lines, and hotel properties. Nearly all have done an excellent job posting the information online that their telephone reps provide over the phone. Still, most travel advisors are more comfortable speaking with the reps and buying travel over the phone.

Other industries have faced the same problems, and they usually solve them by:

• Hiring more telephone reps, especially those with years of experience.
• Providing digital callbacks.
• Ensuring that online systems are easy to navigate.

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