Agents on French Attacks: No Real Fallout in Bookings, at Least for Now

For the most part, travel agents say they’ve yet to witness any real fallout in bookings in response to the French terror attacks, believing that most travelers are waiting to see how the situation plays itself out.
The tragedy, however, has resulted in the loss of a prospective booking to Paris for one agent. “I had clients contemplating a spring break vacation to Paris with their granddaughter,” said Claire Schoeder, a travel consultant with Atlanta-based Century Travel. “They told me if it was just the two of them then they would visit Paris, but they said it is different when with their grandchild. They are French speakers and have been to Paris a number of times – they just are thinking differently right now.”
Schoeder has still more clients with plans to visit the city this year. “No one else has canceled or dropped Paris from consideration but several have asked about security in the city and are adopting a wait-and-see attitude to things,” she said.
Conversely, Alyssa Schulke has already received the thumbs up from a mother traveling to Paris with her daughter in two weeks. “We are just finalizing arrangements and I expected when she phoned this morning that she was going to cancel, but just the opposite,” said Schulke of Schulke Travel, a Travel Experts affiliate out of Minneapolis/St. Paul. “She reaffirmed her plans to go and we are finalizing the details in the next few days.”
Schulke has yet to see any downturn of interest in travel to France and other parts of Europe. “I haven’t had anyone else cancel plans to go anywhere in Europe,” she said. “I have trips to Spain and Greece in process for spring departures and those clients are also moving forward.”
She has, though, had clients express concern about the prospect of traveling to Europe. “I think perhaps we are seeing a new reality when it comes to travel and terrorism – where clients are aware and keeping informed, but not allowing incidents such as these to affect their desire to travel.”
On a similar note, Beth Baran believes travelers will not make a rush to judgment and change their travel plans. “I think that most will take a wait-and-see attitude,” said Baran, owner of Travel Leaders locations in Mason, Ohio and Fort Thomas, Ky., adding that neither location has seen any impact on bookings to Europe or anywhere else. “Hopefully this particular incident will be resolved quickly by the French authorities, who are certainly experts in the area of national security.”
Nonetheless, Baran said the safety of the agency’s clients is a perpetual concern. “We closely monitor the U.S. Department of State Web site, as well as other governmental sources, for travel alerts as well as the more severe travel warnings for all destinations, including those that are most popular with our clients,” she said. “Should we become aware of an issue for a specific destination, we alert clients who may be planning to travel there so they can determine for themselves if they still wish to travel.”
Baran and her staff also recommend that U.S. citizens follow the advice of the State Department and register their international travel plans at https://step.state.gov/step. “By entering information into the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, the Department of State can better assist travelers in an emergency,” Baran said, adding that she and her agents also equip their clients with a robust array of tips on how to maximize their safety and security while traveling.
In the end, agents believe that their clients view the French attacks as a closely targeted effort and thus not necessarily a part of a larger terrorism campaign. “Unless the attacks continue and become more widespread or Americans become specific targets, then I do not expect to see much impact on my business at all,” said Schoeder of Century Travel. “I think it will take a more widespread attack that targets Americans to significantly impact U.S. travel to Europe and elsewhere.”
Furthermore, living with terrorist threats has become a way of life, say agents. “I think people are, unfortunately, getting too used to hearing about terrorist attacks,” said Judy Nidetz of Travel Experts in Chicago, adding that incident in France has in no way affected her Europe bookings, which are significantly higher than last year’s. “People are mindful when hearing about travel warnings, but I don’t see that stopping people from traveling. This is, sadly, becoming a way of life in our society.”
Source: Travel Pulse