Hipmunk CEO on Curbing Anxiety Over Travel and Travel Businesses

As the coronavirus outbreak brings the travel industry to a halt, it’s easy to let anxiety get the best of you, whether you are a frequent traveler or a travel advisor trying to stay afloat.

In an effort to provide those in the travel industry perspective on how to curb anxious feelings and make this tumultuous time something more productive, TravelPulse spoke with Adam Goldstein, CEO of travel aggregator Hipmunk, and an authority on airline travel and the airline industry.

Goldstein is also the author of the Anxiety Algorithm, an essay that can be useful to travelers as well as travel businesses to turn anxiety into productivity.

TravelPulse: How can travel advisors calm their fears of collapse?

Goldstein: Travel agents should recognize that the drop in travel demand could extend anywhere from weeks to years. That’s the reality.

But there’s a fine line between creativity and anxiety. Both entail thinking about the future, but one of them is motivating and productive while the other is depressing. Travel agents should think creatively—perhaps emphasizing the fact that many airlines are allowing free changes on new tickets, or updating their websites.

During the downtime between customers, travel agents can teach themselves new things that will be useful during the next travel boom—say, studying up on destinations they haven’t previously marketed or learning to use more sophisticated customer relationship management software to stay in touch with customers.

TP: How can The Anxiety Algorithm be applied to help travelers overcome their anxiety of traveling during this outbreak?

AG: The Anxiety Algorithm is a framework for understanding how our minds work: We imagine futures by mixing up snippets of events we’ve come across and weaving them into storylines. Right now, just about everyone is imagining “someone coughing on a plane, that person having the new virus, me getting sick.”

It is important for travel agents to keep their credibility, however. Being honest is the way to ensure people work with you again, even if in the short term anxious travelers cancel their plans.

TP: What can travel advisors do to calm their clients and help them to make choices regarding booking trips or canceling trips?

AG: In my opinion, calmness is best shown by example. Travel agents should calm themselves down first and then help their clients navigate their choices in a thoughtful, non-judgmental way.

TP: Should travel advisors be focusing on long-term planning to keep clients booking?

AG: Yes, travel agents should definitely be trying to build long-term relationships with clients through honesty and understanding. During this slow travel season, it’s also a great chance for agents to teach themselves new skills through free online classes/trainings.

TP: Do you have any recommendations for how travel advisors should communicate these ideas to clients.

AG: Agents should be up-front in letting clients know everything that’s relevant these days (change fee waivers, flight cancellations, etc.). They should share this in a compassionate way.