Ed and Andy Stoppelman of Red Oak Limousine service in White Plains, N.Y.
The effects of Tropical Storm Irene are still being felt by the region?s travel industry weeks after it hit the Northeast.
Andy Stoppelman, CEO of Red Oak Limousine service in Port Chester, N.Y., which serves Westchester and Fairfield counties, said there is no question that a great deal of business was lost on the weekend that Irene hit simply by the amount of flights that were canceled.
According to the U.S. Travel Association, the timing of Irene was a major issue for travelers because they were already paying premiums on end-of-summer flights, with options of re-booking flights in the following weeks difficult because they were already heavily booked. The organization reported as many as 750,000 flight cancelations nationwide due to Irene, which included smaller aircraft.
?We lost nearly all our airport business that weekend,? Stoppelman said. Canceled flights also meant the loss of fares from travelers upon their return flights.
?We stayed open all through Irene and did the best we could,? he said. ?In a situation like Irene, clients are understanding and know a lot of it is out of our hands.?
Stoppelman said when hazardous and extraordinary weather hits it?s an opportunity for a travel service to prove what kind of customer service the business really has.
?You have to be reassuring and try to work out the best strategy for each fare,? he said. ?During Irene, getting picked up or dropped off was taking hours when it should have taken only a few minutes.?
Stoppelman said one of the most frustrating things about weather like Irene is that there is not much you can do to plan ahead.
?One street might be out with this storm and another will be out in the next. With Irene it was unprecedented the amount of trees and power lines down. You have to show your clients you?re dedicated, let them know if you?re stuck and keep them up to date on the flights. We got everyone to where they needed to go ? they may have been late ? but they got there.?
Beverly Burchard, president of Traveling Incorporated in Stratford, said a storm such as Irene can change how people approach their travel plans in the long range.
?A time like you had with Irene can be tough, you really have to try to scramble to find options for your clients. The thing is everybody is in the same boat,? Burchard said.
For a travel agent, it?s about finding options for a client, and for clients who had been in that boat before most knew the value of travel insurance, she said. She predicts travelers signing up for travel insurance will be more common after the kind of harsh weather of this summer.
Burchard said because Irene fell right in prime vacation season, stories of people missing flights to Europe and honeymoon trips were extensive; though with insurance they would have lost the experience but recouped the financial loses.
?The value of travel insurance is proven in times like this,? she said. ?You really never know what?s going to happen. Even people who were fine in terms of health and house and can get to the airport can be indirectly affected and find themselves in a situation where they need to react to a loved-ones needs.?
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Source: http://westfaironline.com/2011/16106-through-the-storm/
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