What do you do if your travel company is confronting the perfect storm of being down staff and up on inquiries from travel advisors and consumers – who may or may not be ready to make a booking?

One tour operator, eager to reduce the number of window shoppers, has taken a page from the travel advisors’ playbook. We get into it here with Authentic Vacations CEO Simon Russell and tours editor Nicole Edenedo. 

This episode was recorded May 23 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Sponsor: 

This episode is sponsored by Windstar Cruises 

Related: 

With more calls and less staff, tour operator turns to pre-booking deposit 

Ire builds over hold times as suppliers rush to hire and train call staff  

Previously on the Folo podcast: How the rush to travel created hurdles for travel agents 

What do you do if your travel company is confronting the perfect storm of being down staff and up on inquiries from travel advisors and consumers &ndash; who may or may not be ready to make a booking?
One tour operator, eager to reduce the number of window shoppers, has taken a page from the travel advisors&rsquo; playbook. We get into it here with <a href="https://www.authenticvacations.com/">Authentic Vacations</a> CEO Simon Russell and tours editor <a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/nicole-edenedo">Nicole Edenedo</a>. This episode was recorded May 23 and has been edited for length and clarity.
Sponsor: 
This episode is sponsored by <a href="https://www.windstarcruises.com">Windstar Cruises </a>
Related: 
<a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/With-more-calls-and-less-staff-tour-operator-turns-to-fees">With more calls and less staff, tour operator turns to pre-booking deposit </a>
<a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Suppliers-rush-to-staff-up-train-as-ire-builds-on-call-wait-times?ct=">Ire builds over hold times as suppliers rush to hire and train call staff&nbsp; </a>
Previously on the Folo podcast: <a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Podcasts/Folo/The-rush-to-travel-brings-hurdles-for-agents">How the rush to travel created hurdles for travel agents </a>

Travel Weekly's team of reporters, editors and contributors explore ideas, share experiences and provide insight into what they’ve uncovered while reporting on some of the biggest trends in travel.

Travel Weekly's team of reporters, editors and contributors explore ideas, share experiences and provide insight into what they&rsquo;ve uncovered while reporting on some of the biggest trends in travel.

Hosted by Rebecca Tobin, managing editor of Travel Weekly

The Folo by Travel Weekly

Travel Weekly's team of reporters, editors and contributors take a deep dive into the biggest travel story of the week. 

In each episode, we invite invite our team of journalists and their trusted sources to delve into major travel trends that industry insiders, or just travelers, want to know about.  

You may be wondering: Why the Folo? Well, a folo -- f o l o -- is a journalism term, a kind of shorthand that basically means to follow a breaking news story with more in depth reporting and analysis. And at the Folo podcast, that's what we do. 

Hosted by Travel Weekly managing editor Rebecca Tobin.

Travel Weekly's team of reporters, editors and contributors take a deep dive into the biggest travel story of the week.&nbsp;
In each episode, we invite invite our team of journalists and their trusted sources to delve into major travel trends that industry insiders, or just travelers, want to know about. &nbsp;
You may be wondering: Why the Folo? Well, a folo -- f o l o -- is a journalism term, a kind of shorthand that basically means to follow a breaking news story with more in depth reporting and analysis. And at the Folo podcast, that's what we do.&nbsp;
Hosted by Travel Weekly managing editor Rebecca Tobin.

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