How To Spot Good Holiday Advisors

By Author: Gareth Hoyle
Total Articles: 675
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Good holiday advisors are worth their weight in gold as it's more confusing than ever trying to find the perfect holiday online because of the sheer numbers available.

There are lots of good personal travel advisors in the UK, but like any industry, there are bad ones too.
As you read through the rest of this article you'll discover some of the tell-tale signs to help you identify good holiday advisors.

" Depth of knowledge

Good holiday advisors should be able to provide you with in-depth knowledge of your chosen destination. If you speak to a personal travel advisor who doesn't seem to know much about the place you want to go, you'd be as well just researching it online yourself.

Holiday advisors need to be able to add value to the holiday booking experience. What can they tell you that a High Street travel agent can't? Do they have a good level of local knowledge in terms of restaurants, activities and places off the beaten track?

" Holiday protection

You should never assume your personal travel advisor or holiday advisor is an ABTA member or ATOL protected.

Make sure ...
... you ask what protection your holiday has; it's not worth taking the risk of booking without protection as there are a number of factors outside your control that could potentially leave your holiday plans in tatters.

" Professionalism

Just by talking to holiday advisors for a few minutes you should be able to gauge how professional they are. A holiday is an investment and you should tread carefully when booking. If you've worked hard all year and are looking to get away and relax, the last thing you want is something to go wrong because of the personal travel advisor's lack of professionalism or attention to detail.

A lack of professionalism may not come to the fore until after you've booked. Watch out for things like having to chase your booking confirmation and tickets.

" Attitude

It's important to remember that the holiday advisors sector is competitive. If you're unhappy with the attitude of the personal travel advisor you speak to, don't be afraid to look elsewhere.

If someone seems fed up of you asking questions for example, it's not really the attitude you want. Your holiday advisor is there to make booking a holiday easy and add value to the experience, not treat you like an inconvenience.

The Co-operative Personal Travel Advisors has a team of experienced holiday advisors specialising in different destinations and areas of travel.