A Day in the Life of Our Reservations Team It’s 5:30 pm and John Scaggs is just getting off a call with a customer. It’s a surprisingly busy afternoon for late August, but the assistant manager of reservations is unfazed. “We get a lot of a last-minute reservations for fall trips at this time of year,” he says. After five and a half years working the call centers and processing reservations for ATA’s client organizations, John can pinpoint when his team can expect an influx of calls. October and February, for instance, are busy booking months, and just before 5 pm on Fridays, the phones seem to ring off the hook. If you’re picturing circuit boards lit up with customers on hold, or frustrated future travelers caught in a tangle of automated voices and choices, you’d be wrong. “Our phone tree is short,” says John. “Ideally within seconds, you have a human being picking up who won’t transfer you out to another department.” They’ll create or consult the traveler record, answer questions, give out their extension, and follow up. “Continuity is there.” When we operate your call center, we become you. Learn More John’s team handles all manner of situations and questions, everything from “Do I need a visa?” to “Do the beds in my hotel face East?” He points out that his team rarely has to sell an itinerary: “marketing does its job,” he says, and callers tend to know want they want. “They need us to clear the hurdles and make it happen.” To run a call center, the reservations specialists need to be fully versed in all the travel programs the client organization offers, including the destinations and hotels featured and the study leader or expert who lead the trips. When they pick up the phone, they are representatives of the brand: they introduce themselves with the organization’s name, and they send emails from its domain. So how do you train to become your client? “It takes time,” says John. It also takes comprehensive briefings that cover the client’s website, database, and reservation protocol as well as each travel program’s itinerary and potential clientele. “We learn the most from the guests themselves—by talking to them we get to know the personality of the brand.” “Within seconds, you have a human being picking up who won’t transfer you out to another department.” -John Scaggs, Assistant Manager of Reservations It makes a difference. “There have been many times when I’ve been able to say, ‘Here’s what we’re offering for this price: what’s included, what you’ll see and do. And here’s what makes it different: our expert, the educational aspect. You can’t do this on your own.’” It’s gratifying to be able to bring a caller from lukewarm to “Yes, I’m going to sign up.” Traditionally, after the reservation team handles inquiries and reservations, they hand off the new booking to the guest services department. They speed-date, goes the office joke, while the guest services staff courts the traveler until departure. But the reservation team’s responsibilities don’t end there. They manage inventory for all clients, coordinate with a client’s other tour operators to maintain brand consistency, and maintain a range of client databases to make sure traveler records are up to date. And while the team is in charge of acting as a call center for a number of our U.S.-based client organizations, it also represents the call center for some international travel brands. Life on the reservations team is fast-paced and dynamic, and while multi-tasking and great oral and written communications skills are critical for doing the job, a sense of humor keeps you going. The rewards often come when talking to travelers. John remembers a World War II veteran who tried to book a D-Day trip on the 70th anniversary but was 30 down on the wait list. When a spot miraculously opened up, John got to make the call and confirm his reservation. And occasionally a couple will call to book an anniversary trip, and they’re so excited they’re talking over each other. The enthusiasm can be contagious. After all, “these are life-changing experiences,” says John, “We’re playing a part in this transformation.”
Blog
Overtourism: Save the Date
You’re invited! Come hear ATA’s President, Kate Simpson, speak on the implications of “overtourism” and how to avoid becoming a part of the problem when traveling. This insightful evening program is being put on by Smithsonian Associates on Wednesday, August 21st at 6:45 PM. Get Tickets Read more about the event, as described by Smithsonian Associates: “It happens to even the most adventurous travelers: You get to your destination only to find the lines are long, the crowds are pushy, and the whole experience is disappointing and exhausting. From Machu Picchu to Prague to Reykjavik, popular destinations everywhere are being overrun by hordes of tourists, turning a trip into a nightmare for many. But the problem isn’t just an inconvenience for the traveler. There are real and severe implications for the destination in terms of safety, sustainability, economics, and protection of environmental and cultural resources. Happily, there are steps informed travelers can take to ensure their trip isn’t ruined by overtourism–and to avoid becoming part of the problem. Join Washington Post travel writer Andrea Sachs, Martha Honey of the Center for Responsible Travel, and Kate Simpson of Academic Travel Abroad, as they discuss destinations to avoid, places to visit instead, and how to become a more responsible traveler today.”
Babson Connect: Worldwide
Babson Connect: Worldwide Babson College operates Babson Connect: Worldwide (BCW), an annual global entrepreneurship summit for the Babson community and global business leaders. BCW is a large, high-stakes event that plays a key role in Babson’s efforts to foster loyalty and engagement with their global alumni, encourage philanthropy, and build relationships with key stakeholders. Babson worked with ATA in 2017 as event planners and travel partners and asked us to operate the 2018 conference in Madrid, Spain. An event of this size and importance requires a full throttled, top-to-bottom delivery of services. With 400+ attendees, we managed a pre-conference Babson trustee trip to Portugal, configured and implemented the conference tech platform and app, coordinated two hotel room blocks, supported keynote speakers and panel sessions, hired and managed a production company for lighting and staging, rented venues (like the Madrid Casino), planned and implemented off-site excursions, and created both print and digital marketing materials. “Very well organized event. From an attendee’s perspective, the logistics, the content, the location, the social elements, were all perfect!” But most importantly, we proactively and regularly communicated and worked with the many personnel at Babson who had skin in the conference organizing game. In this way, we were able to appropriately set and manage expectations across multiple in-house decision-makers, thereby alleviating much of the stress that managing an event of this magnitude can cause. The event was seamless. In the words of one participant, “Very well organized event. From an attendee’s perspective, the logistics, the content, the location, the social elements, were all perfect!” We also earned kudos from CVENT, the makers of the technology application we employed for the conference. CVENT instructed us that we needed 10 weeks of lead time to launch the application. We were able expedite the process in record time (6 weeks!), matching Babson’s schedule. Relying on us to manage these logistics gave Babson exactly what it needed: the chance to focus their energy on building relationships with key attendees and donors, and laying the foundation for the 2019 conference that would celebrate the college’s centennial.
Smithsonian’s Oxford Seminar
Smithsonian’s Oxford Seminar In the 1970s, David Parry, ATA’s then President, traveled to Oxford with the idea of creating a “college” experience at one of the great British universities. A few years later, the Oxford Seminar was born, an academically rigorous program for life-long learners. Travelers choose course topics such as archeology, medieval history, garden design, or Churchill. They live at an historic Oxford college, eat at High Table with their tutors, and enjoy learning in an international university setting. This program has operated almost every year since 1979 with at least one partner. To ensure its continued success, past Oxford travelers are involved in course selection and tutors are selected for their ability to engage adult audiences. 0 years since our first Oxford program
D-Day Crossing: London and Normandy via the English Channel
D-Day Crossing:London and Normandy via the English Channel Crossing the English Channel as the Allied Forces did on June 6, 1944 is on the bucket list of many family members of the Greatest Generation. For this reason, we have operated D-Day programs for over 30 years. Each 5th commemorative year, the experience takes on added poignancy, and is now the jewel in the crown of ATA’s military history-themed programs. Participants visit key Churchill sights in London, like the War Room itself, and learn about the Enigma Machine at Bletchley Park that deciphered the German’s encoded messages. During anniversary years, they also attend official D-Day ceremonies alongside of British, French and American dignitaries. In many cases, family members of D-Day veterans return home from this trip understanding for the first time the true nature of their loved one’s wartime experience. Previous Next This program highlights how ATA can take a well-told story and skillfully weave it throughout an itinerary. The places we visit are carefully curated and showcase the destination through the lens of history. It also demonstrates the seasoned organizational skills required to manage a myriad of details, including securing official invitations for travelers to attend the official D-Day ceremonies. Our planning for the 75th anniversary began two years in advance, allowing us to secure prime hotel space and add departures as space filled up. After travelers were booked, we also communicated extensively with them to set expectation vis-à-vis traffic logistics, security concerns, and Brexit! In the end, all nine groups had very memorable experiences.
Why We Attend Women in the World
One snowy evening back in the winter of 2015, I made my way to a gathering of women in a DC hotel ballroom called “Women in the World.” The panels—made up of impressive women representing a variety of fields—gave me my first taste of “live journalism” as legendary writer and editor Tina Brown defines it: “vivid storytelling, stirring videos, and provocative discussions.” I was hooked! The following spring, Kate Simpson, ATA’s President, and I attended the 3-day WITW summit at Lincoln Center in New York, and have attended each year since then. This year, Kate summarized the activists, politicians, CEOs and changemakers that we saw on stage: “From Stacey Abrams to Hillary Clinton, from Ashley Judd to the Soloway sisters (creators of Transparent), from a Uighur woman fighting the detention camp policies of China to a Jordanian woman who established the first self-defense school for women in the Middle East, from exiled Masih Alinejad who started a social media campaign in Iran for women to remove their hijabs to Ibtihaj Muhammad, the Olympic medalist in fencing, from Indra Nooyi (former Pepsico CEO) to Cindy McCain and Glenda Jackson… The list of women changing the world was long and powerful.” Not only does this mini-retreat in New York feed our souls, it has been the catalyst and inspiration for us to continue to make our company better and stronger. Here are some of the changes we’ve made since attending the conference. We offer paid parental leave: Kate and I are both mothers who strung together vacation leave and sick days to fashion our maternity leaves, as many, many mothers before us have done and continue to do. We knew we could do better for ATA’s new parents, and set out to find a way. What began as a new staff policy of two weeks of paid maternity leave four years ago has become a new benefit of 8 weeks of paid parental leave for either father or mother. We no longer request salary history from job candidates: Requesting salary history in the hiring process disproportionately harms women who exit the work force more frequently than men in the course of their careers to raise their families. As a result, women can fall behind in salary. Our own instincts were validated at Women in the World when we heard Chirlane McCray, wife of New York City major Bill DeBlasio, speak passionately about her work to ban the practice entirely in New York. As a result, our hiring practices are more transparent than ever, and salary history is never a factor in determining a new employee’s starting salary. We established a diversity and inclusion committee: We are a company that embraces difference and celebrates diverse cultures, and we believe in learning from those who do not share our backgrounds, our viewpoints, our experiences. We embrace these values both within our work and our workplace. Diversity within the workplace engenders enriched innovation and creativity, as well as better-informed decisions and well-rounded perspectives. The ATA Diversity and Inclusion Committee, founded formally a couple of years ago, has drafted recommendations on promoting diversity in our recruiting practices and continues to lead our staff training curriculum. We remain committed to our philanthropic goals: Attending Women in the World reminds us that the world’s problems need passionate advocacy and a steadfast commitment to find solutions. We remain committed to our areas of philanthropy: diversifying the field of study abroad through our sponsorship of The Fund for Education Abroad, advancing the travel industry’s positive social and environmental impact with Tourism Cares, supporting displaced peoples through the International Rescue Committeeand conserving our local environment with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. We can’t wait for next year!
