The travel industry has a long history of enduring and adapting to crises. Joint-CEO, Dennis Bunnik offers his view on recent events and the steps taken behind the scenes at Bunnik Tours.
The travel industry is well-versed with dealing with various crises. I thought it might be interesting to know exactly what’s been happening behind-the-scenes at Bunnik Tours these past few days.
Firstly, a massive shout out to our incredible teams who have been on alert (and preparing) since last week and who have been working non-stop since Saturday night.
As soon as news filtered through, our Emergency Assist (EA) Team sprang into action, reaching out to passengers about to depart and who’s flights were subsequently cancelled.
Through the night they reached out to our teams in Egypt and Jordan to get assessments on what was happening on the ground.
On Sunday morning our Crisis Management Team was activated and Marion, Sacha and I had our first conference call. During the day our EA team and myself were in communication with various clients overseas.
The crisis team comprises key managers from our operations, sales, marketing, product and finance teams.
By the time the crisis team had their first in-person meeting on Monday morning, we already had a full report on which tours and passengers were impacted, had established all clients and team members were safe and well, and had stopped all online advertising for the Middle East.
The role of the crisis team is to provide one central point into which all information is fed and where clear decisions are made and communicated from.
Following this first meeting I then provided the first of my all-staff updates so everyone is aware of what is happening and can take action accordingly.
One part of our operations team focussed on clients currently on-tour in impacted regions. We drafted communication to those clients to provide reassurance and let them know we were looking at alternatives for their flights home at the end of their tours. This was followed up that evening by phone calls and WhatsApp messages from our EA team as our travellers woke up in the Middle East and Europe. By Tuesday we had flights locked in for all passengers returning to Australia this weekend and into next week.
Other operational and sales staff concentrated on upcoming tours. Which departures will be impacted and what alternative airline options are there? In these situations, it is important to act quickly as there is a mad scramble for seats. The fact that we include flights as part of many of our tours is a real bonus here – it means we have the inhouse airfare expertise as well as strong and deep relationships with airlines. Our ticketing team have performed some absolute miracles this week!
Our sales teams managed the large increase in phone calls from clients and travel agents regarding future bookings. Again, these calls were about reassurance and providing practical advice. Similarly, our trade sales team liaised with our key travel agency partners to keep them fully informed.
Meanwhile, Monday was also a busy day for media. I had two early morning radio interviews (ABC Radio Adelaide and 5AA) as well as interviews with The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Adelaide Advertiser and the trade press.
On Monday afternoon, in my role as chair of the Council of Australian Tour Operators, I attended an industry briefing from DFAT (Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade). This was very much an information sharing session with the government to ensure we are all aligned and best positioned to help Australian travellers. This group will continue to meet every few days as long as this crisis continues.
On Tuesday, I joined a meeting of key CATO tour operators running tours to the Middle East. Again, this was about sharing information for the benefit of customers.
Throughout this process the team has performed sensationally. Whilst for many of us the scars of covid and other crisis situations are still raw, I am incredibly proud of how our team, our overseas and travel agency partners, and our travellers have responded.
*This article first appeared as Airspace Closure: When Experience Counts | Bunnik Tours. Republished, with permission.
