S2 Ep 10: The Return of the Travel Agent: Why human connection beats an algorithm every time

0:00Ready for that summer girl's trip you've always wanted? Join us this July for a dreamy summer escape to Mexico's Riviera Maya and the Bahamas from beautiful Miami. Five nights on virgin voyages resilient lady in a sea terrace room with balcony and hammock. This cruise is adults only and designed for the perfect escape. Spend the day in the spa, lounge by the pool, or dance the night away with friends. Don't let another summer go by without an epic vacation. For more information, visit travelbuggirls.com and click the girls trip tab. That's travelbuggirls.com. So the difference is a good travel agent that you trust, let's be clear, not everyone might be your perfect fit, okay? However, a good travel agent cares about you as a human, not just as a paycheck, as a human. I want you to have the best

1:01vacation. Also, if I am trying to convince you of something, it only benefits me if you love it because I want you to come back and work with me again next year and I want you to tell all your friends and family how great it was. So they'll come work with me too. So it only makes sense that I actually give you what you want so that you're thrilled and happy with that experience, okay? Welcome to the travelbuggirls podcast. The show where we dive into the world of travel, exploring everything from expert tips and insider secrets to unforgettable destinations and the latest trends. Whether you're a seasoned glove trotter or planning your very first adventure, we've got you covered with the advice and inspiration you need to make your travels truly unforgettable. So sit back, relax, and let's take your travel planning to the next level. Hello everybody and welcome to the travelbuggirls podcast. It's Kimi Kimmer here and this week we're going to talk about the return of the

2:06travel agent. Why human connection beats an algorithm every time. And we've touched on this before in the past, but I always think it's good to revisit. And this is definitely something that we get asked a lot. Even still like, oh, you still use a travel agent or why would I use a travel agent? You know, and everybody has heard a story of somebody who booked their own travel or had AI booked their travel. And then something crazy goes wrong. There's like a maybe a strike that happened recently in at one of the airports in the Caribbean. Maybe a construction site that AI didn't know about or a missed connection somewhere. I mean, there's all kinds of different things that happen that can really be rail your trip very quickly. So we've talked about this in the past, who like the travel agent industry is actually

3:06growing like pretty significantly. And so which is crazy because AI is also growing. I mean, like, AI is everywhere now. We AI is all the thinking for us. So why is a travel agent for street growing? So let's just kind of let's just kind of talk about that. Like one of the things there's a limit to why AI can do really. There really is and at some point AI is just going to start feeding itself like in a little circle almost. So it's like AI works on data and travel agents work from experience. So let's talk about that. Like what the what the practical difference is between data pulling from data and pulling from actual experience. Great question. I this is a topic we've been having pop up a lot over the last year. As AI becomes more popular, it's the hot topic.

4:08All the travel conferences last year and several interviews that I've been a part of. And my clients too are saying, hey, are you worried about this? And here's why the answer is solidly, no, I am not worried. I believe that with the rise of AI, we're going to have greater value in the work we do. I think we will be worth more in every way as travel agents. And I don't just think that about travel agents. I think that about service oriented businesses in general. Because there's only so much a computer can do for you. And computers can help us self-problems quickly. That's great. The strength of AI I think is probably in research and planning to an extent. But there's so much more about our work being beyond that. That is the base of our work that's where we start our job.

5:08But travel agents are really service professionals. They're about connecting with a client, listening to their needs, providing exactly what they need to the best of their ability, walking them through the process of travel planning, travel booking, and then travel. So we're with our clients through the whole process. If they have any needs along the way, if anything changes, if anything goes wrong, we're a real human that can respond in real time to those needs. AI is not like that. AI cannot do that. And so we also know that there are floods in those systems. Like you said, we've heard rumors of all kinds of mishaps with travel planning using AI systems. And a lot of this is no different than the systems we already had with DIY booking travel. Like anybody who's going on, the big conglomerates like Expedia, Kayaq, all of these big aggregators that are

6:10that enable people to book travel, which is what all of us were using before we became travel agents. That's how we were booking all of our travel too. When those were created in travel planning and entirely putting the hands of the average traveler, that seemed like a hugely forward. And it seemed like it would be the death of travel agents. However, what came out of that is the same that's going to happen with AI. And that is the lack of a human element creates a real need. Because anytime you've heard of someone who used one of those things, and then something went wrong, that's where there's no customer service. Customer service has died across the board in almost every industry, right? It's gone. There's no real people that can answer your questions and help you. Very rarely do we see success with that anymore. And so that is where having a real person who cares about your trip who knows what matters to you about it

7:12and is actively working to try to protect you and help you and support you in that is really valuable. And it always AI hands down across the board every time. Yeah, absolutely. And you just can't AI or the internet, they can show you the hotels with the most stars or the most popular. But we come across this a lot when booking in resorts. You'll have or hotels high in hotels even. You'll have a scenic view or a beach view. But I was just going to tell you, this is a beach view room, yeah. All right. But the personal travel agent is going to be the one to tell you like, okay, the beach view from this room is like a little one inch square in the corner of the window. There's a generator right there where it actually faces

8:14this group of trees and you're not going to see the ocean or whatever. Yeah, so you're going to have to look past the ugly parking lot and then maybe like way far in the distance or subit view. You know, still like that. Resorts are a good example because the other thing about resorts that I didn't really understand until I was working as a travel agent is that for example, if we just take the cancun area, there are so many resorts in that area that on paper look very similar. And the price points might be very similar. I mean, obviously you're going to have a high end and a low end, but there's like a whole lot that are going to be really close to each other. And they're all having very similar sales during the sales months when everything's off sale. And so how do you decide? And I did not realize until I was a travel agent that knowing what your client is looking for out of their experience matters a lot when choosing a resort in that kind of scenario. Because some resorts are really known to be the party center.

9:14You know, everybody's going there because it's the hip cold place to be and they're going to be blaring music till 3 am. And that's on purpose because that's what the clientele wants. And if you happen to put someone there that that's not the right client then they're going to be so miserable and maybe even really upset and then you're ruined their vacation on accident. Just because you didn't know, it was the best deal. It was the best price or whatever. And you didn't realize that you're putting them in the party though. Or vice versa. Somebody who wants to be, you know, who's like, I want to cut loose on my vacation and then you're sending them to the family resort. You know, or the quiet place where all the older couples go and it really is catering to them. Like knowing your clientele and what they're looking for matters a lot. And it helps you once you're in the know to mash them with the right location and that happens all over the world, these kinds of things. And so when we're starting out, we don't know all those things. We don't know everything we're learning.

10:15But this is why having a travel agent who really specializes in the kind of traveling you want to enjoy or the destination you're wanting to travel to can go a long way because they have done their research and they are in connection with other people who even know more than they do. And so they're going to make sure they bind the right fit for you. And so this is why it really is more of a value than just reading a few reviews. It's going to go further to have that person who really knows what they're talking about. Yeah, and you're not going to get that from an AI. Like, it's not going to understand the nuances of different resorts or hotels or areas like that. And I'm already hearing reports that people asked AI to plan their trip and then the resort didn't exist. Like, maybe it did long enough to be on the internet, but now it's changed hands or it got blown away in a storm. Like, it's not the resort isn't there anymore.

11:17Or, and this was having before AI, people posting reviews that aren't real, right? Life, photos that aren't the actual location. Like, that was already happening before AI became a part of our lives. So you can imagine how misinformation becomes used in a system like that. And that system cannot tell a difference between misinformation and truth. And so that is something where, you know, and it can happen to us. It's not like it couldn't happen to us as travel agents either that we get the wrong information, you know, it could happen. But we have a lot of systems behind us that help us to try at a different level to get the right information for our own. So that is that is one of the benefits I find as a job. We just have more information. We have more sources that are reliable. And we're constantly updating what is true today. What is true right now?

12:18Yeah, and even if, you know, we have a lot of connections with other travel agents. So even if we don't have personal experience with a particular place or resort or something, we can connect with people that actually do have. Like they're there at or they've been to this actual resort and they have person experience. And we share that information with each other. And AI, you know, just doesn't have that connection. It just does it just doesn't. So it's sources, but those are not updated. It is frequently they're not real people in real places telling. Yeah, yeah. Something you touched on too is just like just customer service. I mean, your AI planned itinerary. Like if your flight gets canceled in the middle of the night, like, what are you going to do? We're going to do. I have a real story that happened very recently. I have a client that they were traveling over the holidays to London.

13:20And then they had like two extra days. They wanted to go somewhere interesting that they could get to from London. And so they just had to go to Rome. Well, through a series of unfortunate events, it's holiday travel mostly was the big issue probably. But they relate and they missed their little flight on that day from London to Rome. And so then they got on the next flight. And we're able to get there. But now they're getting into Rome so late that it's like, do you know, half of our plans are already gone. We couldn't do any of the tours we had planned for that day. You know, it's 9.30. We'll even be able to have dinner. We've lost a whole day. And they were really upset about it. Because they only had a day and a half in Rome to start with. And so she messages me from a taxi going from the airport in Rome to their hotel. What are we going to do? And she's in a panic. And she's like, I just feel like we've lost all this. I don't know what to do. And I was so glad she contacted me because I immediately could say, here's what I would recommend for dinner. But you can also go when you're checking in your hotel.

14:21Ask them. They're going to know who locally right there next to the hotel is good and reputable and open late. And you're lucky at times eat later. So they're probably are going to be restaurants open. And then if you're still really up to it and you want to make the most of it, this is a great time to zip over to the Trevi fountain and see the Spanish steps and do all those things that during the middle of the day are very crowded. If you're willing to stay up late and take a beam and jump it, go on over there. And here's how to book a card. And here's how to do all that. And it was basically able to save their evening by giving them some ideas on like what is reasonable in this zone they were in because I knew just enough about Rome to help them through that scenario. Well, you know, how are you going to manage that when right when everything was wrong? Like she was able to just text me and be like, I think she really just probably wanted empathy. But I was able to not only give her sympathy, but here's some solid idea to make it better.

15:22And I just feel like looking back, I wish I had a travel agent to help me with our vacations who actually cared about what happened and who wanted us to have a great time and who was willing to listen and give ideas when I was kind of spiraling with them in a little trip, you know? Yeah, yeah, that kind of goes to my next point that I want to talk about was like, like I have on my email signature like a travel designer. So we are not just bookers. We're not just travel bookers. We don't just like type in your information. But we actually try to like design and create experience like a full experience for our clients where they're doing things that are unique and that are special to them in particular. Be all I'm just like checking off tourist points and stuff like that. I don't get the sense that all travel agents

16:23feel that way about it. I think some people do, you know, the reality is there are a lot of people that are probably like, this is my job. I'm pretty good at it. But I'm going to plan your trip and I'm going to book it and I'm going to take your money. I'm going to say thank you for working with me. And then that's our relationship. You and I both really enjoy what I would consider more concierge level travel planning. We love being able to, wow, our clients are surprised them with some service or idea that they wouldn't have thought of on their own that it's like exactly what they were looking for. And they just didn't even know it existed. That is probably our strong suit as an agency is we really love that part of it. And so we put a lot of effort when we're training our new agents, travel bug girls, making sure they understand you need to ask questions. Not just when do you want to travel?

17:24How much do you want to spend where are you going? We want to know what do you love? What would be the best surprise for your wife? What are your kids really into? You know, what would be like a real treat if we could do it within the budget? What, you know, asking those questions, what kind of experience are you looking for? What would be the perfect vacation? Not just place, right? But how do you want to experience that place? Because some people want really low key. They want to relax. They are stressed out. They need a time out. And I probably, we all actually feel that way, but a lot of people when they're on vacation, they're like, yes, but I only have this one week to have an adventure to see something I've never seen before to be able to go home and brag about what I did on my vacation. There's a real drive to do as much as you can and see as much as you can. And so trying to find the balance for those things or really leaning into one or the other

18:26for where the client's desires to be met is really special. But like you said, trying to find that extra special something they would never have thought of is my favorite thing ever. One of the trips I just got to plan, we are almost about to book it, is the cause ask. They were like, we want to go on this special trip our birthdays and what they were both really into in this show called Twin Peaks. And we rewatch it over and over. And I always wanted to go see some of the filming locations. And I heard that they're in these, you know, and so I found all the film sites. And I was like, I really love this area of America. They're in so I can absolutely play that. And I have been there several times. I haven't gone to see the film sites, but I have been so close I could have. And one of the locations is in one of my favorite little towns that even my local friends

19:26didn't know about. I made my friend Shan and go with me when I was in Seattle last two pulls bow, which is my favorite little town out town in Seattle. And she was like, I didn't even know this was here. And so we went and did shopping and have lunch and so picture asked everything that turns out. One of the filming locations for the lodge that's in Twin Peaks is in that town. So just it was fun to be able to pull out those extra little mega-symbolic. Well, you could stay here and you can go and have pastries at the, you know, Scandinavian pastries shopping pools bow. And you could go and have dinner here. And so it's fun when you can really fill in the blanks with exactly what it is they're looking for. And that is so far beyond what you're just going to find on a website like, I need to book a hotel, right? Like, that is number one. That is not even, actually not even tip one. But you know, it's like the base level of travel planning.

20:27And what you and I really enjoyed doing is a whole other life. Yeah, yeah. And you can't get that next level just from like a computer, you know, being a travel agent. You listen just as much to what they do say as what they don't say, you know. And everybody kind of has a different style in the way they travel. So like you said, some people are go-go-go. Some people are more a relaxed style. Some people like to have everything scheduled out. Some people just want to sort of go with the flow. And those all take different ways of planning. And a good travel agent is going to listen to their client and kind of suss out. Like, oh, you, what you're telling me is, by saying this, what you're telling me is you really like to travel this way. And so we can kind of tailor to, you know, what they're, what they might not even realize the way they actually like to travel, you know,

21:29but if you listen, then we can kind of figure that out. And that's one thing that you're just going to get from a computer either is, you know, that sort of deeper understanding. Yeah, yeah. I think that's why if you, if anybody is following us and our language around how we talk about travel, we really think of it more as a friendship that's developing. You know, we want to be your travel best friends. We want to be the person you go to immediately when you're like, I had this idea for vacation, you know, or I need to get out of here. I don't even know what I want. Gosh, I can shine in that moment. Like, I know what you want. Because if we've been going in a relationship through work, then I have been listening to what would really excite you and what would really rejuvenate you and help you come back and be your best self. So that is also I think the other element in our work with women is that we are typically working

22:33with women our age or just a little older. So we really relate to where women in life are and what they're thinking and feeling like, if it's not us, it's our best friends, it's our sister, right? We are in our demographic. So we understand the stressors and the frustrations and the desperate needs of our clients. And so like, you know, if I see a new client come in and I get that base information of like, oh, she's about my age, she's got kids about this age, like I can make some assumptions real quick. And then in a very short conversation, I'm asking in heavily, you know, you're gonna over share with me quick because I'm gonna go straight to the heart of the matter. Like, what is it you're looking for? What would be ideal? What does it need right now? And for everybody that's different,

23:35it's not across the board. It is different for everyone. So people really need family time, like in a serious way. And so people need the opposite of that. And a serious way, you know, it's, it really is great that we get to be that person who listens and hears what you're really saying about it and then gets to surprise you with all the best parts of vacation planning. So the other side of all of this, the reason, you know, if we go back to like the idea of why you would use AI or a travel agent is saving yourself time and reducing your stress in travel planning, you know, in both cases, that person is looking for some support, right? Because if you're just like, I know where I want to go and I know what I want to do and I know how to book it, then you do it, right? But a person who's going to AI or thinking about calling a travel agent is because they're like, I feel overwhelmed maybe.

24:36I feel overwhelmed. There's too many options. I don't know how to choose the right one. I don't want to choose the wrong one. When I only get this much time off and I only have this much money to spend, if I make wrong choices, then I will regret it. I want help making the right choices so that I make sure I get what I want out of this. Or I feel overwhelmed and stressed with the life in general and I want one last thing on my plate, but I still want to go on vacation this year. I just don't feel like I have it in me to have all these hours of research and planning and booking it and managing it and all of that. So having somebody like a travel bestie come along and say, hey, I'm got you, I'm going to handle this. You're going to show up and have the best time ever and go home a whole new person. Like that is ideal for most of the people we are helping. And so really the treasure there is a finding a way to reduce the amount of time you spend looking at all the options and the stress and worry of making the right choice.

25:39We make that easy as travel agents because we're going to come back to you with like the two or three best options and you then, and we're going to talk it through with you and so you can ask questions and like, well, this one's cheaper, but this one looks like it's in a better location and we can talk through like, how do you decide? You know, and I'm not going to come back to you with 10 options. Here's two or three. I don't want you to have to wait through all the trash. I've already done that for you. I'm waited through all the ones that don't meet the criteria and are still in your budget. And so I'm only bringing you the best of the best. Here are the three best, let's focus here. That helps so much. You know, in a land where ever well into a decision making, especially as women, like we make decisions day in and day out all day long for everyone and so to be able to just be handed like here's the best choices. Do you know how deciding? I can also tell you what I would do for me. I always do that only because I'm usually really excited. I'm like, if I was to then, I would choose this one

26:42and you know, save money here and do this one. And you know, so I think that is a real benefit of working with a real human who can help you get through that first part of travel planning. So you could just get to the fun part of the anticipation. Yeah. I mean, we've talked about this before. Like you can do a 30 minute consultation with your travel agent and then like you said, they'll come back to you with a couple choices. You take a few minutes, make the choices and then you're done. You're done. Yeah. You know, we, the great and terrible thing about the internet is we have all of this information at our fingertips. And I promise you, if you are wanting to go on a Caribbean vacation and you type in Caribbean resorts or whatever, you are going to get so much information. You could spend hours and hours and hours and then like you looked at so many

27:44that you don't even remember, which ones you've already looked at and which ones you haven't. So yeah, on the internet, you got so much information that it is overwhelming. And it's really hard to kind of know how to narrow that down to what is actually valuable information to you. And so you're looking at, you know, 10, 15, 20 hours of research later and your head wanting to explode and your eyeballs wanting to fall out because you've looked at your screen so much or, you know, 30 to 45 minutes on the phone with having a conversation with somebody. And like that value is just infinite, honestly. So much fun here. Yeah. And then you have that person who is behind you that you can message at any time and be like, I'm stressed about this. I don't know what to pack. I don't know where to go for dinner that night. I don't know what to do about this. You have a dedicated person who is invested,

28:45who is excited to have those conversations with you and talk it out. And that is so powerful. The other thing, you know, the funny thing and the only person who's been brave enough to say a negative thing to me about the idea of hiring a travel planner was early on. When I first started my business, somebody was like, why would I hire a travel agent? That was crazy. Like, they were just trying to sell me stuff. Like, I don't need that if I'm planning. I don't need you to try to sell me something. And I was thinking about that. Like at the time I was really hurt by it because they were sexy. And I was like starting a new business and all excited and then they were like not thrilled. And it really hurt my feelings. However, I've had lots of time to think about that. And lots of time to be grateful. Nobody has dared to say that to me again. But the truth of the matter is, if you let's say that person was not gonna hire a travel agent because they were gonna go online

29:47and they were gonna do the research online and then they were gonna look at all the options and then plan their own travel. That is how I planned all of my travel before I became an agent too. Okay, so that is the standard probably way that most people are planning their travel. What she didn't realize when she was giving me her little speech was that that thing that she's worried about is already happening to her the minute she goes online. And probably before that, probably on her phone while she's scrolling, probably anytime she ever watches TV, she's being advertised too by destinations and hotel chains and expedient. And you know, all these other companies are already advertising to you and they are trying to sell you something. And you think they're answering your question when you're like, I need a hotel in this place. No, what they're doing is they're prioritizing automatically what they want to sell to you, not what you want or need. They're prioritizing what they want you to buy. Yeah. And so that process that she was afraid of

30:50was already actively happening to her. She just wasn't aware of it. So the difference is a good travel agent that you trust will let's be clear, not everyone might be your perfect fit. Okay, however, a good travel agent cares about you as a human, not just as a paycheck, as a human. I want you to have the best vacation. Also, if I am trying to convince you of something, it only benefits me if you love it because I want you to come back and work with me again next year. And I want you to tell all your friends and family how great it was. So they'll come work with me too. So it only makes sense that I actually give you what you want so that you're thrilled and happy with that experience, okay? So there's no reason really for me to push anything on you that isn't what you asked for or wanted in the first place. It doesn't make any sense. All I want is for you to have the best vacation

31:51and then come back next time and have another great vacation the next year. Yeah, a good travel agent is really like selling you exactly what you want. Yeah, exactly. We're not selling you things that you don't need or don't want. Like, our goal is to give you the vacation experience that you want. So you asked for? Yes. No, the only way that could go wrong. Okay, well, I guess let's answer the worst one. The worst way that could go wrong is if someone did have wrong motives and they didn't see that bigger picture we just talked about and it is possible to push a product on someone that is not what they wanted and not a good fit for them because somehow the agent thinks they'll get paid more or something. That's a possibility. It's not an impossible thing, okay? But like I just said, it doesn't make sense in the long run. So any agent who's doing that is very short-sighted and not working ethically either.

32:51So we're just going to take that off because that's not how anybody we ever want to work with is working. So that's just straight off the bat. And let's just take that one off, okay? That is a possibility. But reality is what the only other way that could really happen is that you end up with a vacation that's not what you wanted is if there's a lack of communication or a lack of understanding on one person's part of the other. And it could be the person who's wanting to go on vacation they don't know what they really wanted. And so they think they're communicating what they want and then we give you what you want and then you get there. And they're like, actually, I didn't want to run all over Rome. I wanted to relax. Wow, okay, that's hard. Because now I gave you a vacation that didn't match what you really wanted. But sometimes you don't know that to work in it. So that's a possibility that could happen. So in, of course, you can have someone who doesn't listen well. This is why it really matters that you connect well with your travel agent. And every agent I know is offering some kind of introductory conversation

33:53so that you can have a moment to decide. Like, are we a good fit? Do I trust this person? Are they listening well? Do I feel like they really care about giving me what I want? So I strongly recommend that you have a short conversation either over the phone or a video chat with your new travel agent before you pay them any money. And see if you're a good fit together. Because that's when you're going to talk to a lot as you get ready to move towards your trip. And if it is a good fit, then it might be the person that might be the beginning of a long-term relationship with that vendor. Because that person now cares about you and your family and making sure you have a great vacation year after year. Yeah, that's a great point. The last thing that I hear from people is like, why would I pay a travel agent? Oh, it's more expensive. I can do it for free. And two things to that, a lot of times, travel agents can actually, we've talked about this,

34:56also get rates. We might have access to like group rates that aren't available to the public or we might have access to like packages or special add-ons or things like that that aren't generally available to the public. But also, most of the time, any additional cost also is going to be minimal and probably be offset by us being able to get you these additional either lower rates or additional value added to your trip. You know, like, can you speak to that a little bit? Yeah, we did some digging into our own numbers last year and found that on average, we ended up saving our clients around $2,000 on cruises. So that wasn't a real client, but some clients, they saved more than that because the rates that they were seeing online was higher than the rate we could acquire for them

35:57with our resources. And like you said, sometimes we were able to give them extra benefits. It can be on board credit or an upgrade or some other kind of benefit that they could have access for themselves. So on average, we saved them around $2,000 per cruise. That's pretty significant. And I never realized before becoming travel agents that that was even possible. Now, not all travel, are we gonna be able to save you dollars? Mostly across the board, we're saving you hours and hours and hours in time. We're saving you so much time. So that is, we have a lot of clients who are like, I have money, but I am out of time in patients. I cannot sit on the phone with somebody, you know, my knockout customer service. I cannot handle hours of research on which elasting cruise when they all look the same is the right one for me.

36:57You know, and so they are looking for someone to take that load off and that is where our biggest value comes in. But dollars, we're able to save you actual money when it comes to our insider resources or network. And so I feel pretty confident that usually we're gonna be able to save you money. Like if there's just a couple of situations here in there where I'm like, I'm looking at the same numbers you're looking at, but I can take all of this work off of your shoulders. You know, so I think it comes down to what is valuable to the person who is planning. A person who has all the time in the world and does it mind researching? I really would say, have fun planning your vacation. We can still be great travel friends because we can still talk about that vacation and everything, but you know, we can't necessarily have a working relationship. If you wanna do all the work and not pay me or my expertise, then we can be travel friends,

37:59but we're not gonna work together. But if you're like, I don't wanna do the work, even if I am capable, can you please do this for me? So I can just show up and have a fabulous vacation for once and just not have to worry about anything. Then yes, I am your girl. I am gonna be in behind you 110% and make sure it's the best vacation. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, I think that's probably a good place for us to in for today. And I think that was a really good discussion. So kind of my takeaway is like we can use technology, like even if we use technology when we're helping plan trips of course, but we use it as a tool to help and ease our travel planning experience and to enhance travel. But honestly, like when it comes down to really cleaning out the details, nine times out of 10, you're just gonna have a better experience with a human being helping you plan things out really.

38:59And helping you wade through all of that available information, you know. So travel agents are we're still here. We're here to stay. I believe, you know, I can't see a lot more of us. Yeah, yeah, I just, I think it's super interesting and I really do expect, like you said, the service related industries to continue to grow because you just can't make up for the human interaction and what a human heart and connection can do when working with a client. So it's not true. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm gonna remind everybody, if you like what you're wearing with travel blood girls, make sure you subscribe. Leave us for a few. We're on Apple podcast, on Spotify. We're on everywhere that you get your podcasts. We're also on YouTube. So leave us a subscribe and review and write and all the things and come back to join us again next week.

40:02So thank you so much, Heather, for joining me. I appreciate it. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the Travel Bug Girls podcast. Be sure to subscribe to get our new episodes every week. We'd love to connect with you on social media. Share your answer to this week's podcast question with us at facebook.com slash travel bug girls. You can find us on your favorite social media by using at travel bug girls. Want to join our VIP group? You'll find us on Facebook groups under TVG travel bugs. Learn more about the travel bug girls and what we do on our website at travelbuggirls.com. Until next time, keep exploring, keep dreaming and safe travels. Calling all full, enthusiasts and lovers of all things spooky. Join us for three days of spooky girl fun

41:03in the enchanting town of Salem, Massachusetts, led by our very own travel bug girl, Cassie. This trip is designed for women who revel in the magic of autumn, the thrill of ghostly tales and a tantalizing history of witches. Your adventure includes three nights in a cozy hotel, transportation, a spine tingling ghost tour and a guided visit to the iconic, hocus-pocus filming locations. Plus, you'll receive a custom swag bag they just for you. With time to explore Salem to storage streets and vibrant fall atmosphere, this trip promises to be a bewitching experience you'll never forget. Join us this October for our spooky Salem girls trip. For more information, visit travelbuggirls.com. That's travelbuggirls.com.