The doors of the small agency located rue de laonnaie in Rennes are once again closed. Travel agencies are, like all so-called non-essential businesses, closed since April 3 in the evening but not sure that this changes much to a situation already more than complicated since March 2020. Since the start of the health crisis, activity has never really resumed for the agency Delora Tourism.
“You can’t sell much”
Sandra Orain, travel agent since 1986 in this family agency, did the accounts. Revenue fell 98% in one year. “We have nothing left except a few train or plane tickets that we sell to businessmen or women. And again, there is so much teleworking that even on this side, it has reduced. “ It must be said that traveling in these times of health crisis is more than complicated and otherwise impossible to have real visibility over the months to come. “You can’t sell much. Many countries are not open, others are opening up but do not necessarily want French people or members of the European community, especially because we are not vaccinated enough“explains Sandra Orain.
Customers prefer to wait
Currently, the agency has almost no demand from travelers “because we don’t know where it can go, because we don’t know what the flight rotations will be, which can change at any time. My clients, who are frequent travelers in general, are waiting to see what will be laid down for us as new restrictions, waiting to see how the situation will simply evolve.“notes Sandra Oudin who recalls that if we can move in certain countries, it is not easy to come back easily in the event of contamination on site with the coronavirus. In this case, the forced quarantine is the responsibility of the traveler.
No recovery in global tourism before 2023
Very difficult to keep up in these conditions when you are a business. Sandra Orain believes that many travel agencies are not going to get over it. Being part of the Breton group Les transports Orain, which has a school and freight transport business in particular, allows it to look to the future a little more calmly. She can lean on a group that has strong backs. For the future, it relies on its very loyal customers. “Customers tell me that they will come back to see me, that they are just waiting for this. I think everyone has this urge to travel“but Sandra Orain has no illusions. She does not envisage a recovery in world tourism before 2023 or even 2024.
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