Table of Contents
Introduction
We’ve made Virtual Travel Assistance for travelers easy, so you have time for what really matters in your world. Forget about using juggling long numbers of business. The impact of COVID-19 on the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry has brought the entire traveler community to a standstill. The countries that are solely dependent on tourism will take many months to recover post the crisis.
Starting from March 2020, many countries closed borders without proper notice and this resulted in chaos among travelers who got stranded in places for months together.
Many got anxious over not knowing the policies of the respective countries, and quarantine details and confused about how to book a flight back home. What if there was an assistant who could give the travelers clarity on restrictions, book the tickets on time and assist them every step of the way?
This is what virtual travel assistance can do for a traveler, anytime and everywhere. Read on to know more about the travel assistants, who are capable of creating a personalized approach for all the clients availing of the service.
The Best Virtual Travel Assistance For The Ultra New Concepts Of Travelling
Cheaper vacations, economical flight tickets, and improved lifestyles, all of these empower more people to travel across the borders, a lifestyle was far different from a generation that used to get awe-struck just by sitting in an airplane. Also, more people are getting visa stamps faster than their counterparts from a different century. Life itself is moving faster, leaving out no time to spare for those decision-makers around the globe.
Whether a person is a backpacker or a business traveler, a hope for a better assistant to take him or her smoothly across the globe is seen as bliss. Meantime, they get to concentrate on what they require to do. A business traveler would want to prepare a talk, a traveler might have to write a blog; these things need utmost focus.
A virtual travel assistance is a professional specialist who is capable of helping the client from anywhere around the globe. They are paid on a project basis and help the travelers in saving money. True happiness is to know that there are absolutely no ends to the list of jobs a travel assistant cannot accomplish.
Condensed list of Tasks a Virtual Travel Assistant can do
- Prepare travel itinerary
- Give consultation on destinations
- Involve in budget planning
- Book tickets
- Arrange for visa, currency exchanges and transfers
- Help with web check-ins
- Reserve accommodations
- Find best deals on hotels and accommodation
- Ticket cancellations and alternate booking
- Find out travel insurance options
- Schedule business meetings
- Answer calls while on travel
- Send emails
- Manage impromptu plans
- Book personal care and services
- 24/7 information support and much more
However, the dividing lines between business and travel are vanishing and ideas around travel are changing with new lexicons such as Bleisure (business + travel), quick packing, Greycation, etc. A virtual travel assistance can help all the types of travelers equally.
Bleisure is when a person is sent for an official trip; yet take extra days to check out the country or a place. A virtual travel assistance can help such a traveler to book the right hotels, find the travel destinations, assist in ticket cancellation, rebooking or getting any information requirements to enjoy the stay as much as possible.
Quick packing is a backpacking done instantaneously without a specific plan. For instance, if a traveler is quick packing to a country say Vietnam, a virtual travel assistance can help the person find the safe backpackers hostels, discover local eateries, travel guides, arrange for budget friendly transfers etc.
Greycation is an interesting concept. Many times people get to travel only after they get old. These trips make them extremely happy and give them ultimate joy. When an older person is involved in a travel, extra care needs to be taken. A virtual travel assistance can be a true asset to those wanderlust souls who lag behind in technological skills. Age is just a number anyways.
In fact, a virtual travel assistance can prove to be extremely helpful to business travelers who try to manage the bookings on one hand and finishing an important PPT on the other hand. All people in such instances need to do is to inform a VA of the date of Virtual travel assistance and place, rest everything will be scheduled on time and convenience.
Aid During Corona Virus Outbreak
Through news channels and newspapers, we learn about the apathy of stranded students and travelers. It took many days for authorities of various countries to begin with the evacuation operations. One cannot blame on the world leaders. Stringent safety measures are taken to contain the pandemic, travel is a secondary concern in such a scenario.
Many virtual assistant agencies received calls unusually high for requirements to find a flight, book a ticket, etc. in the last few months. Keeping aside these regular demands, queries such as what are the airport screening procedures, should a traveler wear a face mask or covering? What can I expect while entering a foreign country? demanded patient conveyance of information by an expert.
Those who didn’t have a personal Virtual travel assistance assistant had to wait for long call queues of flight companies and hotels. Lines were unusually busy as many lost jobs in travel and hospitality industry.
A remote virtual assistant can help you, if you are stranded or want to arrange an immediate and safe travel to a far away destination. There are people who went on to a beautiful honeymoon vacation in places like the Maldives and got stuck there, not having enough funds.
Then there are business travelers who had to stay back in a country, because of the prolonged project requirements. Whatever is the reason, hiring a virtual travel assistance during the pandemic time is a smart move.
One can gain
- 24/7 information on travel restrictions, announcements, flight resumptions and details of Covid-19 testing centers
- Contacts of travel companies that provide sanitized, clean and safe airport transfers
- Bookings with hotels and other accommodations that follow standard operating procedures
- Flight cancellation re-booking
- Smart itinerary
- Emergency contact numbers
- Facilities to attend the calls and schedule meetings, etc.
These virtual travel assistance can help with travel financial management too. Queries such as where to get the right travel insurance? How to get back the airline cancellation fees? I am stuck in a place, where can I get an immediate personal or the travel loan? One can get the right answers and directions by relying on a virtual travel assistance. Most of the people are going through real financial problems.
Over that, ATMs won’t be functioning; money exchange may not happen on time and one may not have a kith or a kin to help from an unexpected financial hiccup.
Travel management for an entire business is another virtual travel assistance forte. Arranging travel requirements for a group of executives based on company policies, fixed budget and offering real time support can be expected from a professional VA.
Perhaps, when someone talks about a virtual travel assistance or a personal assistant, a cliché picture of a freelancer might come running to your mind. However, this is not the truth. If you hire a virtual travel assistance from a reliable agency like Ossisto, all of them are well qualified and forms professionally successful teams dedicated to serve clients from various destinations. They are self-directed, needs no supervision and they are always a call away.
Know more >>>7 Benefits Of Travel Support On Your Business Trips
Functions of a virtual travel assistant
A virtual assistant will help you arrange for your visa currency exchanges and transfers when you plan to visit abroad for professional or leisure trip. Arranging for visa, currency exchange and transfers can be a big hassle while going on an international location. A virtual travel assistant helps you in getting all this arranged with the help of his or her team or through his or her contacts making your trip comfortable and hassle free.
1. Help with web check-ins
A virtual assistant helps you in getting your web check in done. This will help you to go to the airport without any stress your hassle. So, if you take the help of virtual assistant in getting your web check in done a day before your departure towards your travel destination. This will help you remain stress free, and you can plan for other things as regards to your Virtual travel assistance plans or move around without any hassle at the airport before your departure towards your travel destination.
2. Reserve accommodations
A virtual assistant will help you reserve your accommodation to the best hotel which is possible for you as regards to the budget which you would have provided to him or her. You just need to reach your travel destination reach the hotel which has been booked for you and just check in into that hotel.
3. Find best deals on hotels and accommodation
A virtual assistant will help you find the best deals on hotels and accommodation in the area where you are planning to travel. You just need to provide them with the budget that you have as regards to hotel accommodation. It is their responsibility to find you the best hotel accordingly which suits your budget. They also look into the deals which the hotels are providing so that you remain in a good standard hotel without burning your pocket for it.
4. Ticket cancellations and alternate booking
A virtual assistant will help you find alternate bookings if you have to cancel your bookings in case of an emergency. They help you in regard to re booking of your trip as regards to your revised travel plan. They will help you get the best deals as regards to the revised travel plan which you have decided according to your present circumstances.
5. Find out travel insurance options
A team of virtual assistant, travel planning virtual assistant, virtual assistant for travel agent, virtual booking assistant, online booking assistant and virtual travel consultant will help you find the best travel insurance option which can be available for you while you are planning to travel. They look at the rates of various travel insurance options which can be available for you at the best rates according to your budget.
They also look at the type of insurances which could be required by you while you are Virtual travel assistance or at the destination where you are while on a holiday or on a business trip. This will help you to remain secure while you are on your business trip or enjoying your holiday in case of any emergency which comes up while you are at your trip.
6. Schedule business meetings
A team of virtual assistant, travel planning virtual assistant, virtual assistant for travel agent, virtual booking assistant, online booking assistant and virtual travel consultant will help you schedule your business meetings if you are planning to go on a business trip. They will help you schedule your business meetings as per your convenience and the convenience of the person who is planning to meet you on your business trip.
This is important as convenience of both the parties is needed as regards to having a successful business meeting which will help you have a fruitful and a successful business trip.
7. Answer calls while on travel
A virtual assistant can answer your calls while you are travelling as regards to something which comes up which is important as per your Virtual travel assistanceplans , business meetings or anything urgent which has come up while you are travelling and if they are certain changes which need to be done as regards to what all has come up after attending to the call then it is the job of the virtual travel assistant to make those changes and make sure that the travel plans go smoothly after making the required changes to the trip.
8. Send emails
A virtual assistant has to send emails to all the companies which they has contacted while making travel arrangements for your smooth travel experience. This is done so as to take confirmation of all the bookings which have been done for the required days when you are planning to travel. This is done to make sure that everything which was required to be done for the smooth travel experience has been done and the trip will go on smoothly.
9. Manage impromptu plans
A virtual assistant will help you manage your impromptu plans. These situations can come up when you have made a different plan as regards to your original travel plan due to an emergency or a change in mind of visiting a different place while you are on your trip. For example, you plan to visit a city nearby to the city you have gone for a holiday or a business trip as someone you have met while you are enjoying your trip suggested you go for it.
An example of this will be if you have planned a trip to Mumbai and while on that trip someone has suggested that you can also go to Pune for side seeing and you suddenly plan a trip to Pune. In that situation a travel virtual assistant will make impromptu bookings for you in a hotel which is in Pune. They will also make other arrangements which could be required by you while you are in Pune.
Virtual assistant will also make impromptu plans as regards to any emergency which can come up while you are on your trip. For example, your health deteriorates while on the trip or they are certain emergencies because of which you have to prepone or postpone your trip.
A virtual assistant will help you in such a situation they will help you in making your impromptu travel plans whenever it is required which will help you remain stress free during your trip.
10. Book personal care and services
A virtual assistant will help you book personal care and services which you will require while you are on your trip. The virtual travel assistant will check if the services which you need are at the hotel where you are planning to stay if that is available it is well and good but if they are not available then they will try and accommodate you in a hotel where all these facilities are available.
If these facilities are not available in any hotel, then they will look for places which are near your hotel where the facilities which you require are available. So that you enjoy your trip without any discomfort.
11. 24/7 information support and much more
A virtual assistant will help you give 24/7 information support and much more facilities some of which have been already mentioned in the article.
So basically A team of virtual travel assistant , travel planning virtual assistant , virtual assistant for travel agent , virtual booking assistant , online booking assistant and virtual travel consultant is always available for you whenever or wherever you require them to be at your service from the time you have planned your trip guiding you in your planning of the trip and also helping you perform all the other tasks mentioned in the blog above.
They are available for you even if you require them in any emergency or any change which has come up while you are at your trip. So, a team of virtual assistant, travel planning virtual assistant, virtual assistant for travel agent, virtual booking assistant, online booking assistant and virtual travel consultant are a source of constant support and guide for you from the starting to the ending of your trip.
Future of virtual assistance in Travel planning
It is likely that people will use the services of a virtual assistant while planning their future holiday or business tours. This is because these virtual assistants make the life of their client really easy and stress free through the functions, they perform in planning their client’s tour. The support they provide in emergency situations while their client is on tour. So basically, they make the life of their client stress free while they are on tour.
They also take away a lot of stress out of the person before that person goes for his or her business tour. No matter how smart or a travelling enthusiast a person is. We cannot hide from the fact that tour planning involves a lot of hassle to the person now let us see why it is a big hassle for a common person to plan a tour.
Why tour planning can be a big hassle for common people
Tour planning can be a big hassle for common people as it involves a lot of activities like booking tickets of the mode of transport booking hotels, booking, cabs and also taking the tickets of the places you want to visit as a tourist. These things can take a lot of time and effort and you end up spending a lot more money than you had expected to spend on your tour. So, you end up spending a lot of time and money.
Even then you are not able to enjoy the trip as much as you had desired for. On the other hand, a virtual assistant can help you enjoy your trip as per your desires and in the budget, you had asked him or her to plan the trip. So, it is recommended that you leave the planning of your tour to the virtual assistant and look after the things which you can manage easily like the cloths you want to wear on the tour.
How to prepare for your business meeting or the activities which you plan to do on the tour. Be stress free and happy while you are on the tour. Let the stress be handled by your virtual assistant.
How to choose the right virtual travel assistant
Once you have decided to hire a virtual assistant for your travel planning then you should also be knowing as to how to choose the right virtual assistant for your travel planning you need to keep the following things in mind before finalising your virtual assistant for your travel planning. The things which you need to keep in mind while you hire a virtual assistant for travel planning are the following.
Experience You need to see how experienced your virtual assistant in tour is planning how many people has that person worked with and what are the reviews of the people they has served regarding the service provided by that person.
Availability You need to know the availability of the virtual assistant whom you are planning to hire for your tour planning how much time can that person commit on your tour planning and how much support can that person provide while you are on your tour. Hire an assistant who has ample time for you while you are on tour as mentioned above you might require the assistance of your virtual assistant at any time while you are on tour.
Budget Lastly you need to know your budget which you have kept for hiring the services of a virtual assistant for your tour management. Hire a person who is ready to help you by charging the amount which you had thought of paying while you had decided to hire a virtual assistant for your tour planning.
Keeping the following things into account while deciding to hire a virtual assistant for your tour planning will greatly benefit you and they are high chances that you will be stress free during the tour and you will be able to enjoy to the fullest while you are on your tour.
Suggestions
Having a virtual assistant is a great way of planning your trip as that person has a lot of knowledge and experience of planning the trip of his or her clients as per their requirement. You still need to keep the followings things in mind while you are thinking of hiring a virtual travel assistant for helping you plan your trip which are.
Your budget You also need to know your budget which you have allotted to pay a virtual travel assistant for his or her service if you do not have the budget to avail the services of a virtual travel assistant and you are in the habit of planning your travel plans on your own
Then taking the services of a virtual travel assistant is of no use but yes if you just want to relax and leave the planning of your travel on to someone else and you afford to pay a virtual travel assistant Then you must avail their services as it has a lot of advantages as mentioned above.
Conclusion
Hiring a virtual assistant is a great idea if you want to have a great travelling experience without much of stress but you also need to keep a few things in mind while doing this. You need to share each and every detail of your travel plan to the travel virtual assistant or his or her team in order to get the best services which they can provide in order to make your trip memorable.
You also need to have patience with the virtual assistant when you make impromptu travel plans as they may take time to get your impromptu booking done because of various other factors like non availability of tickets or they might be working on some other project.
Gain additional knowledge about Virtual Assistance >>> Virtual Assistance
Skills we use in Ossisto >>> Virtual Assistant Skills
FAQ's
1. Who is a virtual travel assistant
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, lu A virtual travel assistant is a person who helps you plan your travel plans, executes the plans and is a person who is a constant guide to his or her client to when the client has planned the trip till the time the client has not returned home from his or her trip ctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
2. How do you become a virtual travel assistant
Any graduate or a high school dropout can become a virtual travel assistant provided they has interest in the travel industry. You can look for jobs of a virtual assistant near the area you reside in. Take interest in the job try and take up as many projects as you can to gain experience. Post your achievements online to get noticed slowly and steadily you will be able to establish yourself as a virtual travel assistant
3. Who is eligible for virtual travel assistant
Any graduate or high school dropout is eligible to become a virtual travel assistant. Provided that the person who wants to become a virtual travel, assistant is interested in that particular field. The person who wants to become a virtual travel assistant has to look for jobs in that field try and execute as many projects as possible while on the job post his or her achievements online to get noticed. Slowly and steadily the person will be able to establish himself or herself in that field
4. How can a virtual assistant help a travel agent
A virtual assistant can help a travel agent by helping him or her know the best offers or deals on air tickets, or any transport from where the client wants to travel to his or her destination. They can also help him or her search for the best deals or offers on the hotels where the client is preferring to stay. A travel agent can hire a virtual travel assistant if They has too much work to do in the office and needs assistance in planning the trips of his or her clients
5. Benefits of hiring a virtual travel assistant
The benefits of hiring a virtual travel assistant are that you need not get into the hassle of planning your trip. You can get a planned trip and support throughout the duration of your trip. Its service will help you remain stress free during the duration of your trip.
6. Can virtual assistance help with travel
Virtual assistance is very helpful while planning your travel. It helps you get the best deals for your travel within the budget you have allocated to spend on your travel. So, in simple words virtual assistance makes sure that your travel plans go on smoothly as possible
7. What are the key responsibilities of a virtual travel assistant in helping travellers plan their trips
A virtual travel assistant has to make sure that his or her client has a hassle-free trip within the budget they have allocated to spend on their travel. They has to make sure that his or her client have a hassle experience while they are on tour and if the client any assistance from them during the planning of the tour and on tour, they should be ready to provide that to his or her client
8. What software and tools are commonly used by virtual travel assistants to coordinate travel arrangements efficiently
Software’s and tools which are commonly used by virtual travel assistants to coordinate travel arrangements efficiently are the websites or apps which have the best deals to make sure that his or her client trip is arranged within the budget given to that person by the client and that trip is comfortable too. Some of the tools and software’s which can be used are google calendar, Signature, Ezus , Travel Perk and We travel
9. What are the emerging trends in the virtual travel assistant industry and how do they impact the demand for these services in the travel sector
The emerging trend in the virtual travel assistant industry is that new apps are emerging every single day with really good offers for travellers to avail while travelling. A virtual travel assistant needs to be tech Savey to be successful in this field. They has to search on various websites or apps to get the best deals for his or her client.
