A vacation trip is one of the most expensive purchases most people will make in a year, especially for families, honeymooners or small groups traveling together. This is why it's important for travel agencies to get a good understanding of the client's upcoming holiday including where, when and how much they intend to spend. But getting to the bottom of this is not always a simple task, especially when dealing with large groups.
A travel agent client information form is a great resource to incorporate in the early stages of the holiday planning. It will not only help gather the client's basic contact information, but it will provide valuable insights into their travel preferences, expectations, reservation deadlines, and other important travel information. This form will also help you save time by giving you enough details to provide possible quotes early in the process.
To help you draft a comprehensive yet straightforward client form, we'll go over some of the main aspects you must make sure to cover with every new client.
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Elements to Cover in Your New Client Information Form
While the main purpose of this form is to log important client info, keep in mind you want to go further into details to get a good grasp of how many travelers are part of the group, where they're looking to go, and all the information you will need to provide a proper quote.
While the specific questions you include may vary depending on the services your travel agency provides, you can use the following essential elements as a guideline and include your own questions. Here are some must-haves elements for your client information form
Basic Traveler Information
Begin your client information form by asking for the traveler's personal details such as full name, date of birth, address, phone number, and passport details (number, country, expiry date). You should also ask for an emergency contact including full name, phone number and relationship. For any other passenger aside from the main contact, ask for basic traveler details such as name, age and military service status (for discounts).
Travel Details
Next, gather all the fundamental travel details to discover the client's preferences, projected dates and other helpful insights into what a perfect holiday looks like to them. Here are some questions you may include in this section.
- Where do you intend to travel?
- What are your estimated departure and arrival dates?
- What is your budget for this holiday?
- What are your goals for this vacation?
- Do you want a more intimate experience or do you want more action and nightlife?
- What are your priorities for family vacation activities?
- What do you like best about your chosen vacation spot?
Special Requirements
To ensure the best service for the travelers, inquire about any special requirements the group may have regarding food, lodging, recreation or special accommodations people might need during the trip. Consider including the following questions in your travel agent form.
- Are you celebrating any special occasion during this trip?
- Do you or anyone else in your group follow a specific diet or have food allergies?
- Do you need us to set up airport shuttles for you and your guests?
- Do you have a preferred airline, hotel, or car rental agency?
- Are there any preferences in the group regarding airplane seating? (window vs aisle)
- Do you have any requirements regarding bedding? (King, two queens, etc...)
- Are there any special needs in the group? (wheelchair access, difficulty walking, etc...)
Past Traveling Experiences
This is a must-have section for travel booking form in order to get a concise understanding of the kind of locations that travelers enjoy the most. Most travel agencies make this topic part of the initial contact conversation as the client's previous holidays will be a benchmark to what would make their experience better. Additionally, by discovering what they haven't liked in the past you will be able to avoid such experiences this time around.
Here are some questions commonly found in travel booking forms.
- How do you normally travel?
- How do you want this vacation to be unique from others you've taken?
- What were some of your favorite and least favorite vacation experiences in the past?
- What has been your most memorable travel experience? Why?
- Tell me about your three most recent vacations. Where did you stay and how did you get there?
Travelers Medical Information
Trip planning requires travel agents to take adequate precautions regarding the travelers' health. If anyone in the group has a serious medical condition or physical limitations that could endanger their life while on the trip (especially when planning excursions), you should take appropriate action or even consider canceling the person's tour. Here are some questions that will help you gather this important client information.
- Do you or anyone in the group have a health condition we should know about?
- Does anyone have any physical impediments that must be taken into consideration when planning excursions? Please provide details.
- Do you have travel insurance? If not, are you planning to buy insurance?
Use Bonsai to Create Flawless Client Forms for Travel Agencies
With Bonsai's lightweight form builder you create perfect travel agent forms to help you easily onboard your new clients, collect testimonials, or ask for feedback from clients post-travel. Our forms are fully customizable so you can add as many questions as you need, modify the fields, select your preferred answer format and add a personal touch with your own branding elements.
Once you create the perfect client form, you can easily share it via email, URL link, or have it embedded into your travel agency's website to boost lead generation. Our software allows you to keep client files organized and view their responses right from the platform, so you can keep your entire client list up to date.
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