If Only re-opens after switching to remote working
If Only was temporarily closed on Tuesday as it adapted to the new stricter government restrictions.
It was asking agents only to get in contact for urgent matters, and to email or leave a message.
It warned that transactions in the next few days may take slightly longer than usual amidst these ‘unprecedented circumstances’.
The operator will be focusing on the urgent repatriation of customers and on setting up all staff members to work from home.
"At present, If Only’s main priority is repatriating customers still overseas, and guaranteeing the safety of their wider team," it said.
Product and distribution director Gordon McCreadie said yesterday: "We will only be taking urgent calls today, March 24, relating to passengers overseas. We need to ensure both the safety of our staff and the continuity of our customer service.
"We all have a duty to do our part in preventing the spread of COVID19, and to support those caught up in the situation overseas.
"Today, our team will be focusing on the urgent repatriation of customers currently still abroad, so we would ask our travel agent partners only to get in touch today for urgent issues, by emailing [email protected] or leaving a message on our normal reservations number.
"We will also be using the temporary closure of our phone lines to allow time to migrate our systems, enabling all members of staff to work from home, as per government advice."
From today, (Wednesday) all calls will be redirected to a reservations team working remotely and it is ‘business as usual’.
"I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our valued travel agent partners and suppliers for their understanding and support at this time, and the wonderful team at If Only for all of their hard work and efforts over the past month," he added.
Meanwhile, the If Only marketing team has adapted its communications to provide agents with inspiring offers for late 2020 and 2021, encouraging the public to ‘Rebook their holiday. Reconnect the world’, and support the industry at this challenging time.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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