Las Vegas travel agents have stayed busy during the pandemic, though the job has changed

Earlier this summer, Las Vegas travel agent Frank Nardiello helped a group of 10 arrange a trip to Mexico.

Since there were no restrictions for U.S. citizens traveling to that country, two of the 10 figured it wouldn’t be an issue if they remained unvaccinated for the trip. That turned out to be a costly decision. Both unvaccinated travelers, Nardiello said, tested positive for COVID-19 while on their vacation.

One had to be put on a respirator, and both eventually had to be medically airlifted back to the U.S. at a cost of more than $27,000 each.

“It turned out to be a very expensive trip,” Nardiello said recently from his Paradise Travel office near Sun City Summerlin.

It was the type of complicated situation travelers can easily find themselves in these days, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt global travel.

Paradise Travel, which Nardiello runs with his wife, Ellen, has stayed afloat since the onset of the pandemic partly because of its loyal customer base. The Nardiellos have spent the past 28 years building that foundation. They’ve also had to change the way they do business in the era of COVID-19, a common tale within the travel advisor industry.

“We do a lot of research now,” Frank Nardiello said. “We move a lot of things around. People will do some research online about where they want to go but then call us to confirm information.”

On this day, the couple helped one set of customers plan a Mexican Riviera cruise over Thanksgiving and another with a planned trip to Hawaii, also over the holidays.

In a sense, the Nardiellos—and other Las Vegas Valley travel advisors—are also “travel counselors” now. They spend time going over all of the different travel requirements, restrictions and contingency plans. And any or all of those guidelines can change without much notice.

“We’ve been able to get by, and we’re certainly busy,” Nardiello said. “We’re putting in more time now, but we aren’t necessarily doing more business. When we call airlines, for instance, we could have a three- or four-hour wait on the phone. We’re at their mercy.”

At Paradise, a small office in a strip mall, plexiglass dividers now sit atop desks to separate customers from employees. Since the Nardiellos began working from the office again, walk-in business has not been permitted, only by appointment or over the phone.

Some boxes could be seen in the back of the office area. Those, he said, were filled with old brochures. The business, which has about half of its customer base in Southern Nevada, hasn’t received any new brochures since the start of the pandemic.

As the popularity of do-it-yourself online travel sites like Expedia and Priceline grew in popularity during the internet age, a popular belief was that many travel advisors would be forced out of business. Instead, business opportunities have broadened for many in the advisor field, Nardiello said.

“When the internet took over, it actually helped my business,” he said. “People still have a lot of questions to ask. It kind of helped to funnel work down to us. Sure, many of the people who are going away for short trips, for two or three days, will go on Travelocity and do it all online. But the person that wants to go a cruise or a tour, spending $4,000 or $5,000 or more, wants to talk to somebody.”

Abby Lagman, founder of Henderson-based Blissful Travel Company, agreed with Nardiello. She said the convenience of contracting someone else to work out travel details can be worth a lot to a consumer.

“The pandemic has boosted the importance of the travel advisor,” Lagman said. “At the start of the pandemic, people who used sites like Expedia to book travel were on the phone for hours trying to change plans or get information or refunds. For many, those experiences solidified the importance of having an advisor.”

In a statement before heading to Chicago for the organization’s annual conference this month, American Society of Travel Advisors Zane Kerby said the pandemic has “underscored the value of working with a travel advisor.”

As the delta variant has taken off in the U.S. and abroad, more would-be travelers have shown more caution in recent weeks. The variant—and the changes it can bring on weekly or daily basis—is one more aspect on which travel advisors in the Las Vegas Valley keep tabs.

“People are ready to travel,” Ellen Nardiello said. “It’s just a matter now of being up to date on all the restrictions. There’s always something these days.”