Travel demand does not arrive evenly. January sales, school-holiday windows and a single bad weather day can multiply call volume several times over in a matter of hours. Staffing for the peak is ruinously expensive; staffing for the average means the peak goes unanswered. There is a third way.
Why peaks hurt more than averages
A desk running at 70% utilisation feels fine. The same desk at 250% collapses: queues grow, abandonment climbs, agents rush and make mistakes, and the callers who do get through are already irritated. The damage from one bad week lasts a season.
The three options
Hire temporary agents — expensive, slow to train and gone just as they become useful. Outsource the overflow — cheaper, but the brand is in someone else's hands. Or automate the routine calls so that capacity scales instantly and the permanent team handles the rest.
What to automate first in a surge
- Availability and price checks for the promoted products
- Payment and balance questions
- Booking confirmations and document resends
- Simple amendments that follow a clear policy
Keep humans for the hard calls
Group bookings, complaints, complex itineraries and anxious travellers should reach a person quickly — which is only possible if that person is not also answering 'what time does the transfer leave?' for the fortieth time.
Plan the surge like a launch
Forecast the volume, update the knowledge base in advance, load-test the flows, and watch the dashboard live on the day. Review the transcripts afterwards and you will be better prepared for the next one.
You cannot hire your way out of a four-hour spike. You can design your way out of it.
