Why use a Travel
Agent?
By David
J. Wardell
Today, travel can be booked and ticketed any number of ways: telephone,
fax, mail, on-line–direct with the supplier, a reservation center, an on-line service
company, or a travel agent. The combinations are intimidating to many agents as well
as to their customers.
What’s more, many people are predicting the demise of travel agents.
"Now that direct, on-line booking has become practical", they reason,
"travel agents are a vanishing breed".
Won’t everyone be booking directly through The Internet or some other channel?
How can agents continue meeting the needs of their customers if they’re going
to be bypassed any day now?
Before addressing the role agents play in travel distribution, let’s get a few
things in perspective:
First, the number of people booking electronically is very small. Despite what
you’ve heard, nobody knows how large the ‘on-line’ market really is.
The most recent scientific estimates put the number of people using The Internet
more than one hour per week (which isn’t much) at about 7 million in the U.S.
People have been able to book electronically for the past 13
years if they really wanted to: the fact is that there aren’t long lines
waiting for the chance to cut out their travel agents.
People have been able to book electronically for the past 13 years if they really
wanted to: the fact is that there aren’t long lines waiting for the chance to
cut out their travel agents. As more people get some kind of on-line connection, the
number of people booking travel will grow. But that’s a case of a rising tide
lifting all boats, rather than an emerging new market.
Second, on-line booking isn’t particularly efficient. Recently, a major
television program asked a number of airline passengers what they paid for their tickets.
As you could predict, everyone had a different price. The "best"
price was found by someone after 8 hours of research on The Internet–he save $20 more
than anyone else. It doesn’t take much to conclude that the effort was
disproportionate to the result.
My last trip took me two minutes to book through a travel agent. My
ticket arrived next morning with the lowest available fare–and I was upgraded to
first class on the return for the same price. It’s hard to argue that the
direct booking could have added anything.
Isn’t it true that some airlines offer "last minute"
heavily discounted seats through The Internet? Yes, but that’s irrelevant to
the direct, on-line booking question. The fact that people can save money by using
those services proves that selling cheap things at the last minute benefits somebody:
whether they used an agent is not the point.
Third, most people strongly want to
use agents. There are a few intrepid souls who insist they book it on-line
themselves, but I liken this phenomena to the people who stand in line at the ATM machine
when the bank’s lobby is empty; there’s no reason for it, they just want it that
way.
Several studies have concluded that if you tell customers they must not use their
travel agent in order to use an on-line service, they want no part of it–a fact some
travel industry vendors forget. Your customers value your services. They also
want the support a travel agent provides: if you booked it yourself, who can you
call at 3:00 a.m. when the hotel doesn’t have your room?
Perhaps it’s time to gently remind your customers why they use your services:
