[Travelandtourism] Why Travel Agents Still Matter

[Mary Donahue]

Good afternoon everyone,

 

                The message below illustrates the importance of travel
agents in trip planning, the services they can provide, and how travelers
can benefit from using travel agents instead of the many online travel sites
now popping up on the Internet.

 

>From the Web Site: https://socialflights.com/blog/

 


 


Why Travel Agents Still Matter
<https://socialflights.com/blog/2012/01/03/why-travel-agents-still-matter/> 


by Dan Robles

 

 <http://socialflights.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/travel-agent.png>
Description:
http://socialflights.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/travel-agent.png

 

Things are moving very fast in the era of social media. As soon as an
airline makes a move, everyone downstream needs to adjust. New applications
are built a new competitors form responses. There is no "book" to read about
how to do business in this rapidly changing environment. So when a customer
has a new question for a new situation, they go directly to the Internet to
find the answer. And what do they find? Enter the online travel agent (OTA).

>From Travel Matter: Why Blogging Makes Sense for Travel Agents
<http://www.travel-matter.com/2011/10/17/why-blogging-makes-sense-for-travel
-agents/> :

Then sites like TripAdvisor entered the industry, allowing travelers to
access (and create) user generated reviews of hotels and booking travel
became even more of a DIY process, that didn't require expert guidance.
Other sites even let travelers find out which seat on an airplane has the
most leg room or which wing of a hotel has better views. Even guidebooks
began to show this DIY attitude, as Lonely Planet outsold other publishers.


 


DYI-mania


 

As more and more layers of DYI independence are offered up to customer, so
too is disinformation, incomplete information, conditional information and
thousands of "options" that mask the true value of the travel experience. It
is largely in the best interest of OTA to consume the "time" of the traveler
seduced by the promise of low prices. First, this allows OTAs to impress
more ads; and second, the DYI'er eventually get frustrated and click through
to the more expensive (profitable) option for lack of time to deep dive
through the details, restrictions, and caveats.


 


The Indispensable Knowledge Resource


 

All along, the traditional travel agent; once an indispensable resource has
fallen by the wayside. Some argue that the travel agent is to blame for not
reinventing their profession from "broker" to "helper". Perhaps being
technology savvy never entered the profession as it had for so many other
professions. Increasingly, the travel agent skill set is needed.


 


The Experience Traveler


 

Travel Agents have the ability to organize people around a set of events,
opportunities, locations, and modes of transportation. The experience of
travel is finding it's way into the value proposition of the decisions that
the travelers make.

Everything from social media to Google to Groupon has re-focused consumers'
attention on small businesses, and given local businesses the tools they
need to compete in non-local markets.


 


Few can aggregate local information better than travel agents


 

If given the right assets, they can put together offerings in anticipation
of travelers. Social Flights <http://socialflights.com>  is constantly
looking for that perfect skill set of location knowledge, transportation
knowledge, and concierge service to whom we can entrust an available
aircraft asset.

Travel agents can help redefine the door-to-door value proposition and
Social Flights is here to help with a full array of private jets and
corporate jets for private and public charter for scheduled service between
any city pair that one can envision. We are not the only ones; hotels,
experience tourism, conference and events all search for the elusive
traveler who has so many options but so little time. Travel agents can now
manage a scarce and protected inventory once again where their knowledge,
creativity, and skills still matter.

 

Peter Donahue

 

 

 

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