03 June 2010

State of travel agents: endangered species?

Not so long ago, prognosticators were cheerfully predicting the extinction of the live travel agent. He or she would be replaced by robots. Has it happened yet?

"Well, much like the vaunted Paperless Office and futuristic Hoverboard, this life-enriching, job-threatening technology still hasn't — and may never— happen," reports blogger Michael Valkevich in FastCompany.Com.

He said seven or so years ago, experts were predicting travel agents would be replaced by something called the Information Superhighway.

"Live travel agents deliver service that online travel agents have never been able to replicate much less replace, despite endless claims to the contrary," he writes.

According to Fast Company, OTAs don't deliver on the most basic expectation of a travel buyer: offering the best options based on price, schedule, and preferred vendor.

And one reason for that was evident during the volcanic ash crisis.

He writes:

"This is where the rubber meets the road, literally - when the next volcano explodes and your shoes stay glued to the ground, stuck in whatever far-flung limbo you happen to be, no computer is going to proactively re-book you or find you a hotel so you can avoid curling up indefinitely on the terminal carpet hoping to find a way to get home," he says.

The author acknowledges that simple domestic roundtrip and a couple of hotel nights are how you might leverage solid online travel tools, for either business or personal travel. But where you cross the line is as you get into complex international or multi-destination trips, he says.

They often require multiple layers of vendor-biasing, tax and currency adjustment, services fees and many more complications.

As travel technology leaders have observed, when it comes to disappointing travelers, software is rarely the limiting factor. The technology powering OTAs is advanced e-commerce material.

"However, what’s driving them is a strategy that invests in sophisticated margin logic and multi-level algorithms to get you to see, click, and buy what they want you to," he writes.

That’s where travel agents come in.

"You can stop sweating. Heck, here are people - live bodies! - who can actually find on their map the particular hole where you are marooned, which cancelled flight was yours, and what are your best hotel and trip options now," he says.

The author acknowledges that most of his trips were bought online until a few years ago when someone recommended a travel agent. He has since gone back to agents to handle his multi-thousand-dollar travels just as he hires specialists to do his taxes.

"Frankly, I couldn't be happier — I mean, about the live travel agent part. I'm clearly and justifiably bummed that Mattel never came through with the Hoverboard, though. (Isn't everyone?)" writes Valkevich.

By David Wilkening

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Your Comments (4)

Not zero-sum

Travel agents and OTAs are not mutually exclusive. Increasingly thousands of OTAs are storefront travel agents that are relying on local content to enrich the travelers' experience through B2B relationships with DMOs, DMCs and distributors. The B2B business model is working best in Europe but only has a toehold in NA. This is not a zero-sum game but provides win-win for smart agents who use online sources to enhance their customer offers.

By Alvin Rosenbaum, Tuesday, June 8, 2010
FINALLY someone in our corner

A real live Professional Travel Consultant with years of EXPERIENCE. PROVEN. INNOVATIVE. STYLE. QUALITY. VALUE. SMART. Often copied, but never duplicated! JESS Kalinowsky

By JESS Kalinowsky, Tuesday, June 8, 2010
It's the operator, not the medium.

Yes this could be the case, but as allways it depends on the travel agent you are dealing with and the Book On Line agency you are comparing it with. There are good and bad ones in both camps. The following is a not uncommon client (verbatum) feedback we receive: "Just revisiting your web site and noting recent improvements. Very good and user friendly. It gives you all the info a visitor needs with a minimum of fuss. Congratulations! Our booking experience was good. Your personal touch works for me and adds to your credibility as reliable people to deal with. Better than dealing with local travel agents in Oz who don't have your knowledge and expertise in the South pacific. Good Work! Just a note, be careful about Travel Agents, always do your own research to confirm what they say. Last time I used a Travel Agent we were going to New Zealand, they told us it snowed all year round and we could go anytime and ski. Very wrong. This time I thought I'd give them another go, different travel agent mind you, about 200km apart (-: This group of travel agents I asked about booking a holiday to Vanuatu told me everything was sold out and I had no hope of getting there over Christmas. So I went home and found many flights with Pacific Blue and Air Vanuatu still available, and as for accommodation, everything I looked at was available in both Port Vila and on the island of Espiritu Santo. If you're looking to plan your own trip to Vanuatu, I highly recommend visiting vanuatu-hotels.vu to look through all the accommodation and to book, they were quite helpful when I had some questions and got me a better deal with the accommodation. All up it worked out better than last minute rates for the same hotel

By john nicholls, Tuesday, June 8, 2010
AGENTS just need to work smarter

like specialise, reduce overheads, eg. rent. Many now work from end of a phone in low rent situations. The general travel agent might have a tough time, as can't be an expert on everything anymore !!!

By Craig Mathews, Tuesday, June 8, 2010