TravelMole Interview: Hugh Green, head of travel, leisure and tourism, KPMG
Consultancy firm KPMG has warned retailers they must change to survive after a survey found just one in seven Britons intend to use a travel agent.
The survey, carried out by YouGov on behalf of KPMG, surveyed 2,100 people of varying ages throughout the UK earlier this month. It found the majority of people would rather cut out the middleman and book direct, either by phone or online.
The study followed a report by Travelcare that claimed holidaymakers were paying more than they need to at the big agency chains, because they invariably recommended their parent companies.
Hugh Green, head of travel, leisure and tourism at KPMG, said: “Broadly speaking, we found that 14% of people plan to book through travel agents for their main holiday.
“It shows that people do not feel that travel agents are adding value.
“The trend is clearly moving away from them and they have to look at how they can remain relevant to their customers.
“They must get across that they have knowledge and service which is valuable.”
He said life would be tough for high street agents who were simply competing on price.
“A lot of people do buy from travel agents and that is not going to change overnight, but all agents have to look at their business and see how they can improve.”
Green said many agents had brought the problem on themselves by presenting a confusing price structure to the general public.
His comments echo those of the Travelcare report, which claimed the public were being ‘hoodwinked’.
“It’s not unreasonable to say agents have deliberately made pricing confusing,” said Green. “And there is not a widespread knowledge that agents and operators are linked.”
He claimed it was unlikely that many high street retailers would be able to charge service fees in the near future.
“There does not seem to be a compelling argument for it at the moment,” he said.
Read our previous interviews:
13-June-2003 TravelMole Interview: Mark Thomas, founder, Infovisual
13-June-2003 TravelMole Interview: Ian Reynolds, chief executive, ABTA
06-June-2003 Interview: James Smithner, senior analyst, Control Risks Group
30-May-2003 TravelMole Interview: Marwhan Khoury, director of tourism for Jordan
16-May-2003 TravelMole Interview: Ke
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