The Future of Travel Agents

The Future of Travel Agent Since the beginning of Tourism industry, travel agents play an important role in promote and motivate the travel need of people Travel agencies are still performing well on the whole despite increased competitions and external challenges However, due to technology development, people are travelling more and also have access to huge amount of information through internet These are hard times for small-sized travel agencies, as well as those looking to break into the travel industry The traditional reasons for people would approach an agency are growing less meaningful every year Why would you go to your local agency to ask questions about some faraway destination when Google can answer those for you? Why would you rely on an intermediary agency when you can, through the internet, find the accommodation or services that you’re looking for and book directly? The easy access to internet and a large amount of information make people become well informed, well resourced even more than the agents People seek for advice but also want expertise along with the best deal They, in general, want the knowledge and information that travel agents have According to the data presented in ‘Travel Vision 2020’ discussion, 65% people research about destinations through internet and they spend a huge amount of time reading the reviews – 15 weeks on average Though the do-it-yourself travel trend is increasing, the role of travel agents is still crucial With the huge amount of information, people cannot make decision The internet cannot meet their needs, leading to the confusion of where they want to go, what they want to and why they want to go there,… What they really need is someone to help them purchase something In this case, travel agents become the decision-making coach, not the salespeople Therefore, agencies can understand what travelers need, much more than the internet, and help them to create their desired and memorable trips It is clear that consumers will be empowered to achieve most of what agents can by themselves They just won’t be able to so as accurately, as quickly, as economically or with as minuscule fuss as travel agents can As the individual travelers are not their main target group in the market The main market of travel agents - business travelers or group tours’ travel needs will keep on increasing in the future Also with the technology and internet support, travel agents will soon all develop their online channel to approach their target customers In conclusion, there is a future for thriving and growing travel agents but things will be a little bit different Thus, travel agents need to:  Understanding customer trends and experiences they desire  Developing a highly efficient online travel agent system  Maintaining front desk sales (A highly trained and educated front desk agent can easily attract the customer to purchase for the products)  Updating and highlighting your own products (Because every customer looks for uniqueness and have a recommendation for any services Never provide the same products as your competitors and look for ways to improve yourself better) Hosco Presentation https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RZ_OpWcyQIVe2N4dN4PpI5hlkwaPdhII/view? usp=sharing ... any services Never provide the same products as your competitors and look for ways to improve yourself better) Hosco Presentation https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RZ_OpWcyQIVe2N4dN4PpI5hlkwaPdhII/view?