Travel agent: a job of the past?

It may sound provocative, but the title is maybe not too far from the reality as at 28 years old, I have never booked a single trip with a traditional travel agent. Even worst, once I went to ask for advice, but ended up booking my trip online. Shame on me, I know. I hope that this post will be my redemption. 

With a degree in Tourism Management in the pocket and a lot more maturity, I have now a better view of the added value brought by travel agents. But first, let’s put the situation in its context.

WHEN THE STORY BEGAN

We have to go back to the 19^th century, when a guy called Cook, Thomas Cook, started to organized trips for his clients. Then, with the paid holiday, this market exploded as more and more people were able to travel. Before the internet, being a travel agent meant:

• Give advice to clients
• Book tickets (transport, entertainment) and lodging
• Organize trips

DISINTERMEDIATION AND OTHER SURPRISES THAT BROUGHT THE INTERNET

With the entrance of Mr Internet, John Smith didn’t need Lisa the travel agent to book his flight to Miami, and Swissair could also sell tickets directly to him, poor Lisa. No need to move anymore, John had just to turn on his PC.

Lisa also had to face the arrival of the OTA, the online travel agencies, such as Expedia. She realized that she was now competing against giants that are existing only online.

Day after day, Lisa was losing energy. It was harder to open the doors of her agency every morning. When she was showing the different possibilities of trips to her clients, she often heard this sentence “but when I visit Kayak.com the flight that you are showing me is 150£ cheaper!”

When her niece showed her that she organized her trip entirely by herself, jumping from travel blogs, Tripadvisor and Airbnb to Facebook, Booking.com and Instagram. It was too much for her. 83% of trips of UK customers are booked online in 2017?! Does her agency have a chance to survive?

Channel through which UK customers booked a holiday in 2017

TODAY…

Hopefully, Lisa didn’t lose faith in her job. She is now aware that the competition has increased and that she has to fight harder. Today, she has now a solid strategy.

• In addition to her brick-and-mortar agency, she has now a website 
• She tries to maintain the contact with her customers thanks to a regular newsletter and a Facebook account
• She works with influencers
• She knows that she has to put forward her expertise

…AND TOMORROW

Lisa doesn’t want any other bad surprises. She is now taking part of an online master in Marketing with the University of Exeter, which is a good tool to help her to forecast the future challenges her job may face. She read about Artificial intelligence, and how it can help a company to customise its offer, for example how a reception staff, with data on the spa use of John Smith, might propose him a particular service. However, Lisa was relieved when she read, in the same article, the following: 

A spokesperson for ABTA, which represents UK travel agents and tour operators, says almost a fifth of Brits still booked a holiday in a travel store last year and that although artificial intelligence can help with targeted marketing, “it can be hard to beat the human touch”.

Lisa decided to update her profile on LinkedIn, changing her current role from Travel Agent, to Travel Advisor, after reading a post on Forbes. She completely agrees with the statement that says that “Travel agents represent a dying business that no longer serves customers. Travel advisors, which provide a professional service, are the future.” She knows she has to differentiate herself from the sources of information and services that can be found online.

Lisa is also trying to understand her customer better. She saw on the following graph that people between 35 and 44 are the most likely to use her services. 

Age groups and their preferred methods of booking holidays UK

She is also relieved when she reads on Skift that more travelers are using agents than a few years ago, and that research showed that 19 percent of travelers used an agent in 2016, up from 13 percent in 2013. 

This is why Lisa decides not to give up. She will invest in technologies, as recommended by a marketline report. She believes in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, by showcasing locations and hotels through in-store headsets or even via mobile devices at home.