The internet has given the general public the tools to research, book, issue tickets and review their holidays from the comfort of their own home. In such a connected world, is there really a need for travel agents? I definitely think so, but I think we need to reassess the functions a travel agent performs and the value they can add to a booking to differentiate themselves from their online counterparts.

Before the days of the internet, agents were integral in facilitating travel: booking, managing and ticketing holidays was  not something the average traveler would have the ability to do independently. One could go as far as saying the public couldn’t actually book a holiday without a “Booking agent” and to be honest, I would pay anything to have someone else navigate legacy systems for me! Now that most Australians have access to the internet (90% internet penetration according to PhoCusWright) what function to travel agents serve?

The standard definition of a travel agency role in the booking process as taught to tourism students is quickly becoming outdated, but generally there are two business models an agency is said to follow:

- A “filling station” style of booking agent, providing a booking service to passers by a shop front. This style of operation lends itself well to businesses that have multiple shop fronts or franchisees.

- A Travel counselor role where the agent is a point of reference on destinations, airlines and general travel questions as well as a booking medium. Normally the shops are not as concentrated or may be limited to one independent store.

The filling station style model worked well during “boom” times as it is more production orientated rather than marketing orientated. What I mean by production orientated is that the businesses success depends on having a huge selection of products to suit the varied potential clientele rather than targeting a specific customer. The travel counsellor role is almost the opposite and is more marketing centric in its approach to building a customer base. These agencies specialize in what they do and are usually highly trained in specific destinations or types of traveler (family travel, business travel etc).

If we were to compare these styles of offline agents to the OTAs, its becomes easy to draw parallels between the filling station style and a booking engine, meaning that an online booker could nearly get the same service online as they could in person. The travel counselor role is a bit harder to recreate in an the online space. Sites like Tripbod try to recreate the personalized advice you get from an agent, but there isn’t much specialization for the average online booker. The “Every You” theory presented by Tim Hughes of Orbitz has the ability to give the online agencies a more personal connection with their customers that was previously impossible. If you haven’t read this yet please do so.

So how do agents survive in the online space? I am not an expert or a travel agent, so I contacted Nick Bowditch of Nick Bowditch Travel – Australia’s Family Travel Expert for some insight in to how travel agents are surviving in the era of the booking engine:

“For me, there is no comparison between booking something yourself on the internet and booking with an agent. There are a few reasons people book with an agent as opposed to just handling it all themselves on the net. They might not be familiar with a destination/hotel/airline and, providing the agent actually IS familiar with it, the agent can vouch for the service they book rather than the customer just going in blind.

Also, some people just prefer to have someone to take responsibility for their holidays rather than taking it all upon themselves if there is any problems with the booking, either before they leave or while they are away.

The third type of people using travel agents routinely these days are those who either are not able to book their arrangements themselves on the net or really just don’t want to.

I specialise in family travel and so I deal mostly with people who are taking their kids and in some cases other families and other people’s kids overseas on holidays. This can tend to add a further stress which dealing with someone like me just alleviates for the customer. They know that the hotels I book for them are specifically able to deal with families and in fact they prefer that kind of clientele. The customers have the peace of mind that the hotels they book with me wont necessarily be over-run with schoolies vomiting in the pool!

In my opinion, travel agents who have been able to adapt their business, move to the work-from-home model like I have, and utilise social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and MyTripQuote will be the ones who are still relevant in a few years time.”

Nick is a great example of an agent using the internet to their advantage.  If you are an offline agent leveraging the internet or more specifically, social marketing, let me know via the comments section. I am very interested to hear what kind of innovation is coming from those agents willing to take a chance on new technologies.

Photo Credit: Quentin Jones Via SMH.com.au