Last week I asked Travolution readers whether small travel agents can win over tough customers like recent Travel Weekly interviewee Chris Beddoe, who told us that she self-books online “because the only time I have to think about holidays is after 10pm”.
I offered a (slightly spurious) choice: should agents invest in technology, or should they play to their traditional strengths?
Here’s how the purple ‘un’s tech-savvy readers responded:
I think those agents that provide 24-hour, booking online are going to be the winners in the long term. It’s great that smaller travel agencies are getting involved in the internet, but having a site which doesn’t allow booking is pretty useless to me.
Darren Cronian
The Web lends itself perfectly for simple tasks such as flights, city trips, rental cars…but when you start combining these items it can easily take you hours. [People] will do it once or twice and then return to a savvy (!) agent because it’s still more efficient.
Walter
I think agents should harvest on the disadvantages of the Web but they should also invest in tech support such as CRM. Not only are websites becoming more user friendly, they also become more savvy regarding your preferences. Once websites do this properly, agents will need to focus even more on niche offerings.
Gualterio
The point is that “booking” is not where agents add value. It’s in “finding” and “recommending” particularly if what you want is unusual or undefined. Agents need new models that allow them to get paid for playing to their strengths.
DJ
Nathan Midgley, web producer
Source: Travolution readers on agents and time-poor shoppers
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