Travel agents confirm direct is best

Once again HIGH ST and discount travel agents confirm direct travel booking is not only best it’s cheaper.

Retail expert Mary Portas was challenged to find a solution to one of travel agents’ toughest problems.

Portas, who was one of the keynote speakers at a conference in Madrid, was asked –

How travel agents could add value and compete against the online holiday bargains, that are always cheaper…

The question was – “How agents could stop customers asking for travel advice and then going to book the holiday or bargain cruise direct with a tour operator online.”

The question came up after Portas outlined what she saw as the changing retail landscape and how agents had to adapt by offering customers more service and more information.

She was told by agents that they already did that, but customers simply used the expertise they had been given to book online, often because it was cheaper.

Portas admitted it was a huge challenge as there appeared to be little agents could do to stop it happening or to stop operators undercutting them online.

But who in their right mind would pay a travel agent for advice…

However she backed the suggestion from a tour operator in the audience that agents should charge a fee for their advice that would be waived if the customer booked the holiday with the agent.

“There will always be under-cutters and travel consumers who think they know it all. You need to find a system that gives people back up and if they don’t use you they don’t get it,” she said.

Portas added that agents could benefit from a trend of customers wanting to move away from big corporations and buy from small bespoke operations that they could trust.