To select a destination, a traveller has always had to access information on its location, to reserve the trip and to plan the time to do it.
In the past, he relied on the travel agent to get information on the business or holiday destination. Today, the web brings at its finger tips a wealth of information on the destination location through detailed descriptions, pictures, videos, etc… Social networking websites also bring him the opinions and advices of other travellers.
The same was true for the reservation. The travel agent had established relationships with the airlines, the hotels, the tour operators. The web has suppressed that intermediary link and the traveller is now in direct contact with the various service suppliers and tools are provided to find dates, to compare prices or to run simulation to find the best package,.
Before, it was a long process to book a holiday or a business trip. Agents had to check with the various players on availability of dates, seats, and prices and wait for their responses etc ... This took some time and planning. Today all this is available online. Modern travellers are busy with their professional and personal lives and tend to wait until the last minute to find the best deal. Therefore, they prefer make reservations from home or their desk at the office whenever they have time.
Does this mean that travel agents will disappear? Certainly, they cannot compete in their traditional form with the services provided by the web. However, some travellers are always in need of some human help to plan their trips. This explains why some sites (for example travelwizard.com) are now providing online advices to travellers wanting to book online. This is may be the biggest revolution!
In the past, he relied on the travel agent to get information on the business or holiday destination. Today, the web brings at its finger tips a wealth of information on the destination location through detailed descriptions, pictures, videos, etc… Social networking websites also bring him the opinions and advices of other travellers.
The same was true for the reservation. The travel agent had established relationships with the airlines, the hotels, the tour operators. The web has suppressed that intermediary link and the traveller is now in direct contact with the various service suppliers and tools are provided to find dates, to compare prices or to run simulation to find the best package,.
Before, it was a long process to book a holiday or a business trip. Agents had to check with the various players on availability of dates, seats, and prices and wait for their responses etc ... This took some time and planning. Today all this is available online. Modern travellers are busy with their professional and personal lives and tend to wait until the last minute to find the best deal. Therefore, they prefer make reservations from home or their desk at the office whenever they have time.
Does this mean that travel agents will disappear? Certainly, they cannot compete in their traditional form with the services provided by the web. However, some travellers are always in need of some human help to plan their trips. This explains why some sites (for example travelwizard.com) are now providing online advices to travellers wanting to book online. This is may be the biggest revolution!
Good choice of article - do you think Travel Agents will be replaced by online travel advisors...or do you think Travel Agents will use online resources to better advise their clients?
RépondreSupprimerInternet is definitely the new weapon of the traveller. With the example of Travelwizard it confirms that we are loosing the human contact! Today even the advices are no longer "physical". Unfortunately, I think that all the new tools of internet can delete “traditional” tourism employment.
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