My Travel Agent – An Angel on My Shoulder
At an ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) convention in New Orleans in 1996 one of the guest speakers warned us that “the day of the ‘Mom and Pop’ travel agencies was at an end.” His explanation was that the big guys were beginning to buy up or squeeze out the independent travel agents and it would only be a matter of time before there would be no more unaffiliated travel businesses. He also advised us that we better become familiar with this new thing called the Internet because it was going to be our new mode of business.
The woman sitting next to me was not impressed. At 60, she had built up an agency with a loyal clientele and had no interest in selling out to the giants. In addition she exclaimed, “I’ll be damned if my people would ask a computer the best way to get to Tahiti!” With that she got up and walked out muttering, “Well this was a waste of time!” Then she ducked into the next room where the topic revolved around traveling to former East Block countries.
Well, we all know that she was shouting into the darkness about the changes being made but she was not altogether wrong. Because according to an article on ClickZ here is how it stands with regards to the traveler in the latter part of this decade:
8% are dedicated Web users and rely on mobile applications.
23% are heavy, pragmatic tech users who use gadgets to to keep up with social networs or to be productive at home.
10% rely on mobile devices for voice, text, or entertainment communications.
49% use devices only occasionally, and many of these users resent all electronic connectivity.
So, it would seem that the trend is toward digital marketing however, despite my reliance on electronic gadgets to some extent, I still have my foot in the 49%. I like connecting to a “humanoid” and especially for traveling:
Why do I like Francis, my agent?
1. She’s been in the business 30 years and understands travel.
2. She travels 4-5 times a year and attends travel conventions.
3. She can juggle numerous items at once and rarely drops the ball.
4. She knows where to look for bargains or can access the internet to find any for me.
5. I can phone her in a pinch and she can get me flight, a hotel room or a rental car.
Yes, and Francis lets me know other items that online sites can’t tell me:
1. What formerly-great hotel in the Dominican is having management problems (and that I should avoid staying there again).
2 . What is going on in the industry that affects my travel plans and she can have informed choices for me. These could be important items that even pouring over RSS feeds might never be revealed to me.
Sure, in a tight situation I will turn to Expedia for a hotel room or something like that. And I will pop off a quick flight on Air Miles. But for trip like taking my family overseas having Francis over see the plans is like having an angel on my shoulder.
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