The internet and call centres, according to travel industry analysts, will kill high-street travel agents. According to data from the Association of British Travel Agents, 1,400 travel agencies have shut down in the last ten years. But is this the reality or the future of high street travel agents? Let’s take a look at it in-depth at how high street travel agents or travel agents are not dead yet and can never be. In fact, they are evolving and the future looks brighter than ever.
You still need a travel agent for complex itineraries.
Booking a complex schedule, such as an Amazon hike with side excursions to different regions of Brazil and Argentina, may actually take considerably longer than just sitting down in person and haggling. Therefore, customers still prefer a professional high street travel agent for guidance.
High street travel agent is more relevant than ever.
Even though we have some fantastic digital solutions, we’re finding that many consumers prefer to speak to a live person because of the current travel uncertainty. Travel is not the same as a commoditised item you may purchase at a store.The future of travel is a mix of internet reservations and personal experiences. For instance, border crossings are a huge source of uncertainty. There will be much more uncertainty, and therefore, it will be even more crucial to have a high street travel agent’s experience.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Many people who planned their own trips that were subsequently postponed due to the pandemic discovered that they had to spend hours on the phone trying to reach airlines, hotels, tour operators, and other companies who were holding onto the money they had paid for a vacation they were unable to take.
If you make your reservation through a high street travel agent, you have a professional on your side who has more weight than any one individual traveller. This implies that high street travel agents can create exceptional events in good times, but they can also act as a lifesaver in many efficient ways during difficult times.
Personalisation and recommendation are major misses online.
“Personalization” and “recommendation” are important online buzzwords and the main emphasis of most IT development teams in a world where the internet is widely used and online travel sites give millions of vacation possibilities.
Online businesses suffer from the aforementioned issues since most users never reveal their identities while searching on their websites, significantly limiting the data needed for personalization.
Compare this to a high street travel agent where the customer is seated in front of an “Advisor” or over the phone, who, with experience, can frequently identify the appropriate products simply by looking at them and who can ask them much more complex questions about the kinds of vacations and locations they are willing to consider, as well as their flexibility with regard to departure dates to obtain the ideal vacation.
Future travel is probably going to be considerably more challenging. It may entail national variations in vaccination requirements, quarantine laws, social seclusion, and mask-wearing practises. For all these reasons, using a travel agent who will have your back makes sense.
To summarise, here are five things that make high street travel agents more important than ever, and no, they are not dead but have reinvented themselves as we all stand the test of time.
- FlightsPro keeps clients pleased by assisting them in moving or deferring reservations without being charged cancellation costs.
- We are the financial planners for so many corporate clients who see the value of having a proper business travel budget.
- In order for the customer to have a pleasant vacation, it is our responsibility to ensure that they are aware of how things will differ and to assist them in overcoming any preconceived notions. Our travel experts can do tasks that you might not even be aware are necessary.
- We are aware of the health and security requirements for each place. Updates, modifications to safety rules, and assurances of care for our customers have been shared regularly by our tourist boards and partners. We encourage our clients to travel confidently once more since we maintain personal contact with our tourist partners.
- As the new face of high street travel agents, we have a website you can book through and also, talk to our travel specialists over the phone because, as we say, there is no substitute for a human touch, especially when it comes to planning something as personal as holidays. Work becomes task-oriented rather than time-oriented, which increases the focus on meeting customer demands.
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