Middle East travel agencies that are only now starting to think about launching a website and moving into the online travel sphere are "five years" behind the times, warned Naz Musa, managing partner Gulf Reps.
Musa predicted that while consumers in the region had still not wholeheartedly embraced booking travel online - preferring to book through an agent – it would not take much for them to make the switch, especially if travel agents were not adding any value to their service offering, and were only acting as "ticket bookers".
“Agencies that are now thinking about launching a website should have been thinking about it five years ago," said Musa.
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“To make the client switch [from using an agent] to no longer leaving their house is not difficult," he added. “For many years travel agents here have not been getting the level of investment in training and product development that they need. You can’t walk into an agency here and ask about a destination, because [the agent] won’t know about it. So clients research online anyway and then book through an agency.
"There’s always a world where you need bricks and mortar, but that that market is about your staff being experts and adding value. If it’s just ticket booking they might as well do it in their own home.”
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Jun 12, 2011 , United Kingdom
At least 5 years too late but better late than never, as long as it doesn't take you another 5 years to learn than you will need to use the best quality .COM domain to operate online....if you expect people to trust you website with their credit card details that is!