Time to up the innovation stakes?

Travel agents have come in for a barrage of criticism for a lack of creativity — but is this fair and why aren’t agents thinking out of the box?

Tourism boards have been expressing frustration at a lack of innovation employed by the travel trade when it comes to selling travel.

According to Karim Mekachera, Middle East director, Atout France there is scant enthusiasm on the part of agents to attempt to veer away from ‘tried-and-tested’ destinations.

And on top of that, a lack of creativity in selling strategies. “Our potential is not exploited as it should be,” says Mekachera.

“Here you can find some brochures with the same pictures in them for three or four years. Shouldn’t they be renewed sometimes? We give them all the tools; we give them access to a photo library of 5,000 pictures. [The trade] must be more creative.”

‘Little innovation’
And unfortunately, it appears that Atout France is not the only one with grievances about the trade’s lack of creativity, and this does appear to be a somewhat common sentiment which is echoed across the board.

Nazar Musa, managing partner at Gulf Reps believes that Gulf agents are lagging well behind their partners in Europe and the US in the way they sell travel — particularly when it comes to technological innovation and “decision influencing”.

“Regional agencies are selling travel in the same way they have been for many years. There has been little innovation in the region and you’d be hard pressed to find even an agency with a bookable website, let alone any of the types of innovation that is currently seen in Europe or the States,” he says.

Musa is disappointed with travel agencies’ failure to latch on to the benefits of selling ancillary products — such as car hire, insurance, transfers, tours, even attraction and theatre tickets — as these can generate significant income for an agency and are the kinds of products that will “supplement commissions that are no longer available from airlines and are reducing from hotels.”

Musa adds it’s high-time travel agents moved on from creating packages by “adding hotels to flights to areas clients want to go” and moved into becoming “decision influencers”.

“It’s something regional agencies tend not to do.

“The issue is clearly training or moreover a lack of it. If an agent hasn’t got the knowledge or freedom to recommend then this will not happen.

“In my opinion there needs to be a double approach — a focus on increasing the methods of booking (online, mobile, etc) and a focus on offering products consumers want, that will also generate an income for the agency,” he says.

Not interested in training?
So does it all come down to a lack of training? Are travel agents in the region just not given enough training options to offer clients every possiibility out there?

Well perhaps it’s not that simple. Mekachera points out that the tourism board has made major investment into “helping agents to discover the product”. “We have organised many fam trips to the destination.

We give them all the tools, and we invite them on a regular basis,” but despite this he says the impact has been limited.

Jacqueline Campbell, managing director of The Travel Collection, also reports a “lack of interest” from the trade when it comes to many of the training opportunities on offer.

“I feel that through the workshops, sales meetings and presentations the travel industry provides to agents, their interest in participating is to me a sign that they are not interested in creative selling,” she said.

“It could be a time factor or a lack of ability to travel to experience what they are selling,” she adds.

Campbell is keen to point out that travel agents’ level of initiative “varies quite a lot” throughout the GCC, depending on how demanding clients are, but in general she agrees that agents “could definitely be more creative in the way they sell.”

She highlights the huge potential market for well-being travel products, such as weight management and detox — rarely promoted by agents here in the Gulf, which remains a largely untapped market.

“Agents could sell more individual style — such as adventure travel to destinations such as Vietnam or South America and places ‘not as hot’ as others,” she suggests.

Competing with online
And with a growing number of travellers booking over the web today; suppliers say it’s ever more crucial that agents keep up to date with their product knowledge, in order to prove to customers that they still have relevance in today’s increasingly online world.

“We observe that more and more travellers are shifting from booking in a travel agency to booking online,” comments Klaus Ehrenbrandnter, Austrian National Tourism Office. “I think this is not so much a matter of creativity but rather a matter of destination know-how.

“If I go to a travel agency, I expect the experts to know more than I do. I appreciate hearing about new destinations that I might not have heard of before. In our experience a lot of clients would like to try out new destinations nowadays, but not every agent is capable of offering something new. I think the trade needs to be sure that it is up-to-date.”

Prasad Shirke, Visit Britain agrees, saying that travel agents must “go the extra mile” to convince the consumer of the difference between booking a package online and booking it through an agent.

This means “providing information that is not available online, and extending value deals and offers to attractions/dining/and shopping not available online,” he explains.

However, Shirke in fact disagrees that the travel trade is not innovative in its approach, believing that “cut-throat competition in the market” has forced agents to reach out to clients in the “best possible manner that they can”.

Shirke highlights as an example, online operator Makemytrip in the UAE which has come up with a clever way to target cash-strapped consumers by offering holiday packages on EMI plans [Equated Monthly Instalment].

“It’s a great idea for travellers who wish to travel but cannot shell out the whole amount in one go. This plan helps travellers spread the expenses on their trip out for a period of six months — of course with a set of certain terms and conditions.”

Sticking to what’s safe
This is certainly something new to this market and the kind of plan that is bound to increase potential sales among a certain cash-strapped traveller. But what about everyone else? Who are the other innovators out there?

It’s perhaps extremely telling that when Arabian Travel News asked agents to get in touch and tell us what they were doing differently, the response was lacklustre to say the least.

Just one agent got back to us on the topic and judging by his response it’s not just the suppliers who are coming down hard on the trade.

In fact, Basel Abu Alrub, managing partner of Dubai-based Utravel says he “definitely agrees” with the view that travel agents in the Gulf are failing on the innovation front.

According to Alrub, agents “stick to what is safe and sure”, as that is what clients are asking for.

“I believe that end-clients in this market do not push the Agents to be innovative,” he says. “There is not enough creative demand to render creativity. The market has turned agents into order takers and it seems no-one is doing anything substantial to break away from the norm.

“Agents are too busy, too scared, or too broke to venture into anything even remotely creative or odd; and thus they stick to what is safe and sure.”

But while Alrub believes that right now the market is “definitely not the most exciting”, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for something new.

Utravel has taken the bull by the horns in a bid to change the status quo. “Instead of selling the usual destinations such as London or Kuala Lampur, why not discover St. Petersberg or Laos? Instead of offering a dull and repetitive experience in some hotel — why not offer accommodation on board a train that starts its journey in Moscow and ends it in Beijing?”

Maybe it’s time more travel agents took a leaf out of his book?

An agent’s view:
Basel Abu Alrub, managing partner, Utravel

is this market ready for something new?
The market has huge potential to become a hub for innovative travel ideas: all the ingredients are there for this to happen: disposable income and travel infrastructure. The only thing that is missing is the organisation, direction, and education.

how could agents be more innovative in their approach?
Travel Agents should never be afraid to commit a little bit of time and investment in venturing into new concepts. The market we deal with is rather rigid and as a result travel agents are reluctant to explore new avenues and break away from the norm.

But I am confident that striving to be different and committing to innovation will reap its own rewards in the market.

Travel agents must find new ways to inspire their clients and must not be hesitant to present what might seem at the beginning as odd products to its clients.

The bottom line is, pushing new products should not cost agents an arm and a leg. With new cheap marketing avenues such as social media, differentiating yourself should not be as costly.

how can suppliers be more innovative in communicating with the trade?
It’s the supplier’s job to educate agents in an innovative, constructive, and unique manner for it to remain at the forefront of the agent’s mind when creating an experience for his client. Furthermore, follow up from suppliers is also important, and continuous presence in the market is needed.

Travel consultants are not meant to be order takers, they are more like artists — be it painters or musicians who are creating a holiday canvas. However, if we are not provided with the latest tools and products, then our canvas will always be lifeless and monotonous.

5 Top Tips for innovation:
1. Harness the power of technology. Use social media tools, invest in online booking portals.

2. Don’t sell boring, tried-and-tested destinations, open your client’s eyes up to new and exciting locations and they won’t be able to resist (check out How to sell Azerbaijan on p.40)

3. Packages aren’t just flights and hotels. There’s a whole world of ancillary products out there (car hire, insurance, attractions, tickets, transfers) that is also a potential gold mine.

4. Never skip supplier training opportunities. These are a golden opportunity for you to add to your product knowledge.

5. Don’t just sell ‘one size fits all travel’. Tap into niche markets with creative ideas appealing to specific clientele e.g health and wellness holidays / adventure travel / travel for oldies / teenagers