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.”
| Advertisement |
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?
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
