We all know that the significant impact of technology on our lives has changed our perspective of living. Not only us but businesses have also been affected by technology, which is a positive one. Travel and tourism is one such business that has upgraded and changed the way of doing the business.
Earlier, there were travel agencies that used to book tours for people, all manually. There was a lot of effort taken by the travel agents. Right from selecting the hotels, sight seeing facilities, transfers, and other associated things. The agents had to rely on the booklets about a certain hotel or car rental, before offering the options to the customers. They many a times had to go personally to different destinations to confirm about the actual status.
With the emergence of technology, it has become easier for the companies as they can do their work more smoothly. Let us see how the travel agencies fully equipped with technical support do their work efficiently.
Research, Bookings and Confirmations
The day-to-day activities at a travel agency includes dealing with customers, preparing a tour plan, booking tickets, hotel reservations, transfers, and many more. All these things are time consuming and need expertise to perform.
In the early ’90s, when technology was not so very developed and popular; people planning a vacation used to visit the local travel agent for recommendations about the best tour plan. Today, they visit a website of a travel company and go through all the tour packages it is offering for a particular period of time or season. The customers can choose from any of them or may modify them as per their needs. This has helped cutting down the time required for petty routines to be done for the booking process.
In the early days, travel agents had to attend industry events for acquiring brochures from hotels or car rentals or any other associated service provider for a tour. They had to meet the related vendors personally for developing business relationships so that they could make appropriate recommendations to customers. Travel was often booked by phone or via fax. But now, technological advances permit travel agents to research, book and confirm trips online, which has also impacted the lead generation in a positive way.
Education Opportunity
Earlier, tour operators or agencies were offered educational opportunities through a familiarization trip. Basically, it was a trip designed to learn about a destination, a tourism operator, a hotel chain, a tourism board, and sometimes, all of the above. Now, travel vendors and travel industry associates have been able to provide online educational opportunities that them informed about industry laws, trends and technology, as well as programs offered by tourism boards and travel vendors that can help travel professionals become specialists in tourism hot spots and popular accommodations.
Work From Home Concept
With the help of technology, the concept of home-based work for travel agents has made it much easier for travel professionals to work from home. While at home, agents can handle enquiries, research, book travel products, consult with clients and do many more other things supportive for a travel business. The work from home concept also saves time and energy of the agents and they become more productive at a time.
Competitive Market
Technology has created opportunities for the travel vendors to work online and at the same time has opened up a competitive market for them. There being a lot of tours and travels websites, the clientele has a lot of options to choose from. Hence, the travel companies must be competent enough to survive.
Travel Research and Price Comparison– Before exposure to the internet, the customers depended on travel agent’s recommended destinations, hotels, or travel and transfer options etc. Eventually, airlines, hotels and travel vendors put up their own websites. The hotel websites contain information about the hotel location, types of rooms, availability of rooms, dimensions, view from the room, prices and package inclusions. As a result, even the customer can compare the prices and take the right decisions.
Fair Commission Charges– The ticket booking websites show availability of tickets on a certain date as well as some profitable offers also on certain bookings. The ease of booking tickets online or through electronic means results in the elimination of intermediaries. In addition to this, the charges applied are fair to the customer to avoid any misunderstanding while making payments and invoices.
Travel Agent Fees-Earlier, travel agents earned money from commissions. Because of the elimination and reduction of commissions, some travel agents has begun charging fees for their services. These include booking fees for airline tickets as well as fees for performing travel research.
Online Reviews
Reviews from the customers matter a lot . Sharing things and discussing the travel experiences help people to know about a specific location. People also share their photos with the help of mobile phones among their family and friends, whereas before, it was limited to only a few people they met or talked to. Now, travel agents also with the support of technology has begun to create their own blogs, establish social media profiles, and provide in-depth information about destinations via podcasts and YouTube productions. Agents also use this content to build relationships with potential and current clients.
