travel tech insights

The Perks of Working With a Traditional Travel Agency

The old is now new again. It’s a cliche, yes, but it’s also a profound truth in the context of the resurgence of travel agents in today’s global travel industry. In a time when so much of travel engagement takes place online or in the digital sphere, many travelers are returning to more traditional travel agencies to help plan and curate their travel and tourism experiences.

Topics: travel agency travel agents global travel industry modern travel agencies

5 Reasons Why Travel Agents Still Matter

Take a moment and look at your smartphone. With just a few taps on the screen, you can in mere  minutes perform all the functions of a traditional travel agency on your own time according to your own personal wishes and desires. You can search available bookings, researching destinations, comparison shop suppliers, and even interact with others on social media and read reviews of specific destinations, activities, airlines, and hotels.

Yet even with this advancement in mobile travel technology, more and more travelers are returning to traditional agencies to help curate their travel experiences - in fact, several recent surveys indicate travel agencies are poised to experience some of their robust growth in recent memory, despite the popularity of websites like Expedia and Travelocity, not to mention the rise of sharing sites like Airbnb. This recent trend begs the question: Why do travel agents still matter? What value do they offer customers in 2017? Is the resurgence of the travel agent more of step backward rather than step forward?

Topics: travel agency travel agents 2017

4 Reasons Why Travel Agents Need An ERP Solution

Let’s talk about cooking for a moment, particularly the cooking of a stew. A typical stew is made up of many core ingredients essential for a healthy diet: meat, starch, carbs, vegetables, and others. These ingredients are then combined in one-pot for a well-rounded eating experience that is efficient for the diner and often easy for the cook to prepare. The end result, if done properly, is a well-integrated dish of complex flavors that is often simple to execute and easy to repeat in the future.

The same is true when it comes to ERP solutions for travel agents. In today’s complex, interconnected travel industry, travel agents are called to execute any number of disparate tasks at any given moment - everything from travel operations to financial duties to operational or back-office functions. The result of these demands is a complex business atmosphere that can require much in the way of time and resources, which can hamper an agent’s productivity and efficiency in serving customers.

Topics: travel erp travel agency travel erp system travel agents

3 Business Process Challenges for Travel Agents

Today’s travel agent is in an interesting position. Some travel industry insiders believe traditional brick-and-mortar travel agents are set to experience a resurgence due to renewed interest from millennial travelers, while others believe traditional travel agents have long outlasted their utility in an online-driven industry. The truth of the matter is most likely somewhere in the middle of these two ideas, but either way travel agents in today’s complex, global travel landscape are faced with a number of challenges in remaining a relevant part of the industry, particularly when it comes to business processes.

For traditional travel agents, the concept of business processes - a series of related business actions or transactions resulting in a certain goal or objective - can be a major pain point for agencies still relying on outdated methods of completing transactions between wholesales, suppliers, distributors, and customers. These methods - often relying on manual data entry, management, and customer relations - lack the flexibility, agility, and transparency travel agents need to get the right products to the right people at the right time. This lack of speed and convenience can seriously hamper a travel agency’s entire value chain and be a determining factor in how healthy and stable a travel agency truly is.

Topics: travel erp travel agency travel business Business Process Automation travel agents

Keep Connected: How Mobile Travel Apps Promote Customer Retention

Many of today’s travelers view mobile travel apps as the simply the newest method to quickly and conveniently research, book, and modify destination and bookings - a shortcut or way around working with a traditional brick and mortar travel agency or even an online travel agency or management company. But for those within the travel industry, particularly travel agencies themselves, mobile travel apps are a key marketing tool travel agencies can leverage to increase deploy modern customer engagement campaigns and increase customer retention.

A recent survey published by Euromonitor International found roughly 44 percent of travel bookings completed during 2016 will be done via mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, and the use of mobile travel apps is also expected to play a large part in these bookings. Must-have market segments for travel agencies in today’s travel industry like millennials and travelers from emerging markets are spending more and more of their time online, incorporating apps into their daily lives in unprecedented numbers.

Topics: Travel App travel agency customer retention Mobile App Customer engagement Mobile travel apps