Agents ain’t going nowhere

T RAVEL agents are not
a dying breed but a
constantly evolving
animal, Otto de Vries, ceo
of Asata, told members
of the travel and aviation
industry during a panel
discussion on strengthening
partnerships between
airlines and the travel
industry.
Marco Ciocchetti, ceo of
XL Travel, said for a while
people had been asking
if there was a place for
travel agents in the face of
technology, but statistics
showed that travel agents,
whether online or offline,
would still be responsible
for 70% of travel bookings
in 2020. “Most of them
may be online travel agents,
but at the end of the day,
it’s still travel agents –
human beings,” he said
“We have to progress with
the times.”
He said agents would
have to enhance their
offerings with technology,
enabling mobile bookings,
for example, and also
specialise more, while on
the corporate side, TMCs
would have to offer more
to their clients, such as
analytics and data.
Otto said, despite
airlines exploring different
opportunities to build
relationships with
customers and expanding
their value offering, there
was still a large role
available for travel agencies
and TMCs because the
value proposition was
constantly evolving.
He pointed to market
trends, for example in
the US, where millennials
were more likely than any
other generation to engage
the services of a travel
professional. He said this
was also the group with
the highest spend. Otto
explained that the amount
of information that was
made available on the
Internet was becoming
daunting. “People are
overwhelmed and they are
looking for a professional
to support and assist them
in making the right choices
that meet their particular
expectations.