As direct booking channels increasingly target travellers, agents must find new ways to adapt and remain relevant. Speakers at the recent XL Travel conference said agents could stay competitive by making better use of their own digital tools, communicating their value to clients and adapting.
Speaking at the conference, held from October 9-11, Marco Ciocchetti, CEO of XL Travel, said: “Travel is growing but we're not seeing it in the travel industry figures, indicating a shift to direct.”
He said agents needed to question why clients were booking direct, suggesting that price perceptions, convenience, after-hours access and a lack of awareness of agencies’ own digital services could be contributing factors.
Clients may assume that booking directly with an airline is cheaper or faster than going through an agent, especially if they want to make bookings after hours or on weekends. He said agents could be losing business by failing to promote the tools and rates already available to them.
“Clients aren’t booking direct because direct is better. It’s because we aren’t using what we already have. We've got the negotiated fees and we've got the tools but are we telling them?” added Ciocchetti.
He said XL agents had access to free websites and online booking tools that could allow clients to make bookings themselves, including after hours. Agents could also use NDC channels to access airline content and fares that may be the same as, or cheaper than, those available directly.
“There's no reason why the client must book directly because you've got better fees and all the tools. If you don't tell your clients what you have, they don't know. Use NDC for flights, give clients online access so that they can book after hours, use social media or whatever you have available to show and remind the clients everything you can offer that direct can't.”
Adding value
As airlines and other suppliers find more ways to communicate directly with travellers, some agents are tempted to limit that access.
While agents may use their own contact details to prevent suppliers from marketing directly to clients, industry specialist, Wilson Tauro, cautioned against building walls around customers, urging agents to focus on the value they bring.
Tauro pointed to the growing use of digital services, from airline Wi-Fi sign-ups and flight notifications to targeted marketing on social media, as examples of how easily suppliers can reach travellers directly.
“We fear that airlines are going to market to our clients but it’s not because they want clients to buy from them but because they compete with numerous other airlines. They want the customer to know what the best products are and what is available.”
When agents put their own contact details, clients can miss out on important updates. “Every piece of information we withhold comes at a cost to the customer, such as lost alerts about schedule changes or gate changes.”
He said the role of travel agents had evolved over the past few decades, shifting from booking and processing to advising and communicating.
Tauro encouraged agents to reflect on how often they engaged with clients beyond the booking process, including following up after a trip to find out what went well, what went wrong and how the next experience could be better.
“Clients have to understand what value you bring in. The biggest threat is not airlines, it's not the OTAs, it's not AI. The biggest threat is irrelevance.”
