WEB SITE design consultant Mansel Dinnis claims independent travel agents are being too slow to exploit the sales opportunities offered by the Internet.
He said many agents were unwilling to invest around £1,000 in a PC and modem to get on the Internet, let alone start promoting their services on-line.
“It’s not a question of the size of the agency, it’s the attitude,”he said. “Some bigger agencies are not switched on at all and some smaller agencies are.”
Dinnis admitted receiving a poor response to recent attempts to market his Web site start-up service to members of the Advantage Travel Centres and Midconsort consortia.
“There is still a lot of caution on the part of independent retail travel agents, although the statistics are overwhelming in terms of the success of the Internet. It’s going like the clappers,” he said.
“I want to motivate agents to do something, otherwise they are going to lose out. They are missing an amazing opportunity. It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.”
His target is to get 100 agency Web sites up and running within the next year.
Dinnis offers to design a basic eight-page Web site with pictures of staff and premises, industry logos and individual content for £199.
The price includes links to travel-related sites such as the UK Passport Authority, and registration of the site with 10 Internet search engines.
An additional site update service costs £10.50 a month.
He uses an Internet access company called FreeUK as it has no tie-ups with on-line travel agencies that are in direct competition with traditional agencies. Dinnis worked in trade sales roles for British Caledonian and British Airways before setting up his consultancy in 1989.
His consultancy used to run operations for the independent agency consortium Scotway before it joined Advantage in 1998.
n Mansel Dinnis Communications can be contacted on 01505 874022.
Mansel Dinnis
The consultant offers small and medium-sized agencies a basic Web site design service that incorporates:
n Eight pages of content.
n Photographs of staff and premises.
n Industry logos such as ABTA, IATA, Advantage Travel Centres.
n Registration of site with 10 Internet search engines.
n Site updates.