| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 04/09/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 13 |
| Copyright: Other |
To survive in this technological age, agents must provide their customers with considerably more care, knowledge and developed social skills
KEVINABBEY
MY COMMENTS in Travel Weekly about the value of 18-year-old travel consultants (Travel Weekly August 7) have created some debate.These were made in a discussion over whether travel agents will survive in the technological age of the Internet and digital television.
I believe they will, if they provide their customers with considerably more added value.
Why should a customer spend time queueing, then be served by an 18-year-old who knows less about travelling than they do? The customer can sit at home, phone an operator direct or do it themselves on the Internet.
So, do Bakers Dolphin appreciate 18-year-olds and do we operate an ageism policy? The answers are yes we do and no we don’t.
Our recent advert for young people to join our trainee scheme attracted over 1,000 applicants from which we recruited nearly 50. I met most of them on their Welcome Days – we have some great people.
As a result of careful selection processes and great training, many will develop into future top sales people, managers and beyond, as have many of the young people who have joined us over the years.
Our training and development programmes are recognised as being among the best in the industry.
Training is vital for improved business success, especially for companies like Bakers Dolphin which has successfully competed against its multiple competitors by selling not just packages but large numbers of scheduled flights, independent holidays and cruises. And this is probably where we are different from some of the competition.
We have shops in many small, wealthy areas of the West Country, looking after the travelling needs of very prosperous customers.
One such client spends up to £150,000 a year on her holiday and rightfully expects to be dealt with by someone who will offer her courtesy, respect and professional knowledge.
One manager said in the article that travelling experience was not important but where to find the information was.
I think our customers deserve and expect much more than that in return for their business – otherwise why use a travel agency at all?
Finally, back to 18-year-olds. We balance recruitment of young trainees with those who are older and have wider-ranging travelling experience and more developed social skills.
By mixing the two, companies like Bakers Dolphin will continue to succeed and prosper, regardless of the growth of technological and direct booking options.