TRADITIONAL travel agencies are losing sales because
their on-line rivals are providing customers with a wealth of information and
strong content, delegates at the eyefortravel e-Tourism conference have been
told.
Tiscover chief international business officer Dr
Karsten Kärcher said destination marketing organisations and web-based agencies
are increasing their share of the market.
“The market is changing and the web is giving
buyers more power. The trend is to move away from traditional agencies for
travel advice as well as purchasing it.
“It is not just price, there are other reasons
such as convenience. It is also fun to use the web and you can even assemble
your own packages on-line,” Kärcher said.
Kärcher
conceded strong content comes at a price and admitted Tiscover, which provides
management technology to small and medium enterprises and destination marketing
organisations, had spent over £6 million perfecting its products.