Agents should consider setting up a Web site as an alternative to spending their budget on advertising in their local newspaper, according to Internet consultant Mansel Dinnis.
“With an ad in the local press, the costs are high and the effect is doubtful – you get an uncertain response, and soon the ad is dead and gone,” he said, “A Web site is constant. It can be kept updated with the latest fares and deals. And it is cheap to run after set up.”
Dinnis’ company can provide a basic eight-page Web site, tailored to an agency, for £199 plus VAT. To keep the site updated, Dinnis charges £10 a month, payable as an annual fee of £120.
But Dinnis said agencies should consider who they link to: “It is best to link to non-contentious sites such as the Foreign Office for travel advice or the BBC’s health advice for people travelling overseas. If you direct people to an airline site that has a direct booking facility, agencies could lose the booking.”