Magic Travel Group is in talks with a number of Internet retailers to sell its product on-line, reports Liz Bird from the ABTAConvention in Cairns.
Managing director Joanna Edmunds declined to reveal which of the Internet travel agencies she was talking to. “It will happen. We have got good plans. Next year is definitely going to be the year of the Web,” she said.
Magic’s Internet site is one of ABTA’s top 10 sites in terms of hit numbers but it is not expected to be bookable for some time.
However, Edmunds said theInternet would not replace agents. She said: “You have to have enormously sophisticated and fast search engines to replace the service of a travel agent.
“Having a Web site is complementary to booking with an agent. People like the reassurance of talking to someone on the phone.”
Meanwhile, Edmunds said the operator was focusing on expanding the company through adding extra capacity to its existing portfolio, rather than launching programmes to new destinations. Magic carries 100,000 customers a year through its programmes to Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and its cities brochure.