The leader of the GTMC has admitted he is “amazed” that people including his own family rely more on TripAdvisor reviews than on a travel agent.
Speaking at the Advantage conference in Dubai, Paul Wait said:”I’m amazed that people – my wife included – use Tripadvisor instead of a trusted travel agent. Why listen to a website like that and why not listen to someone who actually knows what they are talking about?”
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer added that while personalisation of the web appears to be the current buzz phrase, travel agents had in a fact been very early adopters of personalisation, so they should still have a march on new technology.
He said: “The internet has enabled companies to crunch a lot of information on customers but travel agents have always done that and that is the reason why those who’ve done it well have been so successful.
“Instead of saying ‘the internet is doing its thing and I’m doing mine’, use it to your advantage. Agents should be finding local groups online and targeting them with their personal services. There are now loads of group blogs and forums online, so agents should be targeting them. That is the future for agents.”