Agents who are selling people experiences through travel are at the vanguard to deliver mind change, according to a leading brain scientist.
Neurologist Baroness Susan Greenfield told delegates at the Advantage Travel Partnership conference in Bodrum, Turkey, that creativity is the process of breaking up brain connections and then forming new ones, and that agents have the power to help shape an environment in order to foster that creativity.
She said: “Connections are what give things and people meaning,” she said. “Understanding is making connections. We convert facts and information into stories that then have a significance.”
“The more you stimulate the brain, the more efficient it becomes because it grows more branches with which to make connections.
“That is when you are able to personalise your brain through the unique dynamic patterns of neuros driven by connections.”
Providing individuals with enriched environments and experiences, through activities like travel to other countries, helps promote this, she said.
Baroness Greenfield warned that the digital world seems to be like a tsunami engulfing our lives and urged against spending too much time in front of a screen, particularly playing computer games.
She revealed there were scientific links between children playing video games and drug addiction, gambling and autism, and promoting the benefits of the outside world and travel.
She argued: “People are living in a cyber parallel universe without interacting with another human being. Social interaction is going down as electronic communication goes up.”
And, reinforcing the value of using a real agent, face-to-face, rather than booking a holiday online, Baroness Greenfield said: “Words are only 10% of the total impact in a conversation.
“Eye contact, body language, voice tone, pheromones and physical contact make up the rest. They are all vital in all forms of both business and pleasure and yet they are not available on Facebook!
“What if people merely only communicated with 500 people on social media. There are already people who prefer communicating with their thumbs than their mouths.
“We want a balance between screen technology and a healthy interaction with the outside world which is something that you [agents] promote,” she said.