WE ALL hear, on a daily basis, how the Internet is going to make travel agents obsolete.
That can only happen if and when all information to be found on the Net can be 100% relied upon. Who can guarantee that? A Web site is only as good as the operator inputing the information.
A good case in point is one of the travel agent’s favourite airlines, Ryanair. A business client of ours checked its Web site for Bristol to Dublin schedules. He asked me to book the last inbound flight from Dublin to Bristol at 8pm. Our computer reservation systemshowed 5pm. I could not contact Ryanair. In the end, I got the correct information from a helpful woman on the Bristol Airport switchboard. The last flight is indeed 5pm. It’s a good job the client didn’t arrange his business meetings around the information on Ryanair’s Web site, and had the sense to speak to an agent. What does this say about the future of the Net?
Peter Allum
Fox Travel
Falmouth