How travel agents can beat the online market

By The Times travel editor Cath Urquhart

EVERY Monday morning Philip Davies sets his staff a test, checking they have read the travel sections of the weekend newspapers and the latest glossy travel magazines.

The owner of Real Holidays, a successful independent agency in north London, believes his staff must stay ahead of their knowledgeable customers, who will have flicked through magazines and newspapers and surfed the Internet before coming in to book their holiday.

He said: “You need to be a ‘knowledge entrepreneur’. Our clients know we’ve read the latest hotel reviews and can find accommodation that is likely to suit them.”

Travel Counsellors managing director Steve Byrne said: “If the agent has the tools, they can be better informed than the customer, and can give information and knowledge much faster.”
 
Travel Counsellors, for example, has its own in-house dynamic packaging system so staff can search all the airlines in one hit – whereas holidaymakers who use a site such as Expedia only have access to the published fares, and a limited range of airlines.

It’s the same for hotel rooms. “We have consolidated bedstock from more than eight different bed banks so we can access more than 50,000 hotels worldwide,” said Byrne.

Another big selling point for agents is financial protection. ABTA’s recent rule changes have taken the shine off its reputation for protecting its members’ trips, and you can, of course, package dynamically without offering financial protection.

But it’s still the case that most of the holidays you sell will be protected through ATOL, ABTA, AITO or other schemes – whereas an awful lot of the trips people arrange online by themselves won't.
 
If customers don’t understand what “financial protection” means, use some examples, such as what happened when Hurricane Wilma struck the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico in October 2005. Those on package holidays were looked after by their tour operators, but independent travellers were stuck without any help.

Another good example is how, when airport security rules suddenly changed in August, every charter flight still took off – while carriers such as Britsih Airways, Ryanair and EasyJet cancelled hundreds of flights.

Finally, think about the appearance and atmosphere of your agency. Will people want to linger there?

Carl Verges, director of consolidator JTA, believes it’s time agents stopped putting horrid dog-eared cards in shop windows. Verges has put his theories into practice and just opened a boutique agency, The Travel Lounge, in Blackheath, southeast London.

Customers – who in this wealthy suburb may spend £20,000 or more on one trip – are offered proper coffee or a glass of wine. “We want people to come in and have a conversation, not just grab a brochure and run,” said Verges.

Staff use plasma screens to show DVDs and pictures from the OAG Gazetteer, rather than making customers squint at small computer screens.

In summary, travel agents must convince holidaymakers of three things: they can offer better prices than the public can find; they have more knowledge than the public of what’s out there; and the holidays they offer have financial protection and ‘hand-holding’ if anything goes wrong.

Add in the time you can save your customers, and you have a winning formula.

Selling tips

• Stay up to date by reading newspaper travel sections and travel magazines
• Check out upmarket websites such as Mrandmrssmith.com, I-escape.com, Travelintelligence.net or Hiphotels.com.
  These feature beautiful hotels your customers will want to visit
• Surf the net to find out what travellers are saying about popular destinations – try sites such as Holidaysuncovered.co.uk, Holiday-truth.com, Tripadvisor.co.uk and Trivago.co.uk
• Keep up with the news. If there’s been a bomb blast in Turkey or Jordan, think of alternative destinations to offer clients. Check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website for advice (fco.gov.uk/travel)
• Read up on the issues everyone’s talking about, such as responsible tourism, ‘green’ hotels and climate change. These can be selling points: look at Responsibletravel.com or AITO.co.uk for holidays from companies with green policies
• Explain the value of financial protection – many people don’t understand it
• Offer customers coffee, create a relaxing atmosphere and keep in contact even if they don’t book – they will remember enthusiastic service and may be back

The Times Holiday Handbook

The Times Holiday Handbook by Cath Urquhart (Navigator Guides, £12.95) is a consumer guide to choosing and buying holidays, and dealing with problems if they occur.

It also has a clear guide to financial protection and a 1,000-strong list of travel companies and airlines.

Available in shops, or at a discounted price of £11.50, with free post and packaging, from The Times BooksFirst (0870 160 8080, Booksfirst.co.uk).