Do travel agents still have a purpose?

In April of this year, accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy found that the closure of traditional travel agents and tour operators had risen by 45% compared to 2013.

One main explanation for this was the ease and possibility of personalisation that comes with online booking which just isn't as readily found in most travel agents. Around the clock bookings, alterations, check ins and the option of tailoring almost every aspect of a holiday to one's preferred and most affordable choices, almost means that we ourselves have become travel agents with the few clicks of a button.

But does that mean that there is no longer a need for high street travel agents?

Going to a travel agents will always have its pros. The agent will sort out the little details of your holiday without you having to think too much, and you can sort out things like car rentals and sightseeing before you've even got your boarding pass. It may also be more efficient to you doing it yourself because as we all know, trying to work out which hotspots are near your hotel isn't always so straightforward. This makes it better for those who simply don't have the time to trawl through online reviews and find the best option; an agent will do all of that for you.

It can also be more secure as passport, tickets and boarding passes are less likely to be incorrectly printed or have unchecked problems as an agent will go through all of that for you.

There will also be more security in general as it is less likely that you'll book any aspect of your holiday with a dud company.

As well as all that, not everyone is internet savvy or has someone around them who is. And even for those who are comfortable in front of a computer, it can still get confusing with all the pages you're not allowed to refresh, go back to or have to start the process with again because of the page time out.

However, with people increasingly preferring to do things their own way and in their own time, heading over to a travel shop on the high street doesn't always seem like the better option. With rock bottom deals and last minute getaways becoming the norm, online booking can seem like the more desirable option. Even though a travel agent can fix you a holiday at the last minute, a service charge will be added and the option of having a holiday exactly how you want won't be down to you due to preplanned holiday packages.

Online booking may also save you money in the long run. Whether you have weeks or hours to plan your holiday, you can simultaneously check out a number of airlines and hotels and uniquely tailor every aspect to be as affordable as possible.

And once you do know what you're doing, online booking just seems more efficient for some.

So whilst travel agents are still obviously serving some kind of purpose, the decline and closure of many branches is evident of the growing fact that online booking is quickly becoming the preferred holiday making method.

Greening Up the Online Travel Industry

The environment is slowly becoming more and more important to travellers. A few decades ago, no one had even heard of the phrase “carbon neutral”; now, people are planning out their holidays by evaluating each company’s green credentials, according to this article by Forrester after their report “Green Online Travellers: Assessing the Brand Impact of Travellers’ Environmental Concerns” was completed. The impact on the industry is still small: although 42% of travellers booking their services online said they were concerned about the environment, only 7% actively made decisions with the environment in mind.

However, companies are beginning to see an opportunity in this new market niche, and two have recently cropped up which have the potential to make a huge splash in the travel market. They remind us that there is room for sustainable innovation in every sector of every industry.

Car rental company Vroom VroomVroom facilitate car rentals through major companies, and buys carbon offsets for each rental. It’s a great way to set a conscious traveller’s mind at ease while they get around the best way that they can during their holiday. They don’t need to set up their own fleet of cars, because they go through existing rental companies. What’s more, they manage to offer very competitive rates – a good strategy for any company, but particularly for a business with the environment as its major draw. Offering low rates appeals to a much broader section of the market, and combined with the environmental conscience, it makes an irresistible draw-card. The only drawback  is that, since they are fairly new, Vroom VroomVroom’s carbon offset information still needs work to be credible and air-tight.

Meanwhile, hotel booking website Whole Travel ranks hotels based on their sustainability as well as their overall quality as accommodation. It’s not just the green angle they’re going for; the properties are rated on their environmentally friendly practices, economic management, support for local society and culture, and their interactions with customers. Users can search by destination or accommodation type.

They set the rankings themselves, which does carry a question of credibility with it – but word is they are planning to involve local organisations to help them verify their claims. They have a large list of properties, which is key: all the goodwill in the world won’t make a booking website successful if it doesn’t have a decent variety of options. Today’s consumers are all about choice, and if they can’t find exactly what they want, they know there’s another website just a few clicks away.

While not every traveller considers the environment to be a major factor in their holiday decision-making process, ventures like these are the key to making the industry more conscious as a whole. They make it cheap and easy to have a conscience: the Holy Grail of sustainability.