Representatives of Moscow travel agencies discussed problems and trends in the field of online booking of tourist services. The discussion took place as part of a round table held at Travel Business School last week.
As retail representatives emphasized, At the moment, it is possible and necessary to compete with services for independent travelers. And first of all, thanks to the active development of the B2B online segment by tour operators.
According to the participants of the round table, experienced travel agencies are increasingly less likely to rely on package tours, paying special attention to complex individual programs, as well as sales of additional services.
"Beginning agents, first of all, need to learn how to work with individual tours. In this segment, commissions are higher, and the number of returning tourists, if the work is good, is higher," the participants emphasized.
"We often hear now that tourists are moving online and this is an inevitable process. But our task is to create the same online for tourists, taking on the problems associated with the upcoming trip. Most travelers are ready to transfer the solution of all issues to managers. It is possible to create competition for the same Booking.com, but these are agencies of a different level," the experts said, noting that online platforms are exactly what allows tourists to instantly offer various vacation options.
The roundtable participants also noted that more and more non-core organizations, such as banks, are now offering their clients certain tourist services. However, the experts' conclusion was very optimistic. "The agent is the most competitive in this situation. Now, for example, banks have the opportunity to book tours online - it's not difficult. But the worst thing begins when you need to reschedule a flight. Tourists simply do not know who to contact. In the event of a flight cancellation, it is generally unclear who should be responsible for this. If we are talking about a travel agency, the solution to this issue falls on the shoulders of the manager - this saves both time and nerves of the traveler," the retail representatives explained.
By the way, the discussion itself and its results will become a subject for discussion during classes at Travel Business School. At the same time, the training center plans to continue to practice the exchange of experience in this format.
Source: trn-news.ru