"Consulting is a common service offered in many industries. It's unclear why travel agencies should do it for free. Unfortunately, the level of consumer culture, especially in tourism, is quite low here, so travel agency clients often perceive this as a gimmick. “The proposal, to put it mildly, is met with bewilderment,” says Irina Tyurina, press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI).
Natalia Kulintseva, Director of Coral Travel Market, points out that consumers have long been paying for consultations in other areas, such as medicine, marketing, and analytics. "People are willing to spend money if they see value and advantage. I believe this service has great potential in tourism as well," she emphasized.
Travel agencies in some European countries and the United States are already introducing paid consultations for tour selection. On average, consultation fees range from $20 for a simple package tour to $150-200 for a more expensive individual tour.
Opinion of agencies
"We invest a lot of money and effort to ensure that tourists come and buy tours from us. Consultants help with the selection process for free, but tourists often don't end up buying the tour. You can spend hours researching options, but they'll still end up going to another agency," Tatyana Arkhipova, CEO of the Moscow-based agency Hit-Tour, told Interfax-Tourism.
Olga Kuznetsova, CEO of the Moscow region travel agency Pereslavna, agrees with her colleague. According to her, the possibility of officially introducing paid consultations has been discussed for several years. However, lawyers have so far been unable to find a legally compliant contract for such services.
"Some travel agencies have already piloted a deposit system, whereby a tourist pays a certain amount, and a manager selects a tour. If the client is ready to purchase the tour, the deposit is included in the price," said Sergey Demidov, CEO of the Moscow travel agency Aquatur.
According to him, introducing paid consultations is also necessary because virtually all major tour operators have recently reduced the commissions they pay to agencies. "Introducing paid consultations is a way to optimize a company's operations, preventing it from going bust in the face of declining commissions. Furthermore, paying for tour selection will filter out agencies; only those with highly skilled managers will survive," he added.
According to N. Kulintseva, the service will be especially popular with agencies located in large shopping centers. For example, among Coral Travel's franchised agencies, there are 80%.
Cost of consultation
Regarding the price of a tour selection consultation, travel agency representatives have differing opinions. T. Arkhipova believes the price should be fixed and vary depending on how the manager communicates with clients. For example, an in-office consultation may cost one price, while a consultation by email or phone may cost another.
O. Kuznetsova believes the price of a consultation should vary depending on the type of tour. "We offer a standard tour package to a visa-free country or a complex tour with a visa, hotel selection outside the package, and an excursion program. I believe the price for a consultation should be between one and five thousand rubles," she explained.
According to Galina Polyanskaya, CEO of the Fantasy Line travel agency, the price of the service should depend on the cost of the tour. Furthermore, consulting fees for regular clients should not be charged as a bonus.
N. Kulintseva reported that Coral Travel will likely offer its agencies a fixed fee for the service, similar to airline tickets, where a fee is charged for each segment, regardless of the ticket price.
I. Tyurina emphasizes that the cost of a consultation should be included in the tour price.
Will customers want to pay?
Most travel agencies believe their clients will be receptive to the new rules. According to Diana Ferdman, head of the Belmare travel agency, this system will act as a litmus test, weeding out travelers who won't buy anything anyway. "If all agents decide to charge a consultation fee, tourists will get used to it very quickly," she believes.
Some still doubt that tourists will be willing to part with money for a service that was previously provided free of charge. "A paid consultation system is necessary, but it's mostly designed for loyal clients who value experts in tour selection. Most will be dissatisfied with having to pay," says S. Demidov.
Tourists' opinions on this issue are divided. Some believe it's a bad idea because travel agency offices could be overwhelmed by the volume of customers, making it difficult for them to select quality tours due to time constraints.
Most believe that if all travel agencies introduce paid consultations, they'll have to pay. "In that case, we'll have no choice. It's great if the tour is a good fit and everyone is happy, but what if it's not? We'll have to rely on the tour managers' high level of professionalism," tourist Nadezhda commented to Interfax-Tourism.
How to make money from consulting
According to N. Kulintseva, travel agencies that want to offer paid consultations need to better understand their clients and efficiently handle the needs of even the most discerning travelers. "We need to constantly monitor the market, know all the features and peculiarities of countries, resorts, and hotels, and learn to sell value and quality, not price," she added.
"We've developed an agreement that all our franchise agencies will receive in the coming days. We've also prepared special training courses on implementing this agreement—we'll explain how to work with clients coming to the office, how to sell this service, and how to make money from it," said N. Kulintseva.
According to her, agencies will be able to use this agreement at their discretion; it is not mandatory.
Loyalty instead of discounts
Everyone knows that travel agencies offer discounts. Clients typically search for the lowest price on the same tour from different agencies and buy from the one offering the biggest discount. However, with the commission cuts mentioned above, agencies have no resources to offer these discounts.
I. Tyurina emphasizes that the current practice of discounts is fundamentally flawed. "Why isn't it common to ask for discounts in cafes, restaurants, hairdressers, beauty salons, and other service establishments? On the contrary, tipping is customary there. Travel agencies also provide services, and they work for a commission from the tour operator, but for some reason they practically demand discounts," she says.
N. Kulintseva also believes that travel agencies are now forced to move away from traditional discounts and toward loyalty programs.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
