Why I never visit travel agents and what might change my view

I’m going to what promises to be an interesting discussion tomorrow evening. It is organised by CIMTIG (Chartered Institute of Marketing Travel Industry Group) and is a panel debate on the subject “Travel Agents – Are They Past Their Sell-By Date?” I’ll write about the debate in the next few days, but wanted to share some personal thoughts on the subject in advance.

In a recent post on his Travelblather blog travel writer Jeremy Head made some intelligent suggestions on where he sees the opportunities for travel agents to meet the changing consumer demands. I wanted to share some of my own reasons for not having visited a travel agent for over 10 years, and give a few suggestions for how I might be enticed to cross the threshold of a travel agent again.

On paper I should be a travel agent’s dream customer. Between my wife and myself I estimate we have spent in excess of £100,000 on travel in the last 10 years. If I had a regular travel agent who had booked all of these trips for me, I reckon we’d be best friends and he would be remembering me every year at Christmas. So why haven’t I been tempted to book? Here are just a few of my reasons, and I stress these are all perceptions that I hold from early experiences in less than great travel agents and I accept that these will not be true for many good agents out there:

1. Lack of confidence in product knowledge. When travelling to a non-mainstream destination, I assume that the agent has not been there. How many travel agents in St Albans high street have been to Syria or Laos? My web and book research gives me a grounding that I feel will be adequate to make our own arrangments, either in advance or on the ground.

2. Increased cost. I shop around online for flights and hotels. Once I’ve selected where I want to stay I look for discounts and deals where they can be found. And where I want to book an activity I’ll research the different providers and select the one that appeals to me, and then contact them directly for the best price. I don’t believe (rightly or wrongly) that an agent will be able to better my deals.

3. Enjoyment. I love planning a trip. I enjoy the research, the bookings, the piecing together of an itinerary, and of course seeing it all come together for real. I enjoy meeting face to face the people I’ve emailed or chatted with by phone. While agents advertise the convenience of them taking away this chore from me, it is not something I would want to hand over.

4. When things go wrong. One of the arguments for agents is the support they provide when things go wrong. Again, it may say more about my own need for control but I would rather back myself when faced with a crisis. We have had quite a few missed connections, unavailable hotels or weather cancellations and we’ve always got through them, whether by changing our plan, by passing a few dollars to the right person or by smiling and making the most of a situation that we know will make a great talking point on our return home. I prefer to dive in and attempt to solve a situation myself rather than call someone on the other side of the world and wait for something to happen.

5. Enjoying the unknown. Looking at our recent trip in SE Asia, we could have got an agent to book much of our itinerary. But some of greatest adventures were the moments when we had no itinerary, and turned up in a town to find a guest house and a bus for the next onward leg. I wouldn’t want to lose this spontaneity by having someone plan the trip in its entirety.

Actually, thinking about it I would not be such a good customer for a travel agent. But if I was to be tempted to visit one, here’s what might entice me:

The ambience would need to attract me to find out more about my destination; think second hand bookshop rather than supermarket. Let’s say I was going to Japan (which is actually our next planned long-haul trip). I would expect to have easy access to an agent who knows Japan well and has been there on at least one occasion. I would be happy to buy my obligatory guide books there rather than online and pick up information to read/watch at home. On giving our wish list (hiking, visiting the wild north of the country, spending time in rural Japan in addition to the most popular cultural and historic sights) the information provided would be tailored to my needs. I might be inspired to do things that I hadn’t been aware of, but that the agent suggested from accurate initial profiling of me as a customer.

I could return and see the same agent, and together we would put together an itinerary that would match our needs. Some days could be left blank and we would have to make our own way between two places. That’s perfect. And the price would be competitive. It doesn’t have to be cheaper than what I’d get online. I’m happy to pay a premium if the process of booking becomes an enjoyable part of the whole holiday experience.

So what do I want in summary?

1. To be treated as an individual customer from my first welcome.

2. To have easy access to a country expert who owns my experience from the start and shares my enthusiasm for that destination.

3. To be presented with bespoke information that helps me to create an itinerary plan that can then be finalised together with the agent and booked by them.

4. To be offered a fair, transparent price that I know will reflect the best possible rates available including a deserved reward for the agent. It doesn’t have to be the cheapest.

Surely that’s not too much to ask? I’m not guaranteeing I’ll visit an agent even with this ideal, as old habits do die hard. But there may be chance, and I’m sure that I’m not alone in these wishes. Let’s see how tomorrow’s debate unfolds.