Travel Agencies once again showing signs of life

Recently there have been a number of articles suggesting that travel agents are set for a comeback. In the UK, this is very encouraging news after the closure of 1,400 agencies in the last 10 years. But this is a trend that knows no boundaries and I'm pretty sure that retail agents around the world will be rejoicing at this news.

So, is this true and if so, what are the driving forces behind this latest paradigm shift? Travel Counsellors has been pretty much immune to the impact of online travel and also tour operators going direct to the public. In fact, we have enjoyed double-digit growth over the last 6 years culminating in a record-breaking January for the company just 2 weeks ago.We have achieved this growth because 20 years ago we predicted the future. That's not meant to sound arrogant, but as far back as the mid-nineties we could see that travel was becoming more impersonal and self-serve. Agents were being told what to sell (many still are), how much to sell it for, chained to their desks unrewarded, unfulfilled and disillusioned. We predicted that technology would tear the heart out of the personal relationships Travel Agents had with their loyal customers.

We therefore felt compelled to build a different future. We built personal relationships, we looked after our customers and we listened before selling to them. Only then could we start to make dreams come true, and we quickly found that our customers came back year after year. We grew and our Travel Counsellors (TCs) began to earn more. Globally, we have 675,000 customers and this number is increasing daily as is the number of Travel Counsellors currently standing at 1,350 with over 42 in Dubai alone, which considering we have only been operational in the UAE for a little over 2 years is significant.

We designed our unique business model and crafted a culture that put our customers at the very heart of everything we do. We vowed to get it right for them no matter what. We put a commercial framework in place that empowered our TCs to evolve into Tour Operators where certain Tour Operators had turned their backs on us. In Dubai as in other countries, our TCs now have the greatest access to airlines, hotels, car rental companies, transfers, attractions, Tour Operators, and Destination Management Companies all framed in Phenix, our in-house dynamic packaging system. It enables them to tailor make itineraries that our customers have long dreamed about. They take their clients to places they never knew existed, creating lifelong memories and happiness. But most importantly of all they do it with the utmost care and they are always there for their customers around the clock, every day of the week, every week of the year because they have great big hearts. That's why our repeat business rate is over 60%, double the industry average.

So, to answer the question about what are the driving forces behind the comeback of the travel agent, it's everything that we have been doing for 20 years. Today, there is even new evidence that the tech savvy millennials (the under-35s) are turning their back on online travel agents because they recognise that completing boxes online or having a one-way conversation with an uncaring travel agent isn't the best way to make their dreams come true. They tried it and it didn't work. As their travel needs becoming more sophisticated, then more power to the traditional Travel Agent, but if you are still doing what you always did you are going to miss the boat and be left standing dockside.

Value trumps price any day of the week, that's what this emerging trend is telling us.