Over the years I’ve been a devoted advocate for the Travel Industry and as such, I have contributed to articles, magazine publications and interviews to educate the consumer about the value of working with a caring Travel Professional.
Here are some questions I am sure you are familiar with.
Let’s take a look at them:
- What is a Travel Agent anyway?
- Aren’t Travel Agents a thing of the past?
- Why do I need a Travel Agent if I can just do it myself online?
Do any of these questions sound familiar to you? These are all common questions I get as a Travel Agent.
I would like to start with the traditional dictionary definition of a Travel Agent/Agency.
“A Travel Agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel- and tourism-related services to the public on behalf of suppliers, such as activities, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, travel insurance, and package tours.”
Wikipedia
As a Professional Travel Agent, I do so much more than that. We will cover that shortly. According to a Google search, the roles and responsibilities of a Travel Agent are:
- arranging flights, insurance, and accommodation
- using a booking system to secure holidays/vacations
- collecting and processing payments
- advising clients on travel arrangements, e.g. visas and passports
- sending out tickets to clients
- keeping clients updated on any changes
Well, those ‘Travel Agents’ are a thing of the past for the most part. I would like to introduce you to the ‘Millennial Travel Agent.
In my experience over the last ten years, a relevant Travel Agent is able to perform a job well done and thrive by offering the services above, but most importantly by selling from personal experience. In the ‘old days’ before the Internet, people used to rely on local Travel Agents to hand them a brochure and give them information about their next destination. Today, travelers are educated and oftentimes overwhelmed by all the information available at their fingertips. (Have you ever googled ‘Luxury Travel’? Try it; you will get hundreds of thousands of results.) This very access to information overwhelm has propelled a new breed of Travel Agents: smart, tech-savvy world travelers who act as a filter to all the nonsense available on the Internet.
So, why is adding a Travel Agent to your Preferred Vendors list a smart idea for your travel planning? Simply put, a professional and experienced Travel Agent becomes your entire Preferred Vendors list abroad.
