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Agents See Direct Web Sales as Biggest Threat

Hotel Booking 73 per cent of travel agents and industry professionals surveyed in a recent Amadeus snap poll stated that they were either concerned or very concerned about the effect that airline and operator direct sales via the internet will have on their business.

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Travel Agency Rating four different industry issues on a scale of 1 - 5, with 1 being not at all concerned, 3 being neutral and 5 being very concerned, the effect of internet direct sales was of key concern closely followed by the move by airlines towards 1 per cent commission rates with 70 per cent of respondents stating that they were either somewhat concerned or very concerned about this trend.

While there are some below par travel agents out there, sources such as Tripology are great outlets to go to find reliable specialized travel agents that will match your needs. 10. Travel Agents Can Only Book My Flight and Hotel Travel agents can arrange car service, personalized tours and activities, in addition to all the basic travel services they provide. They are also excellent sources of information concerning good restaurants, good sites to see, and tips on what to pack.

Cheap Hotel Commenting on these two issues, one agent stated, "1 per cent commission almost makes it not worth the trouble of being an agent. When airlines and operators direct sell, it takes care of the easy bookings but leaves agents having to resolve the difficult or multiple bookings. This takes time, expertise and energy for which the airlines do not even thank the agents. Then adding insult to injury is the fact that some airlines charge for phoning them about problems caused by the airline which can lead to the booking being a dead loss for the agent."

Except for telephone bookings made through one of our authorised Travel Agents, we will endeavor to send this to you within 7 days of receiving your booking. For telephone bookings made through Travel Agents, your booking is confirmed when we verbally confirm your holiday to your travel agent. A contract between us comes into existence when we despatch our confirmation invoice to you or, for telephone bookings made through a Travel Agent, when we verbally confirm you booking to your Travel Agent.

Flight Booking However, some agents were more pragmatic regarding changing commission rates. One UK niche agent sees the 1 per cent commission rate as making their lives easier, forecasting that people will either have to be happy to pay a service charge or else go on-line to make the booking themselves.

Although travel agents have access to all of the same outlets you would use when looking to book travel, they also have access to exclusive pricing and package deals that are most times not available to the public. Your travel agent also has more leverage in helping out in situations such as hotels claiming to be booked, when in fact they may still have rooms available that are on hold for travel agents reservations. So when everyone else is telling you “No” your travel agent can help turn that to a “Yes.”

Travel Agent Somewhat surprisingly, most agents were not particularly concerned about the increasing trend towards charging service fees with only 27 per cent of respondents showing any concern over this issue. Another issue agents were asked about was their level of concern over forward bookings for 2004. Only 20 per cent of respondents expressed any concern over forward bookings for 2004 - which suggests a cautious but more optimistic view amongst agents for next year.

When you book with a bonded member of ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents), you get full financial protection, as ABTA travel agents must comply with strict financial rules. As a regulatory body, ABTA maintains a strict code of conduct. The code aims to ensure that you receive the best possible service from your ABTA Travel Agent from before you book your travel arrangements, sales service and information you get, to the way they handle any complaint you may have.

Hotel Chicago Rob Golledge, Senior Marketing Communications Executive at Amadeus UK, said "These issues affect agents in different ways depending on whether they focus on business or leisure travel and the diversity of respondents' views reflect this. One of the more positive comments expressed is that now more than ever, travel agents are working for their customers rather than acting as agents for any airline or operator. This is good news for the customer when it comes to receiving independent advice. But it's bad news for suppliers who are too eager to ditch the agency distribution model - considering the volume of sales that is still being generated through travel agents."

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