European travel agents defy Internet threat

AFP, BERLIN: The doomsayers were 100 per cent certain that the Internet would be the death of travel agents.
But in Europe’s three biggest economies, the industry is still very much alive and kicking as consumers prefer expert advice and a friendly face when it comes to booking their holidays.
In France, the number of travel agents has held steady for the past five years.
In Britain, business is also “buoyant”, said Sean Tipton, spokesman for the ABTA travel association.
While he could not strictly say the number of high street travel agents had increased, “it would be true to say that the amount of business agents are doing is at record levels,” Tipton said.
Tour operators, “in particular Virgin Holidays and Kuoni”, have opened shops, Tipton added.
Over in Germany, the number of travel agents actually increased for the second year in a row last year.
And total revenues in the sector rose three per cent to 23.7 billion euros ($26.3 billion).
“There are two reasons: one is that there are more tourists than before and two is that platforms are not substitutes to human interaction,” said Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), at this month’s ITB travel trade fair in Berlin.
This March, DER Touristik, a subsidiary of retail giant REWE, is preparing to open a new travel centre in central Berlin.
“We’re opening up new travel agents because we remain convinced that personalised advice will continue to be very important,” said Andreas Heimann, who is in charge of travel agencies at DER Touristik.
Last year 42 per cent of Germans booked their holidays via travel agents, compared with 36 per cent who booked via the Internet.
Nevertheless, the gap has narrowed significantly since 2005, according to an annual study compiled by the research group FUR and presented at the ITB fair last week.  
When it comes to booking cruises, tours or family vacations, people prefer to do so via a travel agent, where they can be sure of a high degree of expertise and advice.
“The more exotic the destination, the higher the price, the less customers want to take risks when booking a holiday,” said Heimann.

 

European travel agents defy Internet threat

AFP, BERLIN: The doomsayers were 100 per cent certain that the Internet would be the death of travel agents. But in Europes three biggest economies, the industry is still very much alive and kicking as consumers prefer expert advice and a friendly face when it comes to booking their holidays. In France, the number of travel agents has held steady for the past five years. In Britain, business is also buoyant, said Sean Tipton, spokesman for the ABTA travel association. While he could not strictly say the number of high street travel agents had increased, it would be true to say that the amount of business agents are doing is at record levels, Tipton said. Tour operators, in particular Virgin Holidays and Kuoni, have opened shops, Tipton added. Over in Germany, the number of travel agents actually increased for the second year in a row last year. And total revenues in the sector rose three per cent to 23.7 billion euros ($26.3 billion). There are two reasons: one is that there are more tourists than before and two is that platforms are not substitutes to human interaction, said Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), at this months ITB travel trade fair in Berlin. This March, DER Touristik, a subsidiary of retail giant REWE, is preparing to open a new travel centre in central Berlin. Were opening up new travel agents because we remain convinced that personalised advice will continue to be very important, said Andreas Heimann, who is in charge of travel agencies at DER Touristik. Last year 42 per cent of Germans booked their holidays via travel agents, compared with 36 per cent who booked via the Internet. Nevertheless, the gap has narrowed significantly since 2005, according to an annual study compiled by the research group FUR and presented at the ITB fair last week. When it comes to booking cruises, tours or family vacations, people prefer to do so via a travel agent, where they can be sure of a high degree of expertise and advice. The more exotic the destination, the higher the price, the less customers want to take risks when booking a holiday, said Heimann.