An Analysis of the Continued Necessity of Travel Agents in the Internet Era The primary thesis of Lam’s (2016) article is to define the negative impact of the Internet on employment opportunities for tourist agents in the United States, yet to also define the continued necessity of the tourist agent as an extremely asset to the tourist industry. The article defines the statics for the increasing use of online booking services, instead of services provided by online e booking agents that provide person-to-person services. This has led to a massive decrease in employment opportunities for the tourist industry over the pasty 14 years: “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of full-time travel agents in the U.S. dropped from a high of 124,000 in 2000 to around 74,000 in 2014” (Lam, 2016, para.1). however, Lam (2016) is attempting to coerce the reader that the personal experience and expertise of travel industry agents can provide a safer, and less frustrating travel accommodations” “Most of us have been in this industry for a very long time” (para.14). In this way, travel agents know the detailed issues that can arise during travel, which can be resolved with direct contact with the agent. Lam (2016) defines the limitations of online booking, which argue that the validity of the “travel agent” is still a necessity for the best possible traveling experience for the consumer. Online booking has become the biggest change in the tourist industry, which defines
The travel and tourism industry is a field of competitiveness. There is an extraordinary interest for visitor management which offers rises to the enormous amount of recommendations. New travel organizations are open each day and now existing ones broadens the field of activity. In the circumstances of a developing rivalry you have to have individual allure and relational abilities in spite of high expert aptitudes.
Before the days of the Internet, if a family wanted to travel to a far-off, exotic locale, they would have to either find a local travel agent or call a travel agency and plan their getaway. In the 1990’s, the Internet became a staple of everyday life and began entering many homes. As the availability of the Internet increased, so did the services available to clients. With the increasing availability of the World Wide Web the travel industry found itself faced with revolutionizing changes. All of the tools that were once solely available to travel agents now became readily available to anyone with access to the Internet and a search engine. Websites quickly formed around the idea of providing consumers with quick vacation planning ideas at low costs. Getting
Question 10. TCO 12. Some argue the Internet has diminished the need for travel agents. Others boast the travel agent offers a unique level of personalized service the Internet lacks. Profile the customer that would utilize a travel agent versus the typical internet
In this section I will explain the different development in the tourism industry since the 1960’s and what the effect it has on the travel industry.
The 1960 's marked the beginning of cruise tourism ( Brida, et.al, 2013). However, it wasn 't until the 70 's and 80 's that the cruise industry began to experience moderate growth. All of this changed however in 90 's when cruise tourism took root in Europe, Asia and Oceania and 3.8 million people worldwide embarked on ocean adventures ( Brida, et.al, 2013). Although the industry has experienced continual growth since the 90 's, and cruises are consistently ranked as one of the top preferred vacation type by holiday goers, the cruise tourism industry is still relatively small in relation to other forms of international tourism (Brida, et.al, 2013).
The bargaining power of buyers in the leisure & recreation industry has increased with the use of online travel booking and online customer reviews. Buyers are now able to become better informed with the services that they are purchasing and can
The criterion for a travel agent is reliability. Two potential surrogate indicators could include company and experience. A consumer will perceive a travel agent as reliable if that individual works for a reputable agency with good previous customer experiences. Furthermore, a consumer will perceive a travel agent to be reliable if that individual has a lot of prior work experience. A consumer would not want to book a trip internationally with a travel agent who has never worked outside of the United
Travel started to develop as a business many years ago. This industry began, when the ancient and rich inhabitants of Phoenicia, Rome, Egypt, Greece, and China; out of curiosity and a sense of adventure, about their surroundings, began to travel. Today tourism is a billionaire industry that serves the needs and wants of millions of domestic and international tourists. There is no doubt, that capitalism has played an active role in the developing of this powerful enterprise. However, when this business began, only the rich populations were able to enjoy their summers on the coasts and countryside. As these powerful people continue traveling, their servants have to cater for their patrons travel and accommodations needs and wants. As the Roman Empire decline, this business endured a backlash. In Central America the Incas had to travel to trade with the different racial groups, which were part of their empires to trade and collect taxes from their peasants.
When Internet was introduced in the 1990s, STA Travel experienced an increase in competitors as the Internet was predicted to account for more bookings than offline alternatives. In an effort to respond to the technological
As the economy develops, the individualized and diversified demand of tourists is growing. Tourism consumers in different regions, their needs and desires are vastly different, and also change with the change of environmental factors. Travel agencies highlight the characteristics of market positioning, emphasizing the differences, and establish
The tourism industry is complex and it offers different services and products. One of its major services are tour operators, for
With the passage of time traveling industry has emerged as one of the most profitable and lucrative industries globally. This can further be demonstrated from the fact that traveling industries today are just not localized to providing their customers with tourism related facilities but along with this they also ensure that their customers make use of all possible facilities and leisure resources through which their clients can enjoy the most memorable trip ever. In addition to this it is also important to mention that the recent economic slump developed serious repercussions upon the development of the travel industry. It was estimated that in the year 2008 international travel
The Development of the Travel and Tourism Industry and the Factors Affecting it Today Contents The development of the travel and tourism industry Page 3-4 Factors that have led to the growth in travel and tourism Page 4-6 Future developments in travel and tourism Page 6-7 Factors affecting the travel and tourism industry today Page 8-9 Bibliography Page 10 The Development of the Travel and Tourism Industry Throughout history, people have travelled across Britain for purposes of trade, education, religion and to fight in battles.
The buyers of the services of travel agencies are consumers, that is, individuals and businesses. For this industry we are dealing with a small degree of concentration, due to the wide range of services.
Travel Agents – These agents offer transportation, accommodation, and admission to various recreation activities to people and the groups arranging their trips. They offer guidance on destinations, design trip schedules, and make travel arrangements for customers.