It’s a battle that’s as old as perhaps time itself, or at least since the dawn of the Internet age and the rise of the machines – err, I mean Online Travel Agencies, like Webjet, Expedia and Agoda.
But just like in any good saga, it’s a battle to the end, and just when you had all your money pegged on the new favourite to take the win, the older and more experienced opponent rises from the ashes and deals his new competition a mighty death blow – kind of like Stallone in Rocky Balboa.
Source: Amazon.com
Okay, let’s stop the drama for a moment.
What I’m talking about here is the constant ebb and flow of the travel industry. We work in a dynamic industry, and the state of the game last year doesn’t necessarily indicate the way things will be from now on.
Travel Agents used to be the dominant players in the travel game before consumers were able to book their own travel plans online. But they’ve had to share the market over the last 10 or so years with these Online Travel Agencies.
But what does 2017 hold for the humble Travel Agent? Is this the year they strike back against the empires of 1’s and 0’s?
Back in December 2015 we wrote a story on the growing trend of millennials using Travel Agents. According to the MMGY Global’s 2014 Portrait of the American Traveler, this demographic was the group most likely to use an agent – yep, even more than the Baby Boomer generation.
The same study predicated that 30 percent of millennials will be using a Travel Agent over the next two years, compared to 19 percent of Generation Xers, 16 percent of boomers and 27 percent of matures.
Why is this so?
Well perhaps one major reason is that millennials, and travellers in general, are becoming increasingly interested in choosing experiences over destinations in and of themselves – they’re even choosing experiences, especially travel experiences, over buying a house, car or paying back those student loans!
In other words, it’s all well and good to research a destination online, but it’s another thing to hear from someone who has actually spent time in that destination and can offer you solid, backed up advice on where to go, what to do and where to avoid.
Sure, it’s possible to glean this information by trawling through Trip Advisor reviews and diving into Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum. But it’s just so much easier to get all that info from a Travel Agent, who in all probability has been to where you’re looking to go, or at least can refer you to a colleague that has.
And then there’s the more recent phenomenon of (some) Travel Agents charging fees for their services. Turns out many consumers are happy to pay these extra fees as they understand the value of using an agent, and many of you have your own opinions on whether this is legit or not.
(BTW: Where do you stand on this debate?)
Now, when we consider for a moment that millennials will be the fastest growing segment of the travel market over the next two years, it doesn’t take a genious to put two and two together…
If that 30 percent predication of millennials using agents over the next two years holds, and more travellers enter the millennial age, then the number of consumers using Travel Agents – and not Webjet and the like – will increase: hello increased market share and possibly the biggest agent comeback of the decade!
And that’s just using millennials as our example…
Obviously this is just mere speculation for now, and it will be interesting to see how things take shape in 2017.
Stay tuned to KarryOn to see how this plays out… Or as always feel free to let us know what you think…
Here’s to a uber-awesome 2017 for Travel Agents young and old, near and far!