Lola Deal With Virtuoso Is Rare Truce in Travel Agent-Online Booking Relations
Skift Take
It remains to be seen how much of the future of travel booking will be based around mobile messaging and service. But it does seem reasonable to expect a hybrid of traditional personal service and digital do-it-yourself accessibility to appeal to many travelers going forward.
Many say that online travel booking sites like Expedia and metasearch services such as Kayak have essentially killed the traditional travel agent over the last 20 years.
In addition to online booking going mainstream, the disappearance of agent commissions for air ticket bookings and travel information becoming readily available online contributed to this downturn as well.
Statistics bear out this staggering decline: There were about 117,000 travel agents in the U.S. in 1997, and just 74,100 still active in 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. Travel agent employment is al
