Articles tagged “travel agents”

There are floors full of marketing folks and techies at Expedia, Booking.com, United, and American Airlines who are measuring whether consumers click faster on the yellow button or the red banner. Can airline websites afford to be cheerleader, confidante, and payment processor simultaneously? Very doubtful.

Hong Kong's travel sector needs all the help it can get at the moment, and a new government scheme will be met with gratitude by travel advisors in particular.

Traveling is tough when you’re transgender, but it can also be very risky for travel advisors who could unwittingly send their clients into some hostile environments if they don’t know what they’re doing.

Congressional legislation in the United States that would bar hotels and short-term rental sources from advertising rates that don't include resort fees is getting support from the American Society of Travel Advisors. Advocating for transparency in pricing is an important cause for travel industry organizations to take on.

The American Society of Travel Advisors' show of support for the Hotel Advertising Transparency Act of 2019 indicates growing distaste among agencies, as well as the general public, for resort fees, particularly when they are not disclosed up-front. Such support is a logical step for the organization, which has long advocated for pricing transparency.

Since Saudi Arabia introduced a new tourist visa on Sept. 28, the focus has been on what it means for non-Muslim leisure travelers. But the new visa holds a bigger significance for the huge Muslim travel market in Asia and elsewhere.

Shore excursions offered by third-party companies are growing in popularity among passengers and travel advisors alike. Independent options tend to offer more customization than ship-sponsored tours while also offering financial benefits for travel advisors.

Independent shore excursions are proliferating, enabling passengers to avoid the crowds and travel advisors to earn commissions. With competition more intense, some cruise lines are attempting to improve their excursion offerings as a result.

Travel advisors need to further diversify their revenue beyond commissions. That's for sure.

The low base fares promoted by some budget and mid-level cruise lines rarely indicate what the actual cost of a sailing will be. Travel advisors are stepping in to advise clients about onboard charges and, in some cases, showing that a higher-end cruise with all-inclusive pricing is actually a better value.