Articles tagged “travel agents”

Travel agents and meeting planners feel betrayed by Marriott’s – and now Hilton’s – move to cut commissions on group bookings. They’re grappling with ways to deal with the cuts, even as they fear more hotel companies may follow suit. It's not personal, though; it's strictly business.

Airlines and travel agencies are entering a new world of personalized retailing. While NDC will help push things forward, technology providers also need to think more broadly than the status quo and look ahead to the opportunities emerging technologies will present.

This transaction makes one of the largest private players in leisure travel, Apple Leisure Group, even bigger and sweetens the potential reward for the almost inevitable private equity sale of its assets.

Richard Branson might be a contender for the king of lechery, and Steve Wynn's sexual harassment scandal didn't come as a surprise to some, but the lawsuit against Travel Leaders Group, if the allegations turn out to be true, is a reminder that you don't have to be a household name to be held accountable.

Australians have taken to cruising like ducks to water. With around 85 percent of bookings going through travel agents, this sector is providing a shot in the arm for travel retailers hit by falling margins in their bread-and-butter flights and hotels business.

Marriott will use its formidable presence in the North American hotel market to squeeze travel agents and meeting planners. The big question is whether competitors will follow suit. Could Marriott be setting the stage for a full-blown commission cut on all hotel bookings that would completely disrupt the travel sellers?

Despite the common misconceptions out there, travelers today—even millennial travelers—are open to using travel agents and consultants, as long as the price is right and trips can still be customizable and unique.

Millennials are often perceived as being totally closed off to the idea of travel agents. However, if the right message is put out there in the right way, these younger travelers are apt to sign on with a travel agent to help them plan the unique, memorable experiences they crave.

U.S. tour operators and travel agents are betting that it will be business as usual, or perhaps even better, as the new Cuba restrictions take effect and individual people-to-people visas get sidelined. But many also find it ironic that the White House announced these changes while Trump was courting leaders of Asian countries that have poor human rights records.

Sadly, whatever resolution was agreed upon will remain a secret between Ryanair, Google, and eDreams. We'll have to keep an eye on the Google search results to see if anything changes.