Articles tagged “travel agents”

Thomas Cook’s disastrous merger with The Co-operative Group in 2011 gave it more than 1,200 retail shops at a time when the public was switching to online sales. Gradually it has been trying to reduce this number while at the same time improving those deemed to be in key locations.

In a funny twist of fate, the man who helped drive consumers away from traditional travel agents with Kayak is now building a business around them. By combining the convenience of an app with the human touch, English and company are hoping to hit a sweet spot.

Many of the mergers and acquisitions among leisure travel agencies have been sought after by big companies looking to grow their sales volume, for a variety of reasons. But an aging population of agency owners is looking for an escape hatch as well, adding fuel to the acquisition frenzy.

Travel agents have come a long way since the early days of travel. Despite the rise of online travel websites and do-it-yourself planning, savvy travel agents are doing better than ever with the help of their networks.

Chat-based apps that use real travel agents are getting a lot of buzz; we're interested to see how they will fit into the corporate travel space.

Once millennials start making money, they're willing to spend to receive personalized treatment from a travel agent. They're also tired of the hassle of do-it-yourself online travel booking.

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.

English envisions a travel booking experience where users can simply talk to their phone and have the perfect trip planned for them. Questions remain, however, about how exactly Lola's technology will enable customer service professionals to become indistinguishable from experienced travel agents.

Lola wants to use mobile messaging, and an artificial intelligence system that learns traveler preferences, to reinvent how consumers book travel using a travel agent. Everyone else wants to cut travel agents out. Lola wants to deal them in.

Travel industry experts and analysts are hailing the rise of a “conversational commerce” based on the increasing appeal of messaging technology. The applications range from customer relations and marketing to travel operations — and they loom large for travel brands, agencies, and startups seeking to capture travelers’ bookings in the mobile space.