High Street Travel Agencies Versus Online Bookings - Report Example

High street travel agencies versus online bookings Name Institution Introduction Millions of people across the world take tours and trips based on very many diverse reasons. Some of them go for holidays, studies, medical reasons as well as business trips. The demographic of these people range from toddlers to the elderly in the society. In order for someone to travel to a place, he or she must have booked in advance. This is more so applicable in flights and cruises. High street travel agents have always been instrumental in facilitation of these bookings for over a long period of time (Laiton 2013, p.1). However, the dynamics of the way people travel nowadays has led to a change even in the way these bookings are conducted. Many people especially the youth are preferring to conduct their travel bookings using online means as opposed to high street travel agents (Baron 2009, p.6). This has affected the services of these travel agents in a diverse manner. This paper seeks to investigate the various reasons and issues that have resulted into this form of decline of the high street travel agents. The reasons why people have transitioned from the use of high street travel agents in favor of online bookings will be looked into in this paper. The paper will also analyze why some people have stuck to travel agents even with all the hype about online bookings. The reasons why online bookings have become more popular as compared to the travel agencies will be discussed. The future of the high street travel agents and the trend of booking will also be discussed. High street travel agents In order to offer a comprehensive analysis into this discourse, it would be vital to provide an outlay her of the high street travel agents. High street travel agents have been around forever. Before the invention of airplanes, people still travelled from place to place using ships. To book oneself onto a ship, one had to walk into a travel agent and conduct the transaction. When commercial airline services started, the role of travel agents became even more important and more intensified (Portas 2011, p.4). People who wanted to travel out of their country or even domestically using cruise ships or airplanes or trains had to walk into the high street travel agencies and do an actual booking. This provided them with some level of prestige as a business and a fortune too. However, today, with the advent of technology, these high street travel agencies are faced with a threat of their lifetime (Brightsale research report 2008, p.1). This is online booking. Online bookings Online booking is the new trend in the booking and travel business. Online booking is a virtual facility that allows people to book their travelling by the internet (Highbeam business website 2013, p. 1). This facility enables people to book flights, cruises and even rides seated in the comfort of their homes. It does not require one to take a physical visit to the booking office. One only needs to make a reservation online for a particular flight and pay through online banking platform. When that is done and confirmation of the payment is received, one receives a receipt number and the booking is confirmed. One then only needs to show up on the day of flight or cruise and take the trip. Why the internet is taking over from high street travel agencies The internet has surpassed the physical travel agencies across the globe. More and more people are preferring to use the internet as opposed to the usage of the travel agents (Neil & Fiona 2010, p.7). There are a number of reasons that make people want to use online bookings as compared to high street travel agencies. These reasons have been discussed in the following paragraphs. The advent of internet technology has enabled the networking of various people in various occupations and in different geographical settings. With a click of a mouse, people have been given the chance and the capacity to communicate with other people from all occupations and across various geographical boundaries (The telegraph website 2013, p. 1). This is one of the reasons that make the usage of internet attractive. Through the power of the digital technology, people now have the capacity to interact and learn more about places that they would like to visit from the natives of these places. Before this happened, people had to rely on the accuracy of the travel destinations from the travel agents. Online booking is fast and convenient. People love to use a service utility that is fast and efficient (Neate 2013, p. 1). Most companies which offer online bookings are very efficient. The service is very fast. Once one logs into an online agency, he or she is prompted to answer a number of questions to determine the travel package one wishes to purchase. One takes a chance to navigate through the website in an easy to control manner. Once a person makes a choice, he has a number of options on how he or she can pay for the same. This takes away the danger that is associated with carrying of cash as with the travel agencies. The speed through which the whole process is conducted saves a lot of time and appeals to many people. The world is increasingly becoming more competitive. People find themselves working harder and harder everyday just to get by. Most of these people have time as their major constraint. They do not have enough time to spare to go and seek a travel agency to make a booking. However, they are exposed to gadgets and devices that allow them to conduct the same transactions through the use of internet and in a very short period of time. These people prefer this channel of service as opposed to the prospect of having to go to the physical address of the travel agent and waiting to be served (501 places website nd, p.1). Online booking do not have many documentation (Siebert 2013, p.1). This is because everything is conducted through the use of computer. Travel agencies have a lot of documentation with them. When explaining to potential travelers about a place, they use a lot of printed material. This becomes an overhead that is sometimes transferred to the final consumer. Online bookings do not have these issues. All the bookings done are through the use of a computer or a phone in the websites of these booking companies. There is no paperwork in this case. Also, advertising features are very contemporary as it is easier to update them through the website even on a daily basis. The physical travel agents are very rigid on this issue. Sometimes you may find that the materials they use are outdated and they have not yet updated them. This undermines the confidence of a potential traveler especially to a tourist destination. Online bookings have the advantage of a round the clock customer care service (eGlobal website 2013, p.1). Through this platform, people have the capacity to communicate with customer service personnel at any given time of the day. They may be able to ask them all the questions that they need pertaining to their travel requirements. Physical high street travel agencies do not offer their clientele this privilege. They close the shop when the day ends. People cannot be able to access them unless during their normal working hours. This constraints the number of people who have access to the services of these agencies. Most of people find themselves having some free time at night and this is the period that they are well poised to ask the agencies questions and seek clarification on matters pertaining their travels. Online booking agencies have a higher market reach when they are compared to other physical high street travel agencies (Julia 2013, p.5). The internet has billions and billions of users who access it on a daily basis. Because of this reason, more people get to learn more about a particular booking agency. This creates a bigger market for them. Physical high street agencies may not have as wide a reach because of their physical limitation. They have to wait until the customers go to their physical addresses. When they decide to advertise, they use old school methods such as radio, TV adverts, and this does not have a large market presence and potential as the internet. In addition, advertising through these means is often very expensive and not cost-friendly to the owners. Another reason could be tagged to the fact that most of the people in the world are young. These people are very tech-savvy. They have embraced the use of internet technology and have absolute trust in its capacities. These people are risk takers and for this reason, they tend to align themselves with products and services that embrace technology. Online booking is one of them. Because of this reason, majority of the young people use online bookings as opposed to the old school style of paperwork (SnowHead nd, p. 1). Why some people still prefer to use high street travel agencies Though it has been observed that online booking agencies have literally overwhelmed and taken over physical travel agencies, these agencies still thrive. Matter of fact some of them are still doing quite well. Why is this so? It is apparent that these high street travel agencies have not lost total acumen in business. There are a number of reasons why people still use these high street travel agencies. These reasons have been highlighted in the following sentences. One of the reasons for this is that the presence of documentation boosts the confidence of the people and they feel that indeed they have conducted a transparent transaction (Walker 2013, p.1). The fear of hacking through the internet makes most people who are risk averse not trust the online booking systems. They feel that they might lose their money through fraudulent websites. Other people, especially the elderly just enjoy the ambience and the warmth of having to speak directly with a physical person. To them, conversations over the phone are not very reassuring. They like to talk to a person that they can see so that they can feel confident of the transaction they wish to do. The issue of loyalty is also important in this case. These elderly people have been using these agents for a very long time and the need to change to modern virtual forms such as online bookings is not welcome to them (Stevens 2013, p.1). Other people do not trust the technology behind online booking and perceive it as a way of losing their hard earned cash. Even among the young people, there is a large percentage of people who are skeptical about the workability of these online bookings (Cave 2013, p.1). Most of the people in this category will always opt to go for physical high street booking and travel agencies because these agencies offer a basic functionality and a more warm customer service than online bookings offer. People feel more appreciated when they are welcomed and treated well in a physical location as compared to hearing a voice on the phone (Evans 2013). For this and the skeptical reason, they will always head to a high street travel agents for their travel needs. The fear of losing their money is also very real. The internet is among the major targets of fraudsters and people may not be able to differentiate between the real and the fake. This could lead to these people making many losses from fraudulent online booking sites. Conclusion The above discussion has offered an insight into the differences between online bookings and high street travel agents. Online booking agencies have toppled over the high street agencies over the years. There are many benefits associated with online bookings over high street travel agents. These include speed, updated and accurate information and round the clock response. It has been shown here that the majority of the youthful population in the world has adopted this form of travel bookings. However, high street travel agencies are also still in operation. This is because some people are still skeptical about the safety of the online bookings and they prefer to have physical evidence to show that the transaction actually took place. The future is not very bright for the high street travel agencies due to this hype of the online bookings. References 501 places website nd, “Are travel agents past their sell-by date?” Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.501places.com/2010/01/are-travel-agents-past-their-sell-by-date/ Baron, CM 2009, “Diagnosis, trends and future strategies for High Street Travel Agents in Spain”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.du.se/PageFiles/18846/MolinaBaronCristna..pdf Brightsale research report 2008, “Is there a Future for High Street Estate Agency?” Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/pdf/is-there-a-future-for-high-street-estate-agency.pdf Cave, J 2013, “A cautionary tale about the demise of the high street rental chain”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.digitalcaveman.co.uk/a-cautionary-tale.html eGlobal website 2013, “ Are high street travel agents dying? Debate rages in UK”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.eglobaltravelmedia.com.au/are-high-street-travel-agents-dying-debate-rages-in-uk/ Evans, M 2013, “Travel agents”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.insights.org.uk/articleitem.aspx?title=Travel+Agents Laiton, A 2013, “Does the high street vs online travel agents distinction still apply?” Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.tourismlink.eu/2013/05/does-the-high-street-vs-online-travel-agents-distinction-still-apply/ Portas, M 2011, “An independent review into the future of our high streets”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6292/2081646.pdf Highbeam business website 2013, “Travel agencies”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://business.highbeam.com/industry-reports/transportation/travel-agencies Julia, N 2013, “Scenarios of the future work of business travel agencies”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/62988/Nevmerzhitskaya_Julia.pdf?sequence=1 Neil FD, Fiona E 2010, "Internet retailing: the past, the present and the future", Emerald journal, vol. 38, pp.3-46. Neate, R 2013, “Thomas Cook cuts 2,500 UK jobs and shuts 195 high street travel agencies”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/mar/06/thomas-cook-uk-jobs-travel-agencies Siebert, L 2013, “‘The high street is dead,’ says Travel Counsellors boss”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.ttgdigital.com/news/the-high-street-is-dead-says-travel-counsellors-boss/4686832.article SnowHead, PA nd, “ Is the high street travel agency model completely broken?” Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1876392 Stevens, J 2013, “The end of the travel agent? Holiday booking services ‘to become extinct’ as people go to the web to buy their vacations”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166772/The-end-travel-agent-Holiday-booking-services-extinct-people-web-buy-vacations.html The telegraph website 2013, “Is there any need for the high street travel agent?” Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/yourview/1542430/Is-there-any-need-for-the-high-street-travel-agent.html Walker, A 2013, “High Street Decline: One in Five Shops to Close By 2018, Says Report”, Accessed November 27, 2013 from http://www.watchmywallet.co.uk/news/2013/may/high-street-decline-one-in-five-shops-to-close-by-2018,-says-report/ Read More