by J Mock

Created on: December 01, 2008   Last Updated: January 03, 2011

The availability of Internet based travel services has revolutionized the travel industry, in the provision of a viable source of on-line travel providers. This 'new market' raises the question of whether the traditional travel agency will eventually become obsolete.

The trend for on-line bookings had increased during 2005 and 2006 but the latest research has identified a slight decrease in the number of travelers booking on-line during 2007 and 2008. Although revenue has remained on an upward cycle it appears that a percentage of travelers are returning to off-line sources for a specialized service.

Jeff Grau is a senior anaylyst at eMarketer, a company specializing in Internet market research and trend analysis. In a report for eyefortravel.com, published in September 2008, Mr Grau was noted as stating that "The fact that fewer travelers are booking online is not due to economic concerns online travel bookers are an affluent demographic it is caused by frustrations related to the planning and booking capabilities of on-line travel agencies. This, in turn, is spurring a renewed appreciation for the expertise and personalised services offered by traditional travel agents."

(http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/industry-analysis/ online-travel-sites-are-steering-customers-back-offl ine-travel-agents)

This awareness of the ever-evolving travel industry is echoed in the results of other leading market research and analysis consultants. PhoCusWright is a leading authority on market research within the travel industry. According to their analysis of a recent study into the U.S travel agency marketplace during 2007 "the dramatic shifts upending travel distribution have both imposed and facilitated tremendous change among agencies. Once the primary means by which consumers purchased travel, agencies have seen a substantial amount of their business primarily sales of stand-alone flights, hotels and car rentals shift on-line and supplier commissions erode. As a result, agency owners and managers have had to rethink their strategies, retool their businesses and reinvent their tactics. The typical leisure agency today is focusing on more complex travel such as cruise, vacation packages and independent itineraries, where commissions are still relatively high and more experience and expertise is needed to facilitate the consumer's purchasing decision. Many of these agencies now charge fees on air or try to avoid selling air at all".

(http://www.phocuswright.com/research_publications_b uy_a_report/475)

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