Part 2: Race to the Experiential Travel Agent.
Now that we’ve discussed the current framework of the travel and experience marketplace (Part 1: Analysis on the Travel + Experience market.)—let’s talk about how we got here and the foreseeable opportunity.
Our perception of travel
The airline industry became popular in the 1960’s and as a result, the current tourism infrastructure was formed. Developed countries quickly saw an increase in cross-cultural exposure, the monetization of local goods to foreign audiences, and the rise of the modern travel agent; a new frontier of international travel and experience.
After World War II, baby boomers were purchasing homes, cars, and joining unions; American propaganda projected that each family should live under the comfort and security of consumption-driven happiness. At the time, most experiences were shared through verbal communication and creative storytelling. The occasional photo would be carried in a wallet or pinned to the office wall but the exchange of an individual’s experiences was essentially the same as it was a thousand years back — one-on-one interaction. There was no social network, no megaphone, to expose personal experiences.
History of the Travel Agent
Before the Internet, travel agents were the world’s ambassadors. They were the yogi sitting atop a misty hill at the convergence of travel and experience. People would seek them out in hopes of providing their nuclear family with a grandiose vacation to places like Acapulco or Hawaii. Consumers were drawn to travel agents for their knowledge and ability to lower trip costs.
- Network: Travel agents were one of the few ways you could book a trip and gain insight about a destination. They’d guide you to a place on the map that would align dreams with reality. If they hadn’t been to the destination themselves, a summoned Rolodex would provide an equally viable social connection.
- Economic: Combining personal trips and a deep network, travel agents could find the cheapest prices. They spent exhaustive hours researching travel destinations and socioeconomic structures that you’d be foolish to book a trip on your own.
The function of a travel agent hasn’t changed much over the years, but now would-be clients are empowered by the Internet’s information and connectivity to make their own travel decisions.
Travel Agent needs a rebranding
Although people will continue to use travel agents, we should consider this an opportunity to spin the original business model and establish a powerhouse in the new experiential travel marketplace.
Travel agents have been diminishing and are being replaced by online/mobile booking tools, social media, and travel blogs. Although most millennials would rule out consulting a travel agent, the market opportunity is there.
A great travel agent should drive every stage of the travel cycle: planning, traveling, and sharing. This software opportunity will have to leverage both travel and experience resources, like TripAdvisor, Kayak, and Periscope, to create an all-encompassing, social platform.
When planning travel, the benefits of a strong network and lower prices are just as important as they were before.
The race is on
Experiences make up travel, therefore, sharing travel should be more about experiences. Simple, I know.
2015’s groundwork of available apps is a catalyst for our evolving travel interests. Perhaps it is the global foundation in the economic narrative that has brought us to seamless life-sharing but the experiential travel market is here and in a BIG way. Possibilities are emerging with public interest in more granular personal experiences and the desire to relive the memories of others.
The user experience in Facebook photo albums and Instagram posts are almost identical to your grandmother’s coffee table wedding album; you’re just flipping pages left and right. People want to choose, live, and relive their experiences in a fun way.
Great ideas are surfacing in experiential travel but the stand-alone leader is yet to be crowned.