Are travel agents obsolete?
Its clear that the Internet has disrupted the travel industry in ways such that some even claim that since we have the ability to book travel ourselves, we no longer need travel agents.
But if we look deeper into this issue we see that the true value proposition isn’t really about the “reservation system” but really the context in which travel agents can provide the traveler.
Before the Internet, travelers had to make personal appointments to travel agents for their vacation needs. These travel agents were able to leverage their access to reservation systems (ie Sabre, GDS, and Amadeus) which they can offer to their customers. The reservation systems give visibility to the information airline carriers make available such as prices per seat, discounts, flight schedules and destinations. However, websites sucth as Orbitz and Kayak were able to democratize this access to the reservation systems and their deals and this had a heavy undercutting effect for those who were totally dependent on the same revenue model. The Internet allowed websites to democratize the same revenue model that pre-Internet travel agents have come to take for granted. Travel agents soon were competing with the lowest bidder and eventually lost many customers this way. This is because those who relied on this model didn’t realize that the real value they offer to the customer is their context as to the best destinations for the right price.
The real value proposition of travel agents is to provide a glimpse as to what the traveler will get when they are paying for a vacation. This is why the best agents pre-Internet were those who had prior travel experiences because they were able to guide their customers through their first-hand experiences. Now in the digital age, social media gives people a way to share their first hand experience directly to others who are looking for the same experience. One can simply watch Youtube or login on Instagram for inspiration and then go to a booking site for the best airline and hotel prices. Using social media for travel inspiration and discount websites for booking, people have more options than ever to go to the most exotic destinations. But this isn’t always good for the customer. The Internet is good at providing a torrent of information but not so good at discerning those information.
By shifting most of the decision-making process to the customer, the Internet has simply turned the customers into the travel agents. Customers now have the burden of choosing the best prices among a growing number of carriers. And the risk of not choosing well results in a travel experience that varies from bad to average to frustrating and painful. This was the value proposition of Hipmunk, which is a booking website whose mission is to “Take the agony out of travel plannning.” Although the intention was on point, Hipmunk has only covered only part of the process customers have to go through in order to decide on their next travel adventure. Tassel VR aims to take this mission further.
With the help of local curators who are native to the travel destination, Tassel VR aims to deliver on the promise of democratizing the travel experience. Local curators have the ability to create content that only they know best. It is this experience that customers look for when they travel. The excitement of discovery and the feeling that they belong there as a native. It is the ultimate escapist dream.
With the help of local curators, travelers can connect with them through social media, look at their content on the Tassel VR platform, and then book their flight using the Tassel VR booking service.
References:
1. http://www.nytimes.com/…/22/tra…/are-travel-agents-back.html
2. https://www.theatlantic.com/…/…/2016/06/travel-agent/488282/
About TasselVR
TasselVR is a decentralized travel marketplace that lets travelers book tourist experiences from locals, instead of full-service tourist companies. TasselVR aims to bring the promise of VR technology to travelers one route at a time.
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