Don't Start Your Engines! By Adrian Caruso TRAVEL WEEKLY | Wednesday 02 May 2007

Does a travel agent or travel agency really need a booking engine on their website? There are plenty of companies out there who think you should have one, but I beg to differ.
 
When I ask small to medium sized agents about their websites and the booking capabilities, they beam with pride that clients can book travel 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When I ask them how many bookings they are getting on their website, however, the answer is typically zero.

How can that be? We are talking about booking engines that rival the technology of the top online sites in the world. How come these booking systems are not generating tons of business for these agents?

A quick visit to Google sheds some light on the issue. Yesterday, while I was waiting at the airport for yet another flight, I accessed the wireless network and did a few quick searches. First I typed "travel deals" into Google. The response was  49,700,000 websites that matched those key words. Then I typed in ‘holidays’ and got a search result of 319,000,000. Finally, I tried to narrow down my search to get a more manageable result by typing in ‘cruise deals.’ Well, that did cut down on the number of websites that were returned...to only 8,150,000!
 
So here's the problem: You might have the greatest website in the world, but if no one knows it's there or how to find it, who cares! You are competing against millions of sites for the attention of the consumer. It's a daunting task, to say the least.

Online sites have spent tens of millions of dollars in advertising to drive consumers to their sites and to build their brands. What's interesting is how consumers have reacted. The average consumer goes to three different websites when they are looking to purchase travel. What are they looking for on these searches? They usually want the cheapest price. What kinds of products are they buying? They are buying point-to-point airline tickets and hotel rooms, not vacations! Who's going to be better equipped to make money on fifteen dollar transaction fees selling airline tickets, you or Webjet or Expedia?
 
So what's an agent to do? The answer is you need to focus on what makes you unique to the customer. Put simply, it's you and your experience. It's your ability to connect one on one with the customer. It's your ability to provide personal advice and guidance. These are things that the online sites only wish they could provide.
 
Do you really want to spend your time, money and efforts trying to cut through the clutter of millions of websites? Why not spend your time and money marketing within a five- or ten-mile kilometres of your office or where you live. Become known as the travel expert in your town or neighborhood and work with local DSMs to introduce a variety of products to potential clients. Turn to your Rotary club and other local organizations to get your name out. It will pay off in spades.
 
And as for the whole website discussion, I'm not saying don't have a website. Every agent should have a website. Think of it as your expanded business card or yellow pages directory listing. Feature your areas of expertise and why customers should do business with you. Provide contact information and maybe even testimonials from some of your top clients. But a booking engine? You will have to think long and hard about this!

Now I know that there will be a number of people who will express some very different opinions about whether to have a booking engine or not on their website.  Especially when companies who continue to invest substantial amounts of money in their on-line business strategy such as Jetset Travelworld who recently put a booking engine on their main website and the websites of their franchisees.

Some people will tell me I am dead on, while others will insist I am giving bad advice particularly those who specialize in getting business through their websites, will think that I am selling their business model short.  And I won't argue that there are certainly a number of agents and agencies making good money selling travel via the web.

What's different is their approach. They didn't simply put a booking engine on their site, then sit back and wait for things to happen. Instead, they create an integrated online/offline strategy to drive business, which is typically focused on a core travel specialty.

But when you push customers to a booking engine, you effectively train them to book direct on supplier websites. I feel that they will ultimately go to the source if you aren't providing any value beyond a window to a booking engine.

Travel agents should take inventory of their current business model, their particular knowledge base and their growth strategies to assess what makes sense for their agency. For some, it's a focus on the local market with nothing more than a profile on the web of their experience and contact information. For others, it's a national approach that focuses on a specific niche to drive better results from online marketing. In both cases, the combination of online and offline approaches makes for a more effective distribution model.
 
Now back to the question of whether you need a booking engine on your site. Sit down and ask yourself a few simple questions: What is it that I do that makes my customers want to do business with me? What unique insights do I possess that my clients find valuable? How can I add value to the process of buying travel? Is my area of expertise easily automated?
 
I think you will find that the answers to these questions should point you and your business in the right direction for the future.

Let us know what you think

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