Search Travel Market Report

mainlogo
www.travelmarketreport.com
  • News
  • Packaged Travel
  • Cruise
  • Hotels & Resorts
  • Destinations
  • Retail Strategies
  • Niche & Luxury
  • Air
  • Training & Resources
  • Who We Are
    • Brian Israel
    • Briana Bonfiglio
    • Candace Protzman
    • Dan McCarthy
    • Dori Saltzman
    • Jennifer Arango
    • Kelly Fontenelle
    • Louis Intreglia
    • Tom McCarthy

Consumer Booking Tools: Are They Right for Your Agency?

by Marilee Crocker / May 20, 2015

This is the second of two stories on consumer booking tools

If a shrinking percentage of retail travel agencies provide consumer booking tools on their websites, maybe there’s a good reason for that. Perhaps online consumer booking tools aren’t the best choice for every travel agency.

“The key really is: Is it right for your business?” said Marilyn Macallair, vice president business development of Passport Online, which provides e-commerce solutions to the travel agency industry.

Not a slam-dunk
Macallair always asks a lot of probing questions of potential travel agency customers for Passport’s B2C booking engine before she’ll close a sale. Sometimes she even ends up dissuading them, she told Travel Market Report.

She wants to make sure a consumer booking engine is the right choice for the agency, before the travel agency or Passport invests their money and time.

She also wants to make sure the agency is committed to making it work. “You don’t just turn it on and walk away.” (See sidebar.)

Things to think about
Here are a few questions that Macallair and other industry experts urged agents to consider before adding consumer booking tools to their websites:

  • Are your customers telling you they want to book online? Do you believe you have to have a booking engine in order to stay competitive?

  • Does your website get good usage already?

  • Are you prepared to make a long-term investment in marketing your website and in other online engagement?

  • Do you have the resources to keep your website and booking tools up to date?

  • Have you considered how an online booking tool will enhance customers’ experience with your agency?

  • Will consumer booking tools help your customers deal with you and/or allow your agency to be more efficient?

Who’s your customer?
A key factor in the decision should be your customer base, Macallair said.

“If your demographic is an older customer you may not need to do it. However, the next generation, the millennials, are absolutely doing everything online.

“If the agency is starting to look at that demographic [millennials] for the growth of their business, they’ve almost got to be online,” Macallair advised.

Run the numbers
Agents should look closely at the economics by calculating the potential return on investment of a booking engine, which can run anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 a year, Macallair said.

Ask yourself how many online bookings you would need to recoup your initial investment and ongoing costs.

“What I do is take the monthly or annual fee, which for many is steep, and equate that to what that means as far as a booking is concerned: How many bookings that are untouched by an agent do you need to make in order to recover that cost? What’s your ROI––five bookings a year? 10? 100?

“If you don’t see the bookings and you’re forking out a few thousand dollars a year, the economy isn’t there,” Macallair said.

Related story:

Why Do So Few Agents Offer Consumer Booking Tools?

  0
  1

MOST VIEWED

  1. Maui Fires Update: Which Hotels and Resorts Are Open and Closed After Lahaina Fires
  2. Tropical Storm Idalia Forecasted to Become Hurricane Today, Hit Florida by Wednesday
  3. FAA Issues Nationwide Ground Stop for United Airlines Flights
  4. Southwest Airlines Strike Seems Imminent
  5. Hurricane Lee's Uncertain Path Raises Some Travel Concerns
  6. Celebrity Cruises Removes Gratuities from "All Included" Pricing


  1. Hurricane Lee Intensifies to Category 5: Caribbean and U.S. Impact Uncertain
  2. Hurricane Franklin Scuttles Two Bermuda Cruises
  3. Two Florida Ports Remain Closed After Hurricane Idalia
  4. Royal Caribbean Monitoring Haiti Violence
  5. Updated Cruise Line COVID-19 Vaccination, Booster, & Testing Requirements
  6. Idalia Expected to Hit Florida as ‘Extremely Dangerous Major Hurricane’ on Wednesday
TMR THIS WEEK
Sponsored by Carnival Cruise Line
//services.travelsavers.com/AMGService.svc/REST/GetImage?ImageID=8eb8c379-4b59-ee11-92d0-005056a8720b&Width=350&Height&250

Why Every Travel Advisor Needs a Business Plan…And How to Start One

A business plan is not just a document; it's your compass. 

Read More...
TMR Subscription

Subscribe today to receive daily in-depth coverage, analysis of industry news, trends and issues that affect how you do business. Subscribe now for free.

Subscribe to TMR

Top Stories
ASTA’s EVP of Advocacy Eben Peck to Leave Association Next Month
ASTA’s EVP of Advocacy Eben Peck to Leave Association Next Month

Peck has spent nearly 12 years with ASTA.

Read...
Travel Advisors Access Free Social Media Content, Suppliers Extend Their Reach
Travel Advisors Access Free Social Media Content, Suppliers Extend Their Reach

For most travel advisors, the importance of having a strong and regular presence on social media is a given. 

Read...
Travel Vets Launch AVANCE Collective, a 501(c)(3) Focused on the Industry’s People
Travel Vets Launch AVANCE Collective, a 501(c)(3) Focused on the Industry’s People

The ultimate goal of the organization is to “demonstrate the charitable power of the travel industry." 

Read...
Nexion’s 2023 Rising Star Reveals How She Succeeds as a New Travel Advisor
Nexion’s 2023 Rising Star Reveals How She Succeeds as a New Travel Advisor

Brittany Franey, an independent travel advisor in South Carolina, is Nexion’s Rising Star for 2023.

Read...
Tools for Success: How Advisors Can Work Smarter in the Travel Industry
Tools for Success: How Advisors Can Work Smarter in the Travel Industry

Tools that can make an advisor's job easier, from Plann That to FlowDesk to Asana and more. 

Read...
ACTA'S 2023 Eastern Summit Industry Panel: Maximizing Return on Effort
ACTA'S 2023 Eastern Summit Industry Panel: Maximizing Return on Effort

Working smarter, not necessarily harder. 

Read...
TMR OUTLOOKS & WHITE PAPERS
European Travel Trends 2023 Outlook
CP White Paper 1
Cruise Trend Outlook 2023
View All
industry insider
industry-insider.jpg
//services.travelsavers.com/AMGService.svc/REST/GetImage?ImageID=f22339b7-9c5b-ee11-92d0-005056a8720b
What Does Social Media Really Mean?
Advertiser's Voice
//services.travelsavers.com/AMGService.svc/REST/GetImage?ImageID=9bb09e35-c85b-ee11-92d0-005056a8720b
Video: The Difference Between Marketing and Advertising
About Travel Market Report Mission Staff Advisory Board Advertise
TMR Resources Webinars Calendar of Events Outlook/Whitepapers Previous Sponsored Articles Previous This Week Articles
Subscribe to TMR
Select Language
Do You Have an Idea Email
editor@travelmarketreport.com
Give Us a Call
1-(516) 730-3097
Drop Us a Note
Travel Market Report
71 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
News |Packaged Travel |Cruise |Hotels & Resorts |Destinations |Retail Strategies |Niche & Luxury |Air |Training & Resources |Who We Are
© 2005 - 2023 Travel Market Report, an American Marketing Group Inc. Company All Rights Reserved | 243 South Street, Oyster Bay, NY, 11771 USA | Telephone (516) 730-3097| Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy