Fortune Magazine Joins The Trend In Promoting Travel Agents
by Cheryl Rosen /
“Algorithms can only go so far,” says Fortune magazine. And we couldn’t agree more.
In a new article titled, “Travelers Are Embracing Human Travel Agents Again,” the venerable publication notes that while online travel sites like Expedia and Priceline offer the “illusion of total choice and the very best deals,” customers are finding that in the end there really is nothing like a professional travel advisor.
“What’s old is becoming new again,” the story says—and that means us.
The Fortune story cites data from MMGY’s “Portrait of the American Traveler” survey and quotes MMGY president and CEO Clayton Reid, who notes that customers today are “using online travel agencies as showrooms, or ways to go look at aggregated content to help with decision-making, not booking.”
“Travelers want more curated results along with the best deals and packages, and they’re showing that they will sacrifice a bit of control that do-it-yourself sites offer. Although there are about half the number of travel agents working in the U.S. as there were in 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this new paradigm has created a space, once more, for old-fashioned human intervention,” Reid said.
For the full story, go here.