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Agents should charge for advising public
Travel agents have been urged to start charging customers for advice to avoid being fleeced for information by direct bookers.
A seminar was told that the trade must begin standing up for itself and demand to be regarded as professionals.
Agency boss Bryony Hordern, who runs Oxfordshire-based Tickets Anywhere and is an Advantage Travel Centres board member, called on fellow agents to clamp down on holidaymakers looking for free information.
“People don’t see a problem in talking to a consultant for 45 minutes when they have already made up their mind not to book through us,” she told the CIMTIG seminar in London. “We, the agent, should be paid for our information and feel the information has a value. We should establish ourselves as professionals and be remunerated for the advice we give.”
Ms Hordern, who charges a £20 fee for bookings of £100 or less and for any airline ticket at her shop in Thame, stressed that the money should be refunded if a booking is made.
But customers should be under no illusion that if they don’t book, they will have to pay the fee.
“They must know the information I have imparted does have a value and if they come back and book it will be refunded,” she said. “We are not a public library and are not funded by the government.”
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