Travel agents play a key role in the future of domestic travel, AOT Holidays MD Paul Scurrah said today.
Speaking following recent press coverage suggesting a shift away from agencies in favour of direct sales was a key component of Qantas Holidays future under new ownership, Mr Scurrah reaffirmed AOT Holidays’ commitment to working andgrowing with retail travel agencies, saying, “AOT Holidays’ growth strategy is based on solid preferred agreements with our travel agency partners.”
“We are wholeheartedly committed to travel agents as we believe strongly in their ability to distribute our product as they have proven that they have reeducated themselves on how to make domestic travel a far better proposition.”
“Demonstrating how much we value our relationship with the travel agents, we have revamped our New South Wales Holidays and Travelpoint Holidays brochures this year and made improvements to our popular Sunlover Holidays’ brochures based on feedback from travel agents.”
Mr Scurrah acknowledged that there was a growing market for online distribution in the travel industry, however, he said the growth in the number of online travel companies all promising they offer the best deals is adding to consumer confusion, playing back into the hands of travel agents and allowing them to use their expertise to give credible and educated advice.”
“There is so much information available online that consumers are now better educated than ever before, but they can also become confused by the information overload”.
“This plays back in the hands of travel experts, like us, who have good product knowledge, and our specialized service is proving a winner with travel agentslooking for assistance with their well-researched clientele.”
“Working closely with our travel agent partners, we can both reduce consumer confusion and provide an even greater level of customer service, making consumers’ holiday experience enjoyable from the start.”
Report by The Mole
