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This year brought about a lot of change, but so have the last five, ten and 20 years. It all goes in a flash, so we asked travel agents who have been in business for some time to tell us exactly how the industry has changed as a whole and for their individual businesses.
Margie Lenau started her business in 2008 and, she said, things have changed a lot in those years since. "Traditional agencies were just beginning to hire Independent Contractors," said Lenau, owner of Wonderland Family Vacations. "Everyone thought that OTAs would put travel agents out of business and those rumors ensued. Travel agents are now specializing and home-based agents are more common than brick-and-mortar agents. Specializing helps them to market their business. The travel suppliers also respect the home-based agents because of their expertise and sales. It is no longer an unusual thing to be home based."
Greg Geronemus, the co-CEO of smarTours, said that since the company was founded in 1996, the appetite for exotic, less conventional destinations has grown tremendously. "In 1996, smarTours was founded with a focus on adventurous, largely exotic international destinations," he said. "In the early days, our adventurous destinations across Asia, Africa, South America and Eastern/Central Europe really only appealed to a small subset of the U.S. market -- the intrepid, the courageous few who were willing to look beyond the Caribbean and mainstream Europe."
Today, he said that customers are taking their first international trips to places like South Africa and Thailand. "That never would have been the case 20 years ago," he said.
For almost 14 years, Samarah Meil has been selling travel and credits technology for much of the changes that she's seen. "I can see how technology has actually made it easier to sell and book travel," said Meil of Amarillo Travel Network. "I love all the travel apps that help make you look like a rock star because you can track flights or send info to clients while traveling. It is easier to get educated within your home, online now more than ever. So many great and free resources."
She also uses daily travel agent forums and discussion rooms, which were not available when she started 14 years ago.
It's all about social media for Greg Antonelle, managing director of MickeyTravels LLC. "We've been in business over five years," said Antonelle. "One of the biggest things that is different is how people share their vacation experience in real time through video, Facebook Live, Periscope, Twitter and Instagram, etc. People love sharing their vacation stories as they happen."
It was social media that forced Judith White to change how she was doing business since she started in the travel industry 12-plus years ago. "I had no presence on social media, I was not nurturing my clients and I had no marketing plans," said White of White Sand Travel.
So, after seeking out advice from a fellow travel agent, she made some changes. "I made an editorial calendar and learned how to post and engage with my fans on Facebook and other social media platforms," she said. "Posting consistently and learning the right mix of messages (entertaining, informative, and inquiring) is important in establishing myself as an authority in designing destination weddings and honeymoons."
There has been a lot of change in the last few decades - from technology to OTA and increased security at airports. With a new president-elect, there is bound to be more change to come. Being a successful travel agent means changing with the times and, if possible, even staying ahead of them.
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