Own Your Role as a Travel Agent

When everyone claims to be an expert, whom should you trust?

I have witnessed agents who barely know the difference between a hotel and a motel create social media forums and suddenly have thousands of followers eagerly embracing their every word as if it were the gospel.

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On the other hand, I follow a number of online agent forums from around the world. Most are excellent and offer solid advice and networking opportunities. However, there are several that keep popping up on my radar of which I am skeptical.

Their moderators use inflammatory rhetoric to get followers to jump on the “us against them” bandwagon. They attract anyone who will listen in their pursuit against the OTAs, suppliers and basically anyone who conducts business differently.

By now, you know I am one of the strongest advocates for the professional travel agent. Not only that—I have the chops to back it up. While we may have different philosophies and areas of expertise, my peers and I are united in a single purpose: Growing the travel trade as a professional, ethical and credible sales distribution channel.

So when I hear agents and moderators posturing online about how “they” (i.e. unnamed opponents) are unable to deliver service like “real” travel agents, I cringe.

Who are “they,” and who’s to say all agents provide good service? I most often hear “they” described as “anyone with the ability to enable online bookings without any assistance of a travel agent.”

Seriously? There are so many entities that fit this description—OTAs, suppliers and any agency with a booking engine on its website. In other words, virtually the entire industry! The ability to book online unassisted is a tool to be embraced, not ostracized.

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If prospects choose to complete their booking online, that’s their choice. What most agents don’t realize is it’s not the Expedias of the world that are their biggest competitors, it’s the suppliers themselves.

I have always claimed that if we, as a distribution channel, were filling ships, buses and beds, there would not be a need for suppliers to take direct business. But we are not.

It’s easy to bully suppliers and fellow travel professionals online. Rather than be a divider complaining about how agents have been slighted, disrespected or offended in some way, choose to be a professional instead. Focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t and channel that energy into your own business.

You should quickly see results.

My advice? If you are going to participate in online forums, please make sure the message is more substantial than that of someone with questionable credentials repeatedly saying how great you are simply because you are a travel agent.

If you really want to know what makes you great, just ask your customers.