Today’s travel agent is in an interesting position. Some travel industry insiders believe traditional brick-and-mortar travel agents are set to experience a resurgence due to renewed interest from millennial travelers, while others believe traditional travel agents have long outlasted their utility in an online-driven industry. The truth of the matter is most likely somewhere in the middle of these two ideas, but either way travel agents in today’s complex, global travel landscape are faced with a number of challenges in remaining a relevant part of the industry, particularly when it comes to business processes.
For traditional travel agents, the concept of business processes - a series of related business actions or transactions resulting in a certain goal or objective - can be a major pain point for agencies still relying on outdated methods of completing transactions between wholesales, suppliers, distributors, and customers. These methods - often relying on manual data entry, management, and customer relations - lack the flexibility, agility, and transparency travel agents need to get the right products to the right people at the right time. This lack of speed and convenience can seriously hamper a travel agency’s entire value chain and be a determining factor in how healthy and stable a travel agency truly is.
