Remember the golden age? There was a time when you couldn’t walk two blocks without running into a travel agency. They say now that travel agents are going the way of the buffalo – that they are a dying breed. And the fact that fewer and fewer professionals are now becoming travel agents would attest to its rapid extinction.

Travel Agents - are they going the way of the Buffalo?

Now, people have been turning to internet-based travel companies because they are assured that they will find the best deals. They believe that somehow, the vast array of gizmos that are connected together in a computer box will fight for them and their needs for discount air fares and hotel accommodations.

Why talk to an actual human being, the reasoning goes, when you can type into a machine? And so, travel agents are now entering an Ice Age, a slow-down leading towards extinction. Offices are being shut down all around town, phone lines are being disconnected, and the yellow pages section listing “travel agents” is emptying out at alarming rates.

The whole of the travel industry is face a big chill

I am sure that some time, tens of millions of years ago, dinosaurs had the same problem. The caveman-eating business was in recession because the cavemen were learning to throw sharp sticks directly into the dinosaurs’ eyes. The pterodactyls were too terrifying; they needed to be wiped out and if nature didn’t do it, I am sure someone else would have. What about unicorns? People stopped believing in them and suddenly, they too all died. The dodo bird was too crazy for its own existence. The same fate seems to be befalling travel agents. Next thing to cease existing will be rainbows.

Dead as a Dodo?

Here is where the claim of extinction starts to fall apart, though. What, after all, is a travel agent if not the middle man (or woman, or company) that facilitates between the travelling consumer and the travel providers? Internet mega-companies that offer pricing options for their clients from several different hotels, airlines, cruise lines, etc., are really just larger travel agents. Although mass quantities of people tend to gravitate towards large service corporations like that, others go upstream to more boutique and specialty outlets to get their travelling needs attended to.

Consider that you buy most of your clothes at the large discount retail stores downtown. But if you want to wear something special, something unique, something that not every one else is wearing, you may go to a boutique. You might decide to talk to your friend’s friend, who happens to run his own clothing store out of his den. You could even head to the fabric store. The same may be true for your travelling choices. You may want someone who can offer you something a bit out of the way, someone who has travelled and has dealt with people who travel. You may also want someone who knows how to satisfy the customer above and beyond the call of duty.

If you want to go for something out
of the ordinary, you have to get the specialists in

Now, neither you nor I are anti-computer, but I think we both realize that the means for contact and care over the internet is limited. We are also aware that we need contact, that if we have questions or concerns about our travel plans, we need to talk to somebody who is actually hands-on concerning our travelling needs and has the power to do something about them. We need someone in place that can actually answer our concerns in minutes and not leave us suspended (no pun intended) for days.

Furthermore, planning a vacation or business trip is complicated enough on its own. You can worry yourself sick about how much luggage you can carry aboard and the weight of all those suitcases and bags, about what type of clothes to wear to what occasion, and about whether your passports and visas are in order or behind or being held up. You may be worried about how or if all of your belongings will pass through customs and the amount of time it will take – not to mention the sheer audacity of some customs agents. Then there are the concerns about arranging the hotel accommodations and which one suits your needs best, and there is the issue of transportation to and from the airport, possible rental cars, and so on and so forth.

Travel Agents can help with the baggage problems

This is not even mentioning the reasoning for why you are travelling. In all reality, you should be more worried about your business presentation than the logistics of finding the right hotel. Ideally, heading to your holidays, you should not be concerned about anything at all except maybe where to find the best daiquiris or tea. I have never heard of a travel agent who gives customers fashion advice or put the customs agents in their place, but they can help ease many of these other concerns.

They can arrange to have a service or the hotel pick you up; they can arrange to have your room at just the right temperature; they can make calls to make sure that everything is in place prior to your arrival. The travel agent can make the necessary arrangements and even modify the itinerary while you are on your trip. They do the worrying so that you don’t have to.

Paradise found - sometimes getting a
Travel Agent is worth it

Have you ever been to a large chain restaurant or bookstore? Ask an employee what they think of your favourite authors, or the masterpieces of Russian literature or about magic realism. Would you expect the restaurant to give you a tender, memorable experience? Would you expect the service at these chains to dazzle you? No, you may go there because it is more convenient or because it may be cheaper. But you do not go there for valuable service.

Buffalo were once thought to be extinct. The species nearly died out in the United States after gouging and random killing by reckless white Americans. Today, I hear that if you are in the right place, on the right morning, in the most remote area, you may experience a stampede of buffalo. Hopefully, travel agents won’t come stampeding any time soon, but to paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of the travel agent has been greatly exaggerated.

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