Under the combined effect of the boom in online booking tools and the disappearance of commissions paid by suppliers to agencies, the travel agent profession has undergone a serious transformation. Here's a clue: at present, business hubs employ around 70 % of managers and supervisors and only 30 % of employees. Just a few years ago, the proportions were exactly the opposite... Because the job of travel agent has become infinitely more complex, more technical and more specialised.
Following the example of the USA, the number of companies using online booking tools continues to rise in France. "Online reservations account for 15 % to 20 % of the transactions carried out for our customers. A year ago, they barely exceeded 8 % to 10 % in our network of customer service centres and implants", notes Laurent Comte, Deputy Managing Director of CWT France. At American Express, they even account for 30 % of the transactions carried out, with the remainder taking place offline. In travel agency networks, simple point-to-point journeys are very easily made online.
Increasing complexity
"The rise of online reservations in the world of business travel has gradually led to a change in the profession of travel agent. Their expertise now goes far beyond simply booking plane or train tickets," explains Dominique Savart, Vice President Operations at American Express. For example, when providing online assistance, the travel agent must not only understand the booking request, but must also be able to help the traveller understand the best way to navigate the online booking tool.
The use of technological solutions enables agencies, whether integrated or not, and their employees to offer customers high value-added services, increase productivity and develop their market share. With a tool like Concur, for example, it is possible to make online reservations, automate expense reporting, optimise the organisation of meetings, the supplier invoice management process, cheque requests, direct reimbursements, etc. However, the travel agent still has a role to play. "Setting up and maintaining customer data in online booking tools is a new aspect of the travel agent's job", stresses Marc Leidelinger, CEO of Frequent Flyer Travel Paris, a member of the Tourcom voluntary network.
At Sélectour, another voluntary network, the story is similar. Until recently, the "travel advisor" only had to master... ticketing. In the past, companies were less demanding in terms of savings, so they only asked for prices on one or two airlines," explains Patrick Abisset, head of the MNV Sélectour agency in Valence. So travel agents were responding exactly to their requests. Now our customers want to compare fares between several scheduled airlines. And between several low-cost airlines, when it's a European destination. The search doesn't stop there, since our customers also ask us to compare different modes of transport, whether by train, car or plane... This comparison of fares and services offered by different service providers will also be necessary in the near future when rail travel is opened up to European competition. Proof, if proof were needed, that travel agents bring real added value to customer relations in terms of skills, experience, support and speed.
Environmental issues
Environmental considerations are becoming an increasingly important part of the concerns of major groups, both when staff travel on business and when organising their corporate events. This awareness will undoubtedly spread to all other companies and institutions. In the medium to long term, all travel consultants will have to be able to take into account the CO2 emissions associated with the planned means of transport prior to any trip. When it comes to online bookings, travel agents have to demonstrate real technical expertise as well as a genuine customer culture. When an SME makes a reservation via an Internet portal and then calls the platform's online services, the travel agent must be able to respond immediately to the customer's requirements: for example, modifying a reservation, making a cancellation or a refund, or settling a dispute. Their mission does not depend on the physical location of their office.
In branch or in implant
"Whether they work on our business platforms or in 'implants', i.e. on the premises of customer companies, travel agents need to be highly responsive. What's more, they act as an intermediary between our customers' purchasing departments and the travellers. With a certain amount of pedagogy, they explain the provisions, and even the restrictions, of the travel policy put in place within a company or group", Dominique Savart continues.
At Amex, a dozen French-speaking sales advisers are based in Barcelona to provide a 24-hour service, all year round. These professionals are able to deal with almost any unforeseen event: flight cancellations, customer rebookings, changes to air or rail travel, urgent accommodation searches, car rental requests, etc. "At our Valence site, our two travel agents, who were originally dedicated to a single company, now work for three companies, following the sale of their business lines. In an implant, the travel agent does the same job as on a business platform; but because he is located in the offices of the customer(s), he maintains a more visible local relationship", adds Patrick Abisset from MNV.
More specifically, booking techniques include point-to-point travel in France and abroad, hotels, insurance and assistance. Laurent Comte, Deputy Managing Director of CWT France, explains: "Even if technological developments mean that the job of travel agent is changing, it still requires perfect mastery of customer relations management. As far as off-line bookings are concerned, the quality of our listening skills is essential if we are to correctly identify the expectations of our corporate customers. In the current economic climate, companies are tending to tighten their budgets. Hence our concern to provide them with the most cost-effective solutions. As flexible as they are, our travel managers also have to be able to react quickly to meet demand.
When it comes to triangular or even more complicated journeys, the role of travel agents is to build personalised itineraries that precisely meet the needs of their customers, in terms of both practicality and budget. A traveller making a one-way trip from Paris to Moscow is not treated in the same way as a sales team leaving Paris for Tokyo, taking the Shinkansen high-speed train to Osaka and then returning to Europe. Or a customer wishing to stay in a four-star hotel belonging to an international chain, rather than an executive preferring a boutique hotel in London or a traditional ryokan hotel in Japan.
Tailor-made service for vip
The complexity reaches its peak when it comes to VIP travel, such as that undertaken by the senior management of a major group. Integrated networks such as American Express or CWT have a special department for this high-end clientele.
Some agencies in the voluntary networks know how to deal with the wishes of the heads of major companies. In Paris, an independent agency, OC Special, has built up a solid reputation for VIP business trips. For example, the assistant to a major boss might order the following trip from us: a Paris-New York flight in first class on Air France, a suite at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Manhattan, a limousine driver at her disposal, restaurant reservations, a private jet from Teterboro airport in New Jersey, so that the executive can travel to Boston to sign important documents in the presence of his American advisers and lawyers," explains Omar Cherif, head of OC Special+Travel. By taking charge of booking VIP business trips and checking that they run smoothly around the world 24 hours a day, our travel managers act as true personal assistants.
Whether they are booking the plane ticket or the accommodation for the VIP customer, the travel manager must be perfectly aware of their habits. In the first-class area, they will make sure they reserve their preferred seat. At the hotel, he will reserve his usual suite, which may take some time if it is not available. As soon as the electronic ticket has been issued, the travel agent sends it by e-mail, together with the boarding card with the details of how to check in to Première. The Travel Agent notifies the airline's First Class department so that the passenger can be given a special welcome. For example, an Air France agent will meet the customer as soon as he gets out of the car at Roissy airport. At the same time, he or she will ask for a special service agent at New York-JFK airport to wait for him or her when he or she arrives on the other side of the Atlantic.
Detailed information
During the flight, the travel agent confirms the arrival time to this agent, who will escort the VIP traveller through fast-track immigration and on to the usual limousine driver. Among other minor but very elegant services.
Whether the agency is dealing with requests from VIPs or ordinary travellers, it must provide them with the most comprehensive information possible. In addition to their role of developing corporate clients, these professionals also provide support to existing corporate clients. As customers entrust their agency with the organisation and management of their staff's travel, it is necessary to periodically examine the statistics relating to travel expenditure. This will help identify potential sources of savings, such as taking out a rail or air season ticket for frequent travel to the same destination. Identifying sources of savings for certain travellers, helping to negotiate corporate contracts with airlines or hotels, training in the use of online booking tools, monitoring compliance with travel policy: these are all components of a complex job that requires travel agents to have a great deal of professional experience.
Updated expertise
As the online booking tools offered by travel agencies to their customers are regularly enhanced with new functionalities, travel agents are obliged to adapt to new versions. As a result, while online booking simplifies distribution, it requires real technical and commercial skills. With the development of online booking for simple travel-related transport and, more recently, for accommodation with our programme for optimising hotel expenditure, our travel agents working on site or in a customer service centre are regularly trained in the new booking and invoicing tools," explains Laurent Comte, Deputy Managing Director of CWT France. This additional training is designed to increase their expertise in reservation techniques.
Travel agencies make a point of regularly training their staff in order to improve customer relations. For example, the American Express training school has its own trainer. In addition to the line instructors, who lead sessions attended by 25 agents, some thirty trainers take it in turns throughout the year to deliver over 700 sessions. The training focuses on the skills of travel advisers, because they need to be able to respond to the increasingly sophisticated demands of customers: technical expertise of advisers, essential language skills, for example, when dealing with foreign groups, management of remote teams, development of analytical skills given the growing volume of data and indicators. At Tourcom, ongoing training has a number of basic objectives: to improve the quality of the welcome and the image of the agency, to improve the attentiveness of travel advisers, and to propose alternative solutions to better meet customer needs. One of its members, Frequent Flyer Travel Paris, devotes 4 % of its payroll to providing its business and tourism staff with eight days of training a year. The training programmes focus on thinking about the business and customer relations, including dealing with difficult situations and the steps involved in convincing customers. In this business of communication, you need to have an open mind, master the form of speech and adopt the right attitude on the telephone," explains Marc Leidelinger. The important thing is to adapt to each person you talk to.
