I am thinking about websites like www.holidaycrowd.com or seeyourtravelagent.com that both launched this year that are aimed at getting UK travel agents more customers.
Is there a place for these types of websites and services as it seems that holiday bookings in the UK are declining each year due to the bad economic times that the UK is suffering?
Does anyone know of any travel agents that embrace the Internet and new technology such as Skype that 'See Your Travel Agent' uses?
Are these new types of websites and services the key to the survival of independent travel agents in the UK?
I work for an independent travel agent and we do not use any services of this kind. We do have our own website which allows clients to input their requirements and details, which then gets emailed to the branch.
It does generate leads, but rarely a booking.
Unfortunately with the internet being predominantly price driven, inevitably people will come across costs that are so ridiculously cheap on sites like 'ice lolly.com' that when they stumble across our website they expect the same prices, along with the service we provide.
I think this form of business generation is quite unrealsitic.
According to my knowledge some travel agents are helpful to online lead generation services. few ways to be successful with online lead generation. these are...
1. Be “open for business” for as many of the 24 hours in a day as possible.
2. Specialize, specialize, specialize
3. Stop worrying about price shoppers
4. Pick a lead-generation company that lets YOU pick YOUR customers
5. Be timely and be persistent
6. Know your acquisition costs
7. Be passionate, but not too verbose
8. Invite every online lead to read your blog
9. Your online profile is your calling card
10. Speak up