Travel Agents can increase trust by sharing
In a recent article on Travelmole.com, a survey of online travel buyers stated:
“Ninety per cent of consumers questioned for online travel site boo.com said their pre-holiday research online was accurate and only 13% of people surveyed trusted travel agents and brochures above online reviews.”
Source: http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1119102.php?mpnlog=1
With this waning level of trust in travel agents, how can agents (both online and offline) increase the level of trust that buyers have in them and subsequently increase the likelihood that a customer will purchase from them? One possible solution is through education and experience sharing. One of the big reasons that travel agents are valuable is for their knowledge and experience of certain destinations, travel regulations, and other useful information. With the advent of Web 2.0 and the increase in available information online, many savvy travelers are simply turning to the Internet instead of asking their local travel agent for service. Travel agents have a tremendous amount of information that they can share with their potential customers. Many travel agency websites, for example, now offer links to world wide travel guides that are written by professional writers and published by companies like Rough guides, Frommers, and Columbus. These are all publishers of excellent off-line travel guides and the quality of the writing is of extremely high quality. The problem for most online travel sites however is that this material is copyrighted and cannot be used on sites without a hefty license fee. The other problem is that any opinion expressed by the writer is still only one (all be it professional) opinion.
The survey conducted at boo.com showed that:
“The Travel Trust Index Report reveals that peer reviews are growing in power, with one in six posting a review following a holiday and 71% letting their fellow travellers be their guide.”
The sites that many of these travelers are visiting include Wikitravel.com and World66.com both of which are world wide travel guides that are written and edited by everyday travelers. If travel agents and other travel professionals want to increase trust with their potential customers, they should be considering sharing some of their personal travel experiences and recommendations on sites like these. Why? Because travel is made up of two distinct parts; the first being the “transportation component” which is the method in which the traveler gets to their destination and the second being the “destination component” which is the the experience they have when they reach their destination. Which part does the traveler remember the most? In all cases, the destination component should be the overriding experience, however, in some cases the transportation component becomes the defining experience and usually in a negative way. By focusing on the destination component of the travel equation, travel agents can increase the likelihood that their customer will have a positive experience on their vacation and recommend them to friends in the future. The other reason for contributing to open destination guides like Wikitravel and World66 is because they are considered to be reliable, unbiased, and independent. Sites like Tripadvisor.com, as popular as it has become, is already beginning to suffer from declining trust because it was purchased by Expedia, one of the biggest online travel companies. Adding a destination guide, especially one that has be licensed, to your website to increase stickiness will have little affect on your customer if the purpose of the guide is to solicit a sale. A better strategy is to write your own content, share it on sites like Wikitravel and World66 and link to them from your website.
One on one service is something that no website can truly provide. Combine personal service with a track record of providing unbiased and relevant information for travelers and you have a winning recipe for building trust both online and off.
Philip Caines on June 21st, 2007
This is a great article for bringing to light the recent trend in user driven reviews. There is an intrinsic trust that is established when you can hear from people that have been on a tour or stayed at a hotel before. If travel sites can incorporate a user feedback section that allows for honest and candid reviews, the credibility of the site increases greatly.