TRAVEL
INDUSTRY
SURVEY
Agents, Web users: On the same page?
OBY STANLEY PLOG
NE SPECIAL PROJECT this year focused on comparing
the views of leisure
travelers who use
the Internet to plan
or book trips with
what travel agents
believe those views
to be.
The purpose was
to determine the
degree to which agents understand
why so many people prefer to rely on
the Internet when they make travel
arrangements.
Views of those
who book online
are not always
what agents think.
Can agents capture some of these
people as clients again?
Or would most of their efforts be
in vain?
In order to achieve success, agents
must be attune to the needs of this
important group.
A total of 848 travelers who use
the Internet were surveyed.
These results were compared with
survey responses from 1,308 travel
agents who participated in the
2008 Travel Weekly Travel Industry
Survey.
Two identical sets of questions
were asked of each group.
The first focused on why travelers
use the Internet.
The second centered on why some
Internet travelers continue to use
travel agents for at least some of
their trips.
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