The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) recently unveiled its annual ASTA 2010 Technology and Web Usage Report. The report shows that 27 percent of client requests now come through agents’ websites, and account for 18 percent of all agency revenues.

ASTA Survey - Breakup of online booking supplier types

Highlights from the report:

- 78 percent of travel agents now have a website, as compared to 75.2 percent in 2009.

- 81 percent (same as 2009) say they have booked directly on a supplier’s website without using their GDS or calling the supplier.

- The percentage of bookings made through supplier websites decreased in 2010 to 40 percent, from 45 percent in 2009.

- 43 percent have an online tool on their site.

- 52 percent named Facebook as their most-used networking and marketing technique.

“Travel agents are very adept at using the Internet for research, gathering travel industry information and for booking travel, and today, many are also using the Internet and some form of social media for marketing,” said ASTA President and Chairman Chris Russo. “Rather than being pushed out of business by the Internet, as many had predicted, travel agents have embraced it and are leveraging its power to enhance their operations.”

Ironically, 30 percent of agencies out of the 81 percent who take airline bookings on the web are being forced to get on the phone to assist travelers with booking ancillary services.

ASTA Survey - Website update frequency

The figures and statement mentioned above (published by ASTA in a press release) indicate that travel agents are becoming increasingly web savvy.

But a deeper look (relevant section begins on page 26) suggests that they may actually be a little behind the curve, at least as regards their adoption of web 2.0 and social media.

Most agencies (90 percent) use their website to provide an e-mail link to their agency, and only 17 percent of those that have a website update it daily.

While 52 percent of travel agencies have Facebook profiles, only 13 percent say social media is essential, while a third are sitting on the fence saying they’re still learning. Twenty-one percent say social media is “unproven” as a marketing tool and 16 percent have already decided that it is a “waste of time.”

Also, very few are on top of online reputation management, with only 3 percent saying they check the internet for mentions of their company; 70 percent say they don’t check the internet at all for mentions.

Charts from ASTA via Travel Weekly; Visit www.asta.org/ for more information.

Related posts:
Travel Agent Survey – Growing Discontent, Social Media a ‘Waste of Time’
ASTA/NACTA Reports Show Shifting Trends for Travel Agents & Agencies
Leisure World 2011 Aims to Get Travel Agents Hooked on Social Media

In an effort led by the Business Travel Coalition (BTC), over 200 corporate travel departments, travel management companies and travel agency groups have jointly urged the airline industry to come up with standards for unbundled airline fees.

Airline Fees

The coalition sent a letter on April 13, 2010 to major airlines including United, American, US Airways, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, Delta and Continental.

In it, BTC, ASTA and signatories from 10 countries express support for the airline industry’s efforts to maximize revenue growth from ancillary products and services, with a gentle nudge that the full scope of these products be made accessible and transparent to all travelers.

The letter adds that “The current lack of clarity and accessibility of a la carte products prohibits widespread consumer adoption… We are requesting that you help us help you by working cooperatively, diligently and in good faith with TMCs, OTAs, GDSs, and corporate travel managers on the rapid development of industry technical standards to ensure that your unbundled products are easily accessible by all travelers via any GDS in which you participate.”

The individual statements made by executives highlight the wide range of complications that the unmanaged growth of airline fees have created.

Michelle de Costa, global travel manager for Sapient, explained the difficulties TMCs face in having to monitor, track and report on the final cost of airfares – “The verified workflow processes of travel companies and online booking tools that feed into our corporate systems rely almost exclusively upon the airline booking and servicing capabilities of global distribution systems. We are looking for airline partners that acknowledge and respect our needs.”

BlackRock vice president and global travel manager Maria McSorley – “I spend more time looking at fees than actually managing travel. Every time we reinvent ourselves as an industry, we cause more chaos than solve problems.”

Delta Air Lines senior vice president of distribution Jim Cron commented on negotiating for ancillary discounts as part of corporate agreements – “It would be disingenuous for the airlines to sit back and say, I want to put that revenue to the side and not count that as money that you spent on the airline.”

The standards and principles for airline product unbundling have been outlined by BTC here, starting with the premise that all airfares, along with unbundled products and their associated costs, as well as any new types of bundled offerings with included components, should be made available through industry distribution providers.

As a practical matter, everyone involved – including the IATA, the GDS with Amadeus as the cheerleader, and many major airlines – are converging on Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) as the solution, which is set to be unveiled by Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) in September.

EMD would enable the sale and tracking of ancillary services by both airlines and agents, using e-tickets for every ancillary purchase associated with each ticket. Using EMD, services can be offered and tracked across an entire trip, even if it involves multiple airlines.

This ability to list, collect and track ancillary fees, when combined with legislative amendments from Congress aimed at full disclosure of airline fees beforehand, corners the airline industry into bringing the fees into the system alongside the ticket price, and taking it into consideration while negotiating corporate contracts.

It will also put a stop to disingenuous schemes like the ‘Penny Plus’ fares offered by Spirit Airlines, and allow for side-by-side comparisons of the final prices from different airlines, inclusive of all ancillary fees.

Photo – Bill Shrink

I’m not one to say “I told you so,” but it’s darn tempting to throw that phrase at New York City officials who implemented the tax on travel agencies selling available rooms in the Big Apple.

Lots of rooms, lots of taxes

After trying to figure out what the law says and exactly how to implement it this fall, the American Society of Travel Agents and a host of big online Internet players (i.e. Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Priceline and Travelocity) responded this week with a lawsuit against the city. The grounds: extending the hotel room occupancy tax to “third-party travel intermediaries” is “unconstitutional and illegal” as the city “has no inherent power to tax.”

Other points in the lawsuit bring up the fact that New York City failed to answer critical questions and the City’s interpretation of its new rules was unacceptable. To rub salt in the wound, the City of New York imposed the tax without notice, hearing or other opportunity for meaningful input.

ASTA’s senior vice president had previously said the law was written by ”people who don’t know about the industry who just want more money.”

Technically, I predicted that travel agencies would retaliate with a huge drop in bookings in the fourth quarter. I was correct about the retaliation part — a lawsuit could deter other cities from pulling this stunt in the next six months. The move is predictably popular among travel agents, although it is aimed only at stopping taxation on online hotel bookings at the moment, which could end up giving their biggest competitors an advantage they don’t enjoy. But that’s for another day. Fighting back is the first order of business.

Happy holidays, Mayor Bloomberg.

The 2009 NACTA Independent Agents Report – a joint study by ASTA and NACTA, shows several shifts in the independent agent population, including an increasing number of independent agents working from home.

Travel Agency

Turns out that 85.1% of independent agents are now working out of their homes, as compared to 77.9% in 2006. The report also says that the average NACTA independent agent has been in the travel business for 11.9 years, and works on selling travel 33.8 hours every week.

Almost a third of respondents reported that their gross sales and revenue were up compared to the same time period in 2008. Average annual gross sales for 2008 were reported to be under $250,000, with revenue under $50,000.

57.2% of respondents say that at least 15% of their agency is dedicated to cruises, and Royal Caribbean and Carnival were the top cruise lines used. 45.9% used the telephone as the primary booking channel for cruises, down from 50.1% in 2008.

Globus was the top choice for escorted tour operator, while GoGo was the top tour provider used.

ASTA also released another report which examines the trends in the travel agency business, which shows that while most leisure agencies are expecting to recover in early 2010, corporate agencies are not expecting a recovery until the spring of 2010 or later.

Agencies were asked specifically about changes in employment and independent contractor usage to gauge how employment has been affected by the slowdown.

According to this study, when comparing the first half of 2009 to the same time period in 2008, 78.2% of agencies saw a decrease in revenue, while 75.2% saw a decrease in transactions. 63.6% of agencies saw a decrease in the number of clients when comparing the first half of 2009 to the first half of 2008. 76% are cutting operating costs and 54% took less pay in response to the economy.

More than half of all responding agencies are planning no changes in regards to employees. But a larger percentage of corporate agencies are, in fact, considering changes in regards to employees.

Data from these reports, combined with the overall trend of travel agents closing shop and moving towards a combination of part-time home based telephone and online service indicates that travel agents are working the same hours, but for lower revenues. The NACTA report reveals that only 33.8% of their members now consider selling travel as their primary source of income.

Also, as more travel agents start working both offline and online, they are opting to focus on niche travel sectors, such as family travel or cruises, and their personal connections with clients and knowledge of travel suppliers is beginning to make an impact on the web and the way travel planning sites work.

For more information or to read the full reports, visit American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) at www.asta.org/ and The National Association of Career Travel Agents (NACTA) at www.nacta.com/

Photo by Justin Marty