Tourists Diy Holidays Change The Market

Internet savvy tourists are using their knowledge to hunt down the best airfares

, hotel prices and car hire costs to dramatically bring down the cost of a trip abroad - often using different travel companies to book seperate components of their vacation.

The result is the closure of many independent travel agencies, while the big groups are having to invest more money in their on-line presence to keep their share of an evolving market.

A High Street travel agency will typically stock brochures for a multitude of destinations, display late offers in its window, and run a foreign exchange bureau, as well as booking holidays and travel insurance for clients.

But more than this travel agents can give personal advice on most holiday destinations as they recount their own holiday experiences, and in bigger shops most popular destinations would have at least one if not two people working there who have visited where a client is thinking of, and pass on personal knowledge as well as advice on which resorts and hotels might be best.

But now this information, and far more than one or two people can give, is available to anyone thinking of booking a holiday via the internet.

Good or bad, reviews of hotels are available on specialist internet sites where ordinary holidaymakers are free to give unbiased advice on a hotel, the staff, surroundings, and what to expect.

The travel sites with reviews can be really up to date as well, often from people who have just stayed in a hotel, and people thinking of booking a hotel don't have to rely on advice which however well intentioned could be years out of date, and with several reviews to go on a good overall picture can be built up of how well a hotel is performing, and if looks like it could be suitable before booking a holiday.

Malta is a good example of where the internet can win over traditional High Street travel agents. Need a Malta map for example to see where attractions and your hotel is on the island? It's easily found on search engines or on sites like Thomson Holidays and Thomas Cook Holidays.

Want to know what the Malta weather is like right now, with a 5, 7 or 10 day forecast? A multitude of internet sites will let you know in an instant.

Everything you want to know about your location is available in seconds, and gives a complete picture of what to expect and what can be planned for your Tenerife holidays.

Is the High Street travel agent needed anymore? As more people get computer literate the less a tradtional travel agent is going to be needed in the future. Today's children will turn to the internet as a matter of course when they are old enough to book their own holidays - replacing the older generation which has a smaller proportion booking holidays online.

Perhaps the answer is for traditional estate agents to do what Thomas Cook and Thomson Holidays are doing - keeping a presence on the High Street while also having a good internet site that does everything holidaymakers who use the internet site expect a holidays site to provide for them.

by: Henry Ashworth

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