You may ask, why all this talk about software and net-tools here at Professional Travel - why not only travel with unforgettable sunsets and palm beaches?
Fact is that unfortunately a WWW War II is raging - and death tolls are predicted in parts of the travel industry.
Where? The answer is easy - firstly among outbound travel agents.
Why? First I have to admit that I have been following closely newsgroups and online discussions solely for travel professionals for quite some time now - and I'm not happy with the strong trend of unwillingness to see a new future & potentials in the eyes of most. Fact is that many travel agents tend to revert to old standards ("the good old times" whining) - and the only significant difference is that today most use emails to share their old phrases.
With such an attitude being quite normal, I can hardly see how "the death of an travel agent +" is unavoidable...
As for "old phrases", let me mention two;
- "your travel agent *knows*". Well just tell me how an agent sitting in a foreign country can give better and more updated information about where you want to travel than the agent who actually lives and operates in that destination?
- "your travel agent is just around the corner" is another nice and cute phrase, so tell me how a "travel agent around the street corner" can be closer to a client than the computer he/she has on the desk?
Have a further look at more heavy facts in the article "Online Travel Explosion Reveals Secrets of Ecommerce Success" by Annette Hamilton. Facts she refer to, show that 1/4 of all who logged on to the Internet a year ago bought something online - AND online travel is the clear winner, *lightyears* ahead of other products offered online. Read the article, and not at least where Annette Hamilton declares that the main reason for this is to be found in the travel industry itself.
So again the question: why do I write this "Pizza serial" on software and net-tools in a travel section? Well the answer must be that I'm just a *nice guy* who wants as many travel professionals as possible to survive. Still I know that we will only survive if we are willing to take the steps needed - and this is first to learn the ABC's of the net and then to develop.., develop... and develop... - with travellers needs and new habits as the main target.
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