The quip that "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," originally attributed to Mark Twain, applies perfectly to the retail travel distribution network of today.
It was only a few years ago that reports and market studies confidently predicted the end of the travel retailer. And that was only the latest in a series of events that lent credibility to the belief that travel agents were modern-day dinosaurs trapped in an evolutionary cul-de-sac.
This thing we have chosen to do for a living grew from about 7,500 agencies in 1978, when air travel was deregulated, to just over 27,000 agencies only five years after the Civil Aeronautics Board ceased regulating commissions in 1980, and things were good. In fact, they were so good that large agencies' economies of scale enabled them to rebate commissions and still be quite profitable. Unfortunately, it was a practice that did not go unnoticed by the airlines.
In 1995, Delta was the first to cap air ticket commissions at $50. Many agencies grumbled, but they continued selling air tickets since they weren't that affected. But ultimately, air commissions were eliminated in the U.S. for almost all agencies. We adapted and began charging booking and transaction fees for our services.
Interestingly, commissions have begun to make their way back into air ticket sales, with some carriers paying 12% or more on selected city pairs and classes of service. It would seem that the commission pendulum is swinging back toward supporting retailers that support airlines and sell their seats. But either way, travel agency owners who adapted and changed their business model have survived and even thrived.
On Sept. 11, 2001, there were about 32,000 travel agencies in North America. By mid-2003, that number had dropped by a third. When conflict flared in Iraq in 2003, it hit many agencies even more severely than the aftermath of 9/11. Those remaining agencies that found a way to bend and mold not only survived, they grew.
The advent of the Internet and mega online agencies saw a massive growth in online sales of airlines, hotels and some leisure travel, which led a number of analysts and other experts to confidently predict that travel retailers would dwindle to a small handful of online agencies as everyone became their own travel expert.
But then we thought we saw online booking for leisure travel in general, and cruises in particular, level off in 2006 and maybe even decline beginning about 2007. Indeed, in 2009, a nationally respected marketing firm reported that online cruise booking (starting and finishing online, never involving a human) had peaked and even declined beginning in 2007.
That's because it turns out this is not only a high-tech business, it's a high-touch business, just like my friend Bob Dickinson, the former CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines, always said.
We changed our business model again, focusing on those consumers who valued our services, and began to see clients who had recently been booking directly with suppliers return to booking with us.
It turned out that while the suppliers' res agents were very good at what they did, they often didn't have answers to detailed itinerary and destination questions. Even more telling, the res agents weren't in a position to advise that a particular trip with that particular brand of cruise line really wasn't the best choice for the caller (a Lincoln may be the best car for you, but don't expect the Buick dealer to tell you that).
In short, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of travel agencies all over the country stopped trying to be everything to everybody and chose a narrower, more focused path. These agencies modified, tweaked, changed and adapted, and the fact that they are still around today serves as a testimonial to their survival skills.
It's for all these reasons that travel agents will still be around long after I'm gone. You see, what we do best is to sell the ship from the top down, the front of the airplane, the oceanfront suites and the bigger-ticket items that test our sales skills and our product knowledge to the fullest. We're doing what Bob Dickinson had long entreated us to do: Don't let leisure travel become a commodity like an airline seat.
We survived commission cuts, terrorist attacks, pandemics and wars, sales policy changes that turned the business models of hundreds of agencies upside down, the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression and more. I'm beginning to think we're not dinosaurs at all.
In fact, we're survivors. I'm persuaded that if there is ever a nuclear conflict, two species will survive: travel agents and cockroaches. In fact, if I can find a lapel pin in the shape of a cockroach, I'll wear it proudly because I'm a survivor. If you know where I can get such a pin, or want one if I can find a supplier, send an email to [email protected] and put "Cockroach pin" in the subject line.
Charlie and Sherrie Funk own Just Cruisin' Plus in Brentwood, Tenn., and have provided agent and agency owner training throughout North America on every facet of retail operations. They are the authors of several books, including "A Recipe for Travel Agency Success," "A Blueprint" and "You're Invited," a complete guide to hosting consumer travel events.