ORLANDO, Fla. -- Travel agents who cope best with the rapidly
changing hotel industry seek feedback from their clients, according
to Lalia Rach, associate dean at the Center for Hospitality,
Tourism and Travel at New York University.
"It's good for travel agents to talk to their clients regularly
and ask if they're still satisfied and why. Think of it as
knowledge is power," she said.
Rach addressed the issue of how travel agents should cope with
an industry increasingly dominated by large chains during a speech
and in comments thereafter at the 84th annual convention of the
International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus here.
"It is more critical than ever for travel agents to keep abreast of
how well the chains are meeting their various customers' needs,"
she said. "I also think it's important for agents to be
knowledgeable of the many different products. They need to visit
hotels and to see the product."
A third recommendation, she said, is to keep pace with
technology. "They [travel agents] have to know what their customers
are seeing on the Web," she said. "They have to understand where
hotel companies are going with technology." With Internet access,
clients often can see the room they are booking on a Web site.
Understanding how hotel companies maintain their databases and
how they track customer behavior are also critical, she said. "Not
only are no two people alike; no person is the same from visit to
visit. Their needs change constantly," she said.
"There are some incredible changes in the hotel industry. We
have increasingly a David and Goliath situation occurring." The
backbone of the industry has always been the small, independent
hotel owners, she said, adding that even as large chains have
become dominant in the industry, they often have tried to emulate
the personalized service of smaller hotel operators.
"It still is a guest-driven business, and how well hotels do in
that area depends on one-to-one interaction," Rach said.
She urged continuing education in the hotel industry as a
critical way to maintain high-quality guest services.