Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in recent years as more people use the internet and
other direct services to make their travel arrangements.
Mergers that have taken place in recent years to create
bigger travel organisations have also resulted in smaller
numbers of high street travel agencies as companies
look to reduce their operating costs.
Activity 1.8
Make a list of the travel agencies in your area and
fi nd out whether they are independents or part of a
'chain'. Describe the role of one named travel agency
in your area, including details of its organisation and
products/services offered.
Business travel agents
Business travel agents specialise in travel arrangements
for business people, including designing itineraries,
booking fl ights and accommodation. They have to
meet the very particular needs of business travellers,
who often have to travel at short notice and may use
premium services on airlines and in hotels. You can fi nd
out more about business travel agents in Unit 10 on
page 329.
This activity is designed to provide evidence for P1 and
P2.
Retail travel agents
This is the type of travel agency that we are most familiar
with, specialising in selling holidays and fl ights, plus a
wide range of ancillary services, e.g. travel insurance,
car hire, theatre tickets, coach travel and city breaks.
They are the retail arm of the travel and tourism sector,
i.e. in the same way that a clothes shop sells products
to shoppers, travel agencies retail their 'products' to
the general public. Indeed, the term 'travel shop' is
commonly used to refer to travel agency premises. The
one major difference between these two types of retail
outlets, however, is that, unlike the clothes retailer,
travel agencies do not buy in 'stock' in advance, but
rather react to the wishes of their customers before
contacting the holiday companies to make bookings.
The number of travel agencies in the UK has been falling
Call centres
Call centres (sometimes known as contact centres) are
common in all walks of life, from insurance companies
and banks to telephone companies and car breakdown
services. They make fi nancial sense for the companies
concerned, since all their operations and staff can be
centred in one location, thereby reducing overhead
costs. Call centres can also offer a better service to the
public by offering more consistent levels of customer
service. In travel and tourism, call centres are used
by tour operators, travel agency companies, tourist
boards, airlines, car hire companies, hotel groups, etc.
Thomas Cook call centre
