Organizations in the Distribution Process - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 154

cannot replace a human being who will provide personalized service to help a client and offer a number
of alternatives.
Traditional travel agents have an advantage over Internet sites because they know their clients and
how to serve and please them. For example, they know or have the opportunity to know when their
birthdays are, their anniversaries, their travel patterns and history, their limitations of time and budget.
Their database allows them to suggest a trip to celebrate an anniversary. The personal touch can be a
real competitive advantage for traditional travel agents.
The market segment looking for these bene ts will continue to use the traditional travel agent
while the price-sensitive consumer will go online because the Internet can provide multiple
comparisons and it enjoys the perception that the lowest price can be found on the Internet.
Currently, the Internet is winning the marketplace battle.

Dimension of the Travel Agency Business

Data are available on travel agencies from (ASTA), and some

highlights from their 2010 travel agency pro le are shown on the following pages. Another good
source of travel agent information is to look at the studies produced by Travel Weekly. Their PowerList
published in 2010 shows that 2009 was the year that online travel agency Expedia replaced American
Express as the largest seller of travel. In addition to its annual PowerList, the ASTA

American Society of Travel Agents

' s annual Consumer

Trends and Preview issues contain valuable information.

Top Ten Agencies

Table 7.1 shows the top ten travel agencies by sales volume. All ten recorded over $1 billion in sales,
and their total sales volume was $121.5 billion. Missing is Travelocity which did not provide Travel
Weekly with sales figures. It is estimated that Travelocity would be ranked seventh had sales gures
been reported, as it does close to $10 billion.

Numbers

For years, it was easy to track the number of travel agents because the Airlines Reporting Corporation
(ARC) provided an accurate count of the travel agent market. However, since travel agencies became
less reliant on selling airline tickets, ARC accreditation no longer gives a true picture of market size. The
travel agency market is nowmade up of ARC and non-ARC sellers of travel. As of July 2010, there were

TABLE 7.1 Top Ten Travel Agencies

Rank Company 2009 Sales

1 Expedia $21.8 billion

2 American Express 21.5 billion

3 Carlson Wangonlit Travel 21.4 billion

4 Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) 16.0 billion

5 BCD Travel 14.6 billion

6 Orbitz Worldwide 10.1 billion

7 Priceline.com 9.3 billion

8 AAA Travel 3.2 billion

9 Flight Centre USA 1.9 billion

10 Travel Leaders Group 1.7 billion

Source: Travel Weekly, June 28, 2010.