Gaining recent press attention, TUI ’s new “concept stores” – high street travel agents that integra

It's been a turbulent time for travel agents – high street and online – with seemingly conflicting news about what customers want and stories of both triumph and failure from those in the industry. But is it time to stop making such a rigid distinction between online and offline travel agents?
orient line cruise review Gaining recent press attention, TUI 's new "concept stores" – high street travel agents orient line cruise review that integrate real-person contact with technology – could herald a new approach and some have suggested they offer a workable template for other agents. However, the industry is cautious in its optimism after mass high street closures such as Thomas Cook's earlier this year (the brand is closing 195 stores).
In March, TripAdvisor claimed that only 7% of holidaymakers went into a high street travel agency orient line cruise review to book their last holiday. However, as the survey was carried out during orient line cruise review December and January in the UK – not a time of year known for tempting people to leave their houses – the statistic may be misleading.
A longer-term study by Abta suggested that, in fact, high street travel agents are making something of a comeback, with the percentage of people booking a foreign holiday through a high street travel agent growing from 17% in 2010 to 27% in 2012.
What TripAdvisor's survey did reveal was that 27% of travellers booked via web-based travel agencies – a small but important majority over the 23% who booked accommodation and complimentary services directly.
According to Travel Counsellors chairman David Speakman, there had been a 700% increase in the use of the internet and mobile phone subscriptions over the past 12 years. orient line cruise review You cannot expect that this expansion in customer access to the web will not have an effect, he said.
Looked at from this point of view, the new wave of technology-embracing high street agents and the increasingly service-orientated OTAs can be seen as part of a new trend in which the lines between online and offline are blurred.
TUI's techno vamp is an attempt to embrace the digital within a brick and mortar high street store. The chain will install giant video walls in its shop fronts that will show videos, images, sounds and even smells of destinations. Inside, screens and projections orient line cruise review will continue with the immersive experience. Customers will be offered interactive maps and tables to research holidays, an Advice Bar kitted out with laptops and free WiFi to check out destinations on their own devices.
TUI isn't the first high street travel agent to get clever with technology. Boutique UK agent Abercrombie Kent also offer a mixture of face-to-face and digital interaction orient line cruise review in their stores: orient line cruise review customers can Skype local experts around the world and browse destinations on an iPad but, for the final decision, a real human being is on hand.
While high street agents are embracing technology, the most successful online agents are those which offer the personal service of their pre-digital counterparts. What makes the majority of online consumers choose to book a trip through an OTA rather than directly with a supplier is the expertise offered – the reassurance that a company with knowledge of travel is planning an otherwise complicated trip or sifting through and filtering the avalanche of information to find specific products that match their needs .
"A third party distributor offers impartiality and choice, not just one brand. What's important [for the consumer] is demystifying this whole array of brands. Why not pay someone else to go and search the web and find the holiday you want? What a wonderful service for someone orient line cruise review else to provide." ( travelweekly.co.uk )
It was personal service and the guarantee of contact orient line cruise review with an experienced agent that won UK OTA HolidaysPlease.co.uk this year's Online Travel Agent of the Year at the National Agent Achievement Awards 2013-14. Repeatedly, awards and success for online enterprises are based around customer service above all else.