To charge or not to charge? That seems to be the question that crops up a lot when it comes to utilising the services of a travel agent.
And now, a recent survey of 1000 US travellers from 20-something to 60-something has given us some insight.
Many agents survive purely off salaries or commissions, choosing not to charge clients for their services, while others apply a small fee for the privilege.
So what do consumers think of these options?
According to the research, the majority of the respondents would be happy to pay for the agent’s service. Specifically:
“Only 34 per cent of travellers say they would not pay extra for the help of a travel expert in planning the day-to-day itinerary or activities of their leisure trips.”
That means that the other 66 per cent would pay an additional cost in some form, “ranging from a small flat fee to a percentage of the entire trip cost”.
Millennials are much more likely than those of older generations to think that the added value of travel planning help is worth the return on investment. In fact, the study found that eight per cent of Millennials (compared to two per cent of those of older generations) believe that a travel expert’s help is worth a premium flat fee such as $500.
Top Three Tips For Securing & Pleasing Clients
The study also gave us a gift in the form of these three key takeaways from the study, and we reckon they’re handy little things to keep on file for future client collecting.
