Devaluing the Travel Agent

August 28, 2008 3 Comments

I know you love your brother, but just because he filled out a form and got a free kit that includes a “website” with his name in the subdomain does not make him a travel agent.   In the booking of cruises and travel, inexperienced agents can make mistakes that cost the traveler thousand of dollars.  

A great travel agent will use their experience to get you the best value.   They will know the right questions to ask to make sure you end up on the vacation that meets your preferences.  A true travel agent is the difference between a dream vacation and a disaster.  

Multi-level Marketing Travel Companies and Agencies who are signing up anyone and everyone to be “agents” are devaluing the true value of a great agent.   Multi-level marketing and sign up for free to be an agent are approaches that these companies are using because word of mouth and network marketing is the cheapest form of marketing (free).   And they are preying on the their new “travel agents” desire to be successful to go and do their marketing for them.  Although the people who sign up would be more successful if they actually used a more traditional approach to being a travel agent.  You know like maybe getting training and mentored by a successful experienced agent.   They are sending these people out into the world pretending to be an agent with great intentions and no training. 

When booking your travel, you can save a lot of time, money and headaches by booking with a real travel agent who has training, certifications, and a history of repeat and referral business.  I know he may be your brother, but you know he is not a travel agent.

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About Rich Tucker

Rich Tucker is the Social Media Manager for Travel Leader's Leisure Group and Founder/Editor of CruiseSource.us. Rich has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired Magazine, BusinessWeek.com, USA Today, ABCnews.com, and several other major media outlets either as a cruise pricing expert or for his use of social media in the cruise industry.
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3 Responses to “Devaluing the Travel Agent”

  1. Lambert - Multi Level Marketing Reply September 15, 2008 at 4:22 am

    Excellent information given by you, Now a days Multi Level Marketing booming all over the world. Its really a nice information given by you…..

  2. Andrew F. Sallinger Reply February 3, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    Has anyone seen the new way to make money with youtube? They make 200 videos for you, and guarentee you at least 20,000 views for your business. Check it out: http://budurl.com/feps

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Joystar and other MLM/Card Mills - Beware! « CruiseSource - January 17, 2009

    [...] and other MLM/Card Mills - Beware! As I warned you several months ago in my article Devaluing the Travel Agent, booking through your friends or family who recently signed up to be a travel agent without any [...]