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With help from the Web, travel agents regain relevance

August 19, 2008 |

Not long ago, the advent of online travel - allowing travelers to research and book their trips with a few clicks of a mouse - was thought to be a death knell for traditional travel agents. But faced with the increasing cost and unpredictability of travel today, vacationers seem to be returning to the fold.

Twenty-three percent of online leisure travelers in the United States say they would use a good offline agent if they could find one, according to Forrester Research. And spotting an opportunity, a handful of new websites with catchy names like Zicasso and Tripology have emerged in the last year, offering to act as free matchmaking services for vacationers in search of traditional agents.

On the sites, travelers fill out forms describing the type of trip they're interested in (say, scuba diving in the Caribbean or a culinary vacation in Tuscany). The sites send those requests to agents who specialize in that region or type of trip. Travelers then receive e-mail alerts with up to three itinerary proposals from competing agents. Compete4yourseat.com, another matchmaking site, helps travelers connect with agents to find lower airfares. Travelers fill out a trip request form on the home page and once an agent bids on their requests, they can log in to view the deal.

Not unlike the online dating world, niche sites have begun to emerge. AdventureLink.com, for example, aims to connect travelers to adventure specialists, whether a tour operator or a travel agent. Though currently in test mode, it has 50,000 trips in its database that customers can search, and it plans to add travel agents this fall.

Get the full story at The Boston Globe

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