COMMENT IN MY OPINION
I’ve never worked in a travel agency that racks brochures. I joined
Haslemere Travel 10 years ago, by which point they had already been working, very successfully, without brochures on display for four years. Haslemere Travel was probably one of the first to take this rather revolutionary step, but it’s one that I assumed many agencies had followed over the years – until I did a straw poll among Aito Specialist Travel Agents this week. To my great surprise, the vast majority (87%) said they still displayed brochures in their agencies, and found them very relevant for their businesses. A few had opted for brochure
front covers displayed in frames, and only three said they had removed brochures entirely. This result really amazed me. But,
of course, as independent travel businesses, it’s entirely our choice about how we run them and what we feel fits our client base; that’s the beauty of being independent.
Operator choice This leads me to the subject of operators that no longer print brochures or plan to discontinue them in favour of online content. While it’s one thing for an independent agency to make a business decision to choose an alternative method of presenting a destination or product, it’s quite another for a supplier to remove this sales tool entirely. I wonder who the operators polled before making this decision?
Brochures can be a vital sales tool for agents
Most Aito STAs still find them relevant for their businesses
GEMMA ANTROBUS
CHAIRMAN, AITO SPECIALIST TRAVEL AGENTS
Many Aito Agents have told me
that it is their older clients who still love to leaf through a brochure, and it’s quite possible that it is this demographic that is not as computer- proficient as others. Will this mean a total loss of their business because their needs are not met? Will there be a wave of switch-selling by agents shifting bookings to operators that still produce brochures? While I’m personally not a fan of
brochures, as chairman of Aito Specialist Travel Agents it’s vital I listen to our members – and, as the statistic above shows, most of them still use brochures. So it intrigues me why some
operators are moving away from them. I understand the financial implications; we all appreciate that brochures are a massive investment. However, if not printing brochures means the majority of your agents won’t sell your trips, then is that really a smart commercial decision?
Communication key Then there is the new wave of ‘print on demand’ brochures. These can work when you have clients making a considered travel purchase and spending significant time in the planning stages. But what about clients who want
to book their holiday on the day they walk in? Having something glossy sent in the post three days later doesn’t quite fit the bill. So, is there a happy medium, or do
we need to come up with something different? I personally think that what really needs to happen is for operators and agents to talk more openly about what they require to close a sale or help promote a product. That way, we’d all be on the same page.
FOR MORE COLUMNS BY GEMMA ANTROBUS, GO TO
TRAVELWEEKLY.CO.UK
30
travelweekly.co.uk 16 November 2017
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
