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#1
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Travelers are getting leery of Internet arrangements
If one were to believe this study (I wonder who sponsored it), why has the
percent of cruisers who do not use a travel agent increased monotonically from 12% in 2002 to 26% in 2008? (See p. B29 at http://www.cruising.org/Press/resear...ofile_2008.pdf) |
#2
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Travelers are getting leery of Internet arrangements
On Aug 7, 5:35*am, "TEP" wrote:
If one were to believe this study (I wonder who sponsored it), why has the percent of cruisers who do not use a travel agent increased monotonically from 12% in 2002 to 26% in 2008? *(See p. B29 athttp://www.cruising.org/Press/research/Market_Profile_2008.pdf) Hi, Theron, good to see you around. It's been a while, I think. This report intrigued me, as I have done tons of travel research and bookings online since the inception of the Internet and wholly disagree with the summary conclusions offered as to end user satisfaction with online travel sites. (My opinion is, of course, based on my own experiences.) I didn't go as far as you did in researching other sources of the same/ similar data--good work! But when I first saw this piece in the Times (the TravelMole article John posted is simply a derivation of the original Times piece), I did do a casual "fact check" to see if the editorial staff was awake. What I discovered made me wonder! You can access the NYTimes article he http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/bu...tml?ref=travel I clicked through to Forrester's website and pinned down their quoted analyst's "Executive Summary" report he http://www.forrester.com/Research/Do...,47562,00.html You can see to the bottom right of the article, the study on which the Forrester analyst based his report was the "North American Technographics® Travel Online Survey, Q1 2009 (US)." You can't view the survey findings unless you are a Forrester client or want to fork over $499; however, you can read the summary description of how the survey was conducted he http://www.forrester.nl/ER/Research/...49,705,00.html and you can review survey questions he http://tiny.cc/kTBQK I also looked around Forrester's site generally. The conclusions I drew, right or wrong, we (1) The survey sample is questionable as to randomness (while Forrester claims their sample was random, it was drawn from a non- random, sweepstakes-motivated sample of unstated size compiled by a third party) (2) The only survey results the Forrester analyst quotes in his report don't really tell us anything without correlation to the other survey findings, i.e., as presented in a vacuum, what do these two findings really mean? "There are 15% fewer travelers who enjoy using the Web in 2009 than there were in 2007. Just one in three US online travelers feels that travel Web sites do a good job presenting travel choices, down from 39% in 2008." (3) Forrester makes money counseling clients in various market sectors, including travel, about how to improve online commerce. Indeed, the reason they conduct this survey annually is to identify bases for promoting their services to travel retailers. According to the analyst's report of the survey, and borrowing the familiar intro from Family Feud (how old am I?!), Survey says: "travel eBusiness professionals must rethink their approach to travel eBusiness." All in all, I guess it's clear, I wasn't impressed with the reliability of the source material or conclusions. Based on years of personal experience and following travel media, I've concluded: (1) Brick and mortar travel agencies have lost business to online bookings made directly with the supplier or through online travel agencies, especially biggies like Travelocity, Orbitz, Vacations/ Cruises To Go, etc. (2) Some kinds of travel products are well-suited for online sales, like airline tickets, hotels and rental cars. Why? The traveler doesn't have to be very experienced or informed to conduct a satisfactory transaction; it generally costs more if you don't book online; there's a tolerably low risk of making a serious boo-boo in handling the booking online vs. through a "real" TA; and if something does go badly that relates in some way to the online booking process, it's usually fixable, and if not, it's a one-off travel experience anyway. (3) Examples of travel products that are NOT well-suited for online sales are cruises and land tours. Why? Exactly the opposite of the factors I mentioned above. The traveler does have to be very experienced or informed to conduct a satisfactory cruise or tour booking; it generally costs more if you book online than through a "real" TA, and if not more, then the same as the best online deal; there's an intolerably high risk of making a serious boo-boo in handling the booking online; and if something does go badly that relates in some way to the online booking process, it's harder to fix, and it hurts more because a cruise or tour is not a one-off travel experience, but represents--for most--a significant investment of precious time, money and, often, emotion. And there are incalculable, invaluable benefits that comes from booking cruises and land tours through an experienced professional who is an expert in the field, e.g., Even though I consider myself a savvy traveler and could easily book my cruises online, with little to no negative impact on my cruise travel experiences, I book all of my cruises through my personal agent because he knows my name and travel preferences; he offers great advice (when I'm not too stubborn to ignore it); he is available as close to 24/7 as it gets to help resolve any problem far faster and better than I could; I like knowing I put a few dollars directly into his pocket vs. contributing toward some corporate VIP's bonus or shareholder returns; and besides, he tells a good joke. So...for cruisers, I always say, use a "real" TA who is cruise travel expert. From following online cruise travel discussions over the years, there's no question, a majority of the complaints and unsatisfactory cruise experiences flow from three scenarios: Do-It- Yourself'ers who had no business attempting to DIY; folks who booked with an online TA that did not offer any or adequate support service with its cruise sales; or cruisers who used a TA who was not a cruise travel expert. Just my two cents. Diana Ball Austin, TX |
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Travelers are getting leery of Internet arrangements
On Aug 7, 1:37*pm, D Ball wrote:
So...for cruisers, I always say, use a "real" TA who is cruise travel expert. From following online cruise travel discussions over the years, there's no question, a majority of the complaints and unsatisfactory cruise experiences flow from three scenarios: Do-It- Yourself'ers who had no business attempting to DIY; folks who booked with an online TA that did not offer any or adequate support service with its cruise sales; or cruisers who used a TA who was not a cruise travel expert. Just my two cents. Diana Ball Austin, TX On our most recent cruise, we had a terrible problem with Delta (they did an equipment change and 3 couples with business class tickets were unseated for 2 available seats.) I pushed (calmly but very firmly) as hard as I ever have and we got the seats. On the return flight one of the unfortunately-bumped couples recognized us and told us that the four of them were re-ticketed ton Air France through CDG and arrived in Copenhagen without luggage @ 6 PM instead of 9:30 AM. They also mentioned that the other couple missed their cruise which departed at 5:00. Although I felt somewhat guilty upon hearing this (the couple was elderly) -- I couldn't help but wonder who originally scheduled them for an international flight arriving the same day as the ship departure. Mark |
#4
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Travelers are getting leery of Internet arrangements
On our most recent cruise, we had a terrible problem with Delta (they
did an equipment change and 3 couples with business class tickets were unseated for 2 available seats.) I pushed (calmly but very firmly) as hard as I ever have and we got the seats. On the return flight one of the unfortunately-bumped couples recognized us and told us that the four of them were re-ticketed ton Air France through CDG and arrived in Copenhagen without luggage @ 6 PM instead of 9:30 AM. They also mentioned that the other couple missed their cruise which departed at 5:00. Although I felt somewhat guilty upon hearing this (the couple was elderly) -- I couldn't help but wonder who originally scheduled them for an international flight arriving the same day as the ship departure. Mark Hey, Mark. That's a bummer of a story. Good work on your part getting your seats. I've been traveling--did I miss your cruise report? Can't wait to hear all about it. Diana |
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