'Travel Agent’s Need To Evolve In Changing Times'

Having being elected president of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Ashwini Kakkar is all geared up to assist the travel agents to make the transition from being mere ticketing agents to consultants offering a gamut of travel related services. He highlights his future plans for the association, in conversation with Savio Rodrigues…

What are your views on the airline commission issue?

The commission issue is a concern that the association has been deliberating on for sometime now. We are in talks with the airlines at the moment and I am hopeful that our dialogue with them will see an end that is fruitful to both parties.

'Changing times call for changing strategies' is a philosophy that you have been advocating to travel agents. What is the new role of a travel agent?

Travel agents who believe that their job role is that of only issuing airline tickets is not moving with the changing times. The customer is king; they are more informed today and are willing to pay for a service that they think is quality service. Gone are the days when customers would approach travel agents purely to have an airline ticket issued. Now, they want to book their preferred airline, want more options for hotels, and want to hire cars and plan their business or leisure itinerary. Today, a travel agent must work towards becoming the customer's travel consultant.

What are the new avenues of business for them?

Besides airlines, travel agents should look at the opportunities available in associating themselves with hotels, travel insurance companies, car rental companies, railways and offering new business services. An avenue I feel that most travel agents have never really explored is the option of working closely with the railways to issue tickets, which today in purview of domestic travel is a huge business.

What is your main goal as the new president of TAAI?

The challenge we face in the industry today is making all travel agents work together instead of working against each other. That is what I seek to achieve; to create a unified approach to concerns and address our issues, to discuss with the authorities that have the power to address these concerns. We, as travel agents, need to work together to make the travel and tourism industry more proactive in order to brace ourselves for a future that is promising and bright.