Travel agents are back, and they are more influential than ever before. The consumer media is well aware of this shift, with the New York Times and other media touting the value of travel agents.
As agents came back, they had information needs that had shifted along with their business focus. In the 1990's, travel agents earned 80 percent of their revenues selling airline tickets, a number that gradually moved to zero when airlines began cutting commissions in 1995.
Travel agents needed to shift the focus of their sales efforts, and in many cases their actual business models, to adapt to a changing environment. They followed the money and focused on selling leisure travel products from brick and mortar as well as @ home agency businesses. They took what Charles Darwin said to heart, as they evolved their businesses to a rapidly changing world of travel:
"It's not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change."
As agents changed, the traditional travel trade media did the opposite. They continued their one size fits all strategy, opening the door for Performance Media Group to concentrate on meeting the information needs of today's travel agent. Today, agents have the following needs, and our portfolio of products has been designed to meet those exact needs:
- News and Analysis ---------- TravelPulse
- Product Information --------- VacationAgent magazine
- Business Information ------- Agent@Home magazine
- Training ----------------------- TravelAgentAcademy
- Events and Seminars ------- VirtualTravelEvents
