Why Travel Agents Rule in Asia
In Hong Kong and mainland China, bricks-and-mortar travel agencies — an almost obsolete business in some other parts of the world — are the reigning gatekeepers of travel. The reasons: China hasn’t caught up to booking flights and hotel rooms on the web, and Asian customers still want and expect the level of service that travel agents provide.
“Asian people still hold guanxi [personal relationships] with high regard,” says Michelle Cheung, a Shanghai resident who travels frequently to Hong Kong; she has a travel agent in each city. “My parents have been using the same travel agent for 20 years….The good travel agents can find you a flight even when it says it’s sold out online, and when you are making changes mid-trip, it’s easier to just reach a person over the phone.”
All it takes is one bad experience on a website for someone to switch to an agency, says Ms. Cheung. “During Chinese New Year, many of the fares posted online were not even accurate, and when you clicked purchase, they said ‘fare not available.’ Very frustrating!” she says. Johan Svanstrom, the Asia-Pacific vice president of Hotels.com, says the company does a majority of its business in Greater China via its call centers, which is multiples higher than its call-center generated business from places such as Australia and the U.S. “There are a lot of stories about China’s Internet boom, but only 2% of travel [in China] is booked online. It’s still mainly a cash society,” he adds.
Beautiful girl, definitely star potential
That’s the chick from the music video with Pdiddy and Pharell “Show me your soul” and 50 Cent. She is hot!!!
Pretty girl
I actually preferred when I dealt with a Travel Agent! It was always much nicer to have a relationship with an individual. Remember the days when you had the family Travel Agent, Jeweler, Doctor, Car Mechanic, etc. The demise of individual relationships in our society has led the way to destruction in many ways. Facebook is far too big trying to force everyone to join and make “friends” with ridiculous people who they will never encounter in life. What is the common ground that ties these individuals together? That they know someone in common? There are already 5 degrees of separation between people in this world. Everyone knows that and it is getting smaller as I write this.
Interesting mix. Anyone know where she is from?