The 50-Year Evolution of the Travel Agent

The evolution of the travel advisor profession just might be an example of Darwinism at its finest. It’s a story of adaptation, survival and revival that has pushed the profession to not just iterate, but to be born anew.

Today, advisors — nee agents — serve as the de facto gatekeepers of insider knowledge about destinations and supplier offerings. They are experts, consultants, collaborators, curators and designers.

But it wasn’t always that way.

“The agent has really changed from an order-taker to advising clients and making thoughtful recommendations,” said Steve Orens, president of Encino, Calif.-based Plaza Travel, his family’s agency at which he has served for 29 years. “With the introduction of fees and the access to information online, the advisor community had to become more consultative when interacting with clients.”

Indeed, as the world has moved from the Telex and rolodex to email, iPhones and Google, the role of the advisor has shifted, as well. No longer will the title of “writer of airline tickets” suffice; today, advisors might refer to themselves as “customized itinerary architects” or “dream planners.”

And who can blame them?

“We’ve upped our game in terms of customer service,” said Paul Coleman, president and third-generation owner of El Paso, Texas-based Sun Travel, Inc., which his grandmother co-founded in 1965. “Prior to the internet, agents had exclusive access to all the information that people needed to travel. We could sit around and wait for clients to call us. Now, people can book on their own, so we have to make sure we’re providing exceptional service — or they will go somewhere else.”

While the internet and new technologies initially proved powerful rivals to — and potential killers of — advisors, they have now been largely embraced by agents.

“The internet has given us a much more educated traveler,” said Ann Slaydon Forehand, who co-founded Chesapeake, Va.-based Slaydon’s Travel in 1976. “It has also made clients aware of how complicated, risky and time-consuming do-it-yourself planning can be.”

David Van Ness, vice president of Los Angeles-based All-Travel and a 31-year industry veteran, agrees.

“With so much information at everyone’s fingertips, people need someone to help decipher it; it’s information overload,” he said.

This has allowed agents to step in and showcase their expertise.

“We plan every trip as if we were taking it ourselves, leaving no detail to chance,” Slaydon Forehand said. “Then, we monitor clients’ travels until they return home. The internet cannot match our experience, educated advice and added service.”

Her daughter, Jennifer Forehand Round, who joined the agency in 1998, says they were able to position Slaydon’s Travel as the expert in the local area.

“And we’re not afraid to turn away business that isn’t a good fit for our level of service,” she said.

In addition to cultivating a more knowledgeable consumer, technology has empowered agents, as well.

“Today, we can receive a request for a 30-day around-the-world trip on a Monday and easily complete the details of the trip and have the client on their way by Friday,” said Tom Jackson, president of Santa Ana, Calif.-based World Travel Bureau, Inc.

Jackson can attest to how times have changed: Now nearly 80 years old, he got his start in the industry at age 13, working for his parents at World Travel. (His father purchased the agency — desks, chairs and all — for $150 in 1939.) Jackson says one of the biggest advancements he has seen is in airline reservations and ticketing.

“Long ago, we hand-wrote tickets, filed our own international tariffs and hand-delivered documents to our clientele,” he said. “Today, obviously all of that has improved one-thousand percent. And because of better technology, we are basically open for business 24/7.”

Coleman has also noticed the increasing demand for all-hours contact with advisors.

“People have come to expect faster service and 24/7 access,” he said. “While we don’t require our advisors to give out their cellphone numbers, I encourage them to. In fact, I give customers my home and cell numbers. I think they appreciate the gesture, and when a need arises, the fact that you’re able to take care of them is something they remember, and it helps develop loyalty. It’s not this one transaction I care about; it’s all the transactions over the next 20 years.”

Forging authentic personal relationships with clients and demonstrating unmatched travel prowess has arguably been what saved the agent profession from extinction.

“We realized that to give sound advice about a destination, we needed to achieve firsthand knowledge,” said Barry Karp, co-owner of Milwaukee-based shore excursion company ShoreTrips.

Before Karp and his wife, Julie, founded ShoreTrips in 2001, the two were agents. During the time they worked together, the couple declared each year “the year of” a destination — Europe, Mexico or the Caribbean, for example — and traveled solely to that region.

“We researched each trip thoroughly — learning about various guides and activity providers before we set up appointments,” Karp said. “We then spent at least half a day with guides. We might have tested a dozen before we decided on which were good. Then, of the good ones, we chose which were best for seniors, families, FITs or groups. We were then able to share our experiences and knowledge with clients.”

While the travel industry has celebrated — and recovered from — many milestones over the last half-century, one thing is clear: The evolution of the advisor is far from over. There’s no telling what the profession will look like in another 50 years, but adaptation is no obstacle for these experts, who are willfully thriving in the face of those who said they’d never make it.