Leisure travellers' willingness to pay travel agents in a new revenue environment : a survey based on South Africa

Abstract

The travel industry has experienced major changes and continues to do so. The airline industry is no longer paying commission to travel agents, and agents are now charging fees to clients for various types of services, as business and leisure travel become increasingly specialised. The role of the travel agent has changed from that of an agent for the supplier to an agent for the customer. For business travel, the travel agent has evolved into a travel management company serving the business and corporate travel market. Traditional travel agencies have started to focus more on the leisure traveller. The development of the Internet has resulted in a proliferation of channels that can be accessed by the leisure traveller, further eroding the role of the travel agent as a provider of travel information and a mechanism for reservations and transactions. The question that arises is whether the customers of a leisure travel agency are willing to pay for services that could feasibly be obtained elsewhere. In this study, customers of a travel agency franchise group were surveyed with respect to their willingness to pay for the services rendered by a travel agent. The results show that many leisure customers find that the services rendered by travel agencies are important, but believe that a distinction should be made between the type of service fee and whether the travel is international or local.