Traditional Travel Agents Back in Business

LONDON, December 23 - Since the dawn of the web-based travel industry and low cost, no frills
airlines in the 1990s, pundits have been predicting the demise of the
traditional travel agency.

However, rumours of its death appear to have been, to paraphrase Mark
Twain, greatly exaggerated. After going through a difficult period in the
early to mid 2000s, travel agencies in the UK are now very much in the
ascendant.

A spokesperson for DialAFlight said 'A few years ago, everyone was
predicting that the days of the traditional travel agent were numbered. More
and more people seemed to be booking their own holidays over the Internet, in
order to cut out the middleman and save some money.'

'However, it seems that a lot of people are starting to appreciate the
value of using a middleman when booking a holiday. Booking your own holiday
over the internet might save you a little bit of money, but it is a lot more
hassle than just calling up a travel agent and having them sort it all out
for you.'

'The internet is great for booking simple point to point journeys by air,
such as London to Madrid, and the success of no-frills airlines such as
Easyjet and Ryanair is proof of this. However, the best prices for long haul
flights are rarely to be found on the Internet.'

'Also, the public seems to be becoming increasingly aware that low frills
does not always equal low cost. When the budget airlines started off, they
caught the traditional scheduled airlines on the back foot with seemingly
incredible deals, such as 99p air fares.'

'In recent years, though, the scheduled airlines have caught up, to the
extent that they are often cheaper than the budget airlines once you add on
all the extras, such as tax and booking fees.'

'Another reason why an increasing number of people are turning their
backs on budget airlines is that, on the whole, the level of customer service
is extremely poor, particularly when something goes wrong, and it seems that
more and more people are willing to pay a little extra for a higher level of
customer service.'

About DialAFlight

DialAFlight makes the travel arrangements for almost half a million
people annually and is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. As one of the
travel industry's best performing and most consistently profitable firms it
has appeared in the Sunday Times UK Top 250 survey for several years.
DialAFlight uniquely, guarantees that all phone calls during business hours
(and that's up until 9pm at night) are answered live by one of its 350
experienced reservations staff in less than 5 secs. DialAFlight offer more
than six million cheap flights to a wide range of destinations around the
world including flights to Sydney
(www.dialaflight.com/flights/australia/sydney/) and Orlando flights.
(www.dialaflight.com/flights/usa/florida/orlando/)

For more information please visit www.dialaflight.com.

Contact Details, Karen Hart, DialAFlight, Tel: +44(0)2079629966, Sandpiper House, 39 Queen Elizabeth Street, London, SE1 2BT.