The secret weapon for 'reducing lost counter time' in agencies

The retail technology landscape has drastically changed since the days of viewdata. Over the past 15 years, the industry has seen a major shift in the way retail travel agents harness technology to deliver an enhanced booking experience to customers and, in doing so, the process has become much more streamlined.

By the mid-2010s, the shift away from the aggregated approach, mainly driven and accelerated for pre-packaged holidays by tour operators, had taken hold. During this time, we’ve seen heavy technology investment by operators aiming to digitally deliver the type of content once confined to printed brochures, whilst allowing greater control to provide rich content to revolutionise and enhance the experience for customers across the booking lifecycle.

When looking at technology with a short- to mid-term lens, it’s unlikely we’ll see a unanimous rush to return to an aggregated booking environment. However, there is re-ignited appetite from retail travel businesses to automate and bring efficiencies to all aspects of the booking journey, starting with greater emphasis on the transfer of tour operator bookings to mid- and back-office systems, to reduce “lost counter time” when making new sales.

As the industry continues to face talent pressures and as businesses aim to scale and capitalise on the post-pandemic recovery, it is highly likely we’ll see continued investment and development of automation tools.

In recent years, we have also seen many examples of technology providers developing and integrating automation tools within their platforms, all with the focus of delivering robust efficiencies to back-office administration including supplier payments, bank reconciliation and customer receipting. There’s no doubt that with continued development and access to these tools, retail travel will continue to invest in front-line sales talent, focused on generating sales and ultimately, greater profitability.