How could traditional travel agencies improve their competitiveness and [626278]

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How could traditional travel agencies improve their competitiveness and [626278]

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How could traditional travel agencies improve their competitiveness and
survive? A qualitative study in Spain
Teresa Aguiar-Quintana PhDa,⁎, Sergio Moreno-Gil PhDb, Patricia Picazo-Peral PhDc
aTourism and Sustainable Development Institute (TIDES), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Faculty of Economy, Business and Tourism, Ta ﬁra Campus, Building C –C 1.07, Saulo Torón, 4 –
Las Palmas de GC 35017, Spain
bTourism and Sustainable Development Institute (TIDES), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Faculty of Economy, Business and Tourism, Ta ﬁra Campus, Building C –C1.11, Saulo Torón, 4 –
Las Palmas de GC 35017, Spain
cInstitute of Tourism and Sustainable Economic Development (Tides), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), Ta ﬁra Campus, Building E – Floor 0 –Right, Saulo Torón, 4 – Las
Palmas de GC 35017, Spain
abstract article info
Article history:
Received 29 February 2016Received in revised form 28 July 2016Accepted 29 July 2016The present study aims to provide greater insight into the trends affecting traditional travel agencies and propose
strategies to improve their competitiveness. This research develops a qualitative study with three complementa-ry steps: (1) focus groups were held with the main travel agency segments (corporate and holidays), to analyze
their motivations and perceptions; (2) interviews were conducted with managers and experts to analyze cus-
tomers' perceptions and emphasize some of the main trends affecting this industry; and ﬁnally, (3) interviewees
were asked to propose strategies to overcome the future trends previously identi ﬁed. With this objective in mind,
this research integrates both perspectives: demand and supply, to propose actions and strategies for future sce-
narios, which is especially valuable due to the dif ﬁcult situation of travel agencies in Spain. Finally, after identify-
ing the 14 main trends in the industry and 23 recommended strategies, the study also proposes some usefulfuture research topics for the industry.
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Keywords:
Travel agency
Qualitative studyMotivationsTrendsSuccessful strategies
1. Introduction
The importance of tourism in the Spanish economy is in itself a suf-
ﬁcient reason to carry out a study about the sector. Spain's Tourism in-
dustry plays an important economic role, with a contribution of
124.000 million Euros to the Spanish Economy and an increase in the
GDP in tourism of 4.3% in the ﬁrst quarter of 2016, representing the
highest level in the last 15 years ( Exceltur, 2016 ).
The tourism sector in general, and the traditional travel agency in
particular, is currently going through a quite complex, dynamic and un-
certain operating environment. This is due to factors such as technological
innovations, increasingly demanding consumers, ﬁerce competition, and
changes in the tourist distribution system, with con ﬂicts between chan-
nels and lower commissions being paid to agencies ( Hatton, 2004 ).
Faced with this situation, traditional travel agencies must study the mar-
ket and its different segments in depth to ﬁnd possible alter native survival
strategies.
Unfortunately, these changes are detrimental to traditional travel
agencies, which are highly fragmented. The situation is especiallyperturbing because Spain is one of the European countries with the
highest number of closures (5000 travel agencies approximately) be-
tween 2008 and 2013, representing a 40% decrease in the size of the sec-
tor (Hosteltur, 2014 ). Turnover growth of traditional travel agencies in
2015, compared to that of newcomers, indicates that new strategies
must be developed to successfully compete in the future (see Table 1 ).
In this context, the new on-line travel agencies are already taking an im-
portant market share (see Table 2 ), and the increase in online distribu-
tion (18% growth in 2015) has meant that many suppliers use the
Internet to offer their products without the need for intermediaries
(Hosteltur, 2016 ). This missing intermediation leads to ease of end-
user access and involves the appearance of new competitors that
achieve important cost reductions compared to traditional travel agen-
cies. For this reason, this concentration is an alternative to reducing
costs via business operations involving vertical and horizontal integra-
tion, and it implies having more information about the environment
and making strategic management more dynamic in this sector
(González Rodriguez & Martín Sámper, 2012 ).
Moreover, research on traditional travel agencies in Spain is scarce
and, to date, only a few published articles have analyzed this industry
(e.g., Fuentes, 2011; González Rodriguez & Martín Sámper, 2012;
Martínez Caro & Martínez García, 2008; Millán & Esteban Talaya,
2004; Moreno Gil & Aguiar Quintana, 2006 ). In the Global context, toTourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108
⁎Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: teresa.aguiar@ulpgc.es (T.A.- Quintana), sergio.moreno@ulpgc.es
(S.M.- Gil), patricia.picazo@ulpgc.es (P.P.- Peral).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2016.07.011
2211-9736/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Tourism Management Perspectives
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp

date, most of the research is quantitative and tries to identify three
strategies to improve travel agencies' competitiveness: (1) strategies re-
lated to service quality of the supplier (e.g. Kuo, Chang, Cheng, & Lai,
2013; Lai, 2014; Lam & Zhang, 1999; Martínez Caro & Martínez García,
2008; Millán & Esteban Talaya, 2004; Ryan & Cliff, 1997 ); (2) strategies
focused on the demand side ( Del Chiappa, 2013; Ilbery, Saxena, &
Kneafsey, 2007 ); and (3) strategies related to the ef ﬁciency of the sup-
plier ( Barros & Matias, 2006; Fuentes, 2011; Köksal & Aksu, 2007;
Lacalle, 2013 ). The need for strategic change in this industry, and the
evolving role of travel agencies, is a key topic that deserves major re-
search ( Castillo-Manzano & López-Valpuesta, 2010; Del Chiappa,
2013; Frias, Rodríguez, & Castañeda, 2008; Galhanone, Marques,
Toledo, & Mazzon, 2010 ), and the existing research has pointed out a
need to integrate demand and supply perspectives.
For this reason, this study integrates the different perspectives of
customers, travel agency managers, and experts through a qualitative
study, trying to precisely understand the current situation of traditional
travel agencies, the future scenarios they will have to face, and the pos-
sible actions they can take to succeed in the future. Thus, the customer
represents the demands and desires of the market, while the supply im-
plies an internal vision of the business from a managerial point of view.
Finally, the experts represent a neutral, overall, well-informed opinion
of the travel agency industry that can integrate the demand and supply
perspectives.
Following these objectives, this study ﬁrst describes the recent evo-
lution of the travel agency sector in Spain, and then it examines the cur-rent role of travel agencies and the main strategies identi ﬁed to improve
competitiveness in this sector. Different focus groups are developed to
study the consumer and elements such as the motivations of the travel
agency user, bene ﬁts sought by the user, barriers to the consumer's use
of travel agencies, the travel agency's image, and possible mental asso-
ciations about travel agencies. This analysis is conducted both for the
corporate travel segment (which is one of the most important in
terms of travel agency turnover and pro ﬁt) and for the traditional holi-
day segment. It is followed by in-depth interviews with sector experts
and managers, who participated in drawing conclusions from the previ-
ously obtained knowledge about the consumer to later identify possible
future trends that could mark the evolution of the sector, as important
gaps are usually found between customers and managers ( Nick,Turgay, & Osman, 2004 ). Finally, different strategies oriented toward
the success of travel agencies in Spain were proposed, and several rec-
ommendations were grouped into actions focused on marketing and ac-
tions focused on the organizational and management structure. The
results of this study may be useful to investors, creditors and interna-
tional tour operators, as well as to travel agency management in
assessing its own performance.
2. Literature review2.1. The travel agency industry in Spain
In 2012, large networks of travel agencies in the Spanish market sold
10% more than the previous year, showing the best performance since
the recession started in Spain in September 2008. The persistence of
the crisis and its effect on the consumer recession in the Spanish market
affected the entire industry, including the major networks. During this
crisis period, the reduction in the travel agency sector in Spain has
been quite signi ﬁcant, with the closure of 5000 businesses. In Spain,
the Hosteltur agency ranking (2016) was led by an online travel agency,
eDreams. This agency had an increase in sales of around 2% (with 4.550
million Euros in sales in 2015), due to the growth of international mar-kets, in addition to the increase in business accommodations and other
services. Meanwhile, Viajes el Corte Inglés, the ﬁrst traditional travel
agency in the ranking, increased its turnover by 5%, with around 2.460
million sales in 2015. The second largest traditional travel agency, Viajes
Halcón Ecuador, had the biggest drop in the ranking, with a total de-
crease of 8% in 2014, and it started its recovery in 2015 with an increase
of 7%. On the other hand, another online travel agency, Bravo ﬂy-Rumbo,
had the highest percentage of growth from 2014 to 2015, with an in-
crease of 79%, experiencing a huge expansion in the European markets.
With regard to online agencies, despite their growth, most of them
were also affected by the downturn in consumption that Spain had
been facing for the past ﬁve years, along with the maturity of the Inter-
net sales market. A comparison of the total sales of the main agencies
yields a growth in the Spanish online market of around 18% in 2015,
compared to 2014, in regional and other international markets where
they operate (see Table 2 ). Finally, as has been the case in recent
years, the leading online agency is gradually approaching the volumes
of sales of large agencies, and this is the main reason why traditional
travel agencies need to look for strategies to survive in this competitive
environment and plan possible actions to improve their situation in
Spain.
2.2. The role of the travel agency
The travel agent's role as intermediary requires a high degree of
communication and cooperation between customers and suppliers.
For this reason: “information must be transmitted about what suppliers
have to order, what clients want to buy and about the economic condi-
tions and transactions involved ”(Gustafson, 2012 , pp.280). Previously,
the general perception was that travel agents were acting in the interest
of the suppliers, as they received signi ﬁcant commissions from them
based on sales volume. Today, travel agents receive most of their income
from their clients, their business concepts include assisting their corpo-
rate clients in travel management work, and their role is mainly to act in
their clients' interest vis-à-vis the suppliers ( Davidson & Cope, 2003;
Holma, 2009 ). As Holma (2009) points out, the business travel industry
is characterized by triadic business relationships, with travel agencies
acting as intermediaries between corporate clients and suppliers.
Initially, the role of travel agencies was expected to grow in impor-
tance because their greatest ability is “to collate, organize and interpret
large amounts of data in a way that delivers the best value and the most
exciting travel experiences for the customer ”(O'Connor, 1999 ,p . 1 1 4 ) .
Therefore, in order to remain secure in the distribution chain, travel
agencies focused on their advice-giving capacity ( Bennet, 1993 ).Table 2
Ranking of on line travel agencies in Spain by annual turnover.
Source: Hosteltur (2016) .
Agency Turnover 2015
(millions €)Turnover 2014
(millions €)%
growth
1. eDreams 4.550 4.470 2%
2.
Bravo ﬂy–Rumbo2.355 1.311 79%
3. Logitravel 572 514 11%
4. Travelgenio 449 340 31%5. Atrapalo 330 315 5%Total 8.256 6.950 18%Table 1Ranking of traditional travel agencies in Spain by annual turnover.Source: Hosteltur (2016) .
Agency Turnover 2015
(millions €)Turnover 2014
(millions €)%
growth
1. Viajes El Corte Inglés 2.460 2.350 5%
2. Viajes Halcón
Ecuador1.148 1.093 7%
3. Barceló Viajes 810 736 6%
4. Carlson Wagonlit
Travel480 463 4%
5. Nautalia 279 227 23%
Total 5.177 4.869 6%99 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

Recently, Lai (2014) pointed out that little empirical research has been
conducted linking service quality, perceived value, and relationship
quality to customer loyalty in the travel agency sector. He attempts to
investigate the role of service quality, perceived value, and relationship
quality in customer loyalty among tourists. His ﬁndings reveal that ser-
vice quality and the perceived value of a travel package are antecedent
factors of the relationship quality (customer satisfaction, customer trust,and customer commitment) with a travel agency. In addition, in the
past decade, Internet has changed the role of travel agencies as informa-
tion providers, and the development of the Internet has also prompted a
growing number of studies that consider its role in the information
search process ( Bernardo, Marimon, & del Mar Alonso-Almeida, 2012;
Del Chiappa, 2013; Huang, Yung, & Yang, 2011 ) and in creating a pre-
visit destination image ( Frias et al., 2008 ).
In spite of the importance of travel agencies in tourist distribution,
scant attention has been paid by researchers to their new challenges
and possible success strategies to increase loyalty in the travel agency
sector ( Lai, 2014 ). Therefore, there is an imminent need to study differ-
ent survival strategies for traditional travel agencies ( González
Rodriguez & Martín Sámper, 2012; Lacalle, 2013 ).
2.3. Strategies for travel agencies to improve their competitiveness
Speci ﬁcally related to the travel agency business, the majority of the
research on this topic has tried to identify the main components of trav-
el agencies' competitiveness, as higher degrees of competitiveness are
linked to adapting to changes in demand and obtaining a long-term
competitive advantage ( Ku, Yang, & Huang, 2013; Lai, 2014; Millán &
Esteban Talaya, 2004 ). Thus, three groups of strategies have been rec-
ommended by some authors to improve competitiveness and pro ﬁtabil-
ity in travel agencies' services: (1) to improve the quality of the services
provided by the supplier ( Lai, 2014; Lam & Zhang, 1999; Millán &
Esteban Talaya, 2004; Ryan & Cliff, 1997 ); (2) to improve marketing
strategies from the demand side ( Ku et al., 2013; Huang et al., 2011;
Martínez Caro & Martínez García, 2008; Moreno Gil & Aguiar
Quintana, 2006; Nick et al., 2004; Heung & Chu, 2000; Goldsmith &
Litvin, 1999; Heide, Grönhaug, & Engset, 1999; Lam & Zhang, 1999;
Gee, Makens, & Choy, 1997; Leblanc, 1992 ); and (3) to increase the ef ﬁ-
ciency of travel agencies ( Anderson, Lewis, & Parker, 1999; Barros &
Dieke, 2007; Barros & Matias, 2006; Fuentes, 2011; Köksal & Aksu,
2007; LaCalle, 2013; Wöber, 2006 ).
Related to the ﬁrst strategy, focused on improving the quality of ser-
vices provided by travel agencies, most of the research related to travel
agencies' service quality is quantitative and develops a multiple-item
scale for measuring customer satisfaction with travel agencies ( Lai,
2014; Lam & Zhang, 1999; Millán & Esteban Talaya, 2004; Ryan & Cliff,
1997 ). Reliability is the most important dimension in predicting cus-
tomers' overall satisfaction, followed by the responsiveness and assur-
ance of the travel agents. These two dimensions were especially
crucial for excellent-service travel agencies ( Lam & Zhang, 1999 ). How-
ever, according to Chumpitaz and Swaen (2002) , the number and na-
ture of service quality dimensions is directly related to the service
under investigation. Thus, Martínez Caro and Martínez García (2008)
carried out qualitative and quantitative research to identify the factors
that determine the service quality perceptions of travel agency cus-
tomers in Spain. Their results found three dimensions (personal interac-
tion, physical environment and outcome) explained by seven sub-
dimensions (conduct, expertise, problem-solving, equipment, ambient
conditions, waiting time and valence). Nevertheless, the results of the
research by Martínez Caro and Martínez García (2008) in Spain were
different from LeBlanc's (1992) study in Canada. In this previous
study, nine factors were identi ﬁed that categorized travelers' percep-
tions of the service quality of travel agencies in Canada, and corporate
image was the most signi ﬁcant driver in explaining overall customer
satisfaction with travel agencies.Related to the second strategy recommended to improve competi-
tiveness, focused on improving marketing strategies, various qualitative
and quantitative research studies have been conducted from the per-
spective of travel agency customers ( Del Chiappa, 2013; Kuo et al.,
2013; Huang, 2012; Huang et al., 2011; Castillo-Manzano &
López-Valpuesta, 2010; Moreno Gil & Aguiar Quintana, 2006; Nick et
al., 2004; Heung & Chu, 2000; Goldsmith & Litvin, 1999; Heide et al.,1999; Gee et al., 1997; Hruschka & Mazanec, 1990; Snepenger, Meged,
Snelling, & Worral, 1990; Capella & Greco, 1987 ). These studies aim to
increase knowledge about customers and aspects such as motivations
and attitudes, quality, and behavior toward travel agencies, as a prereq-
uisite to improving their customer service.
Moreover, regarding this second strategy, focused on marketing
from the customer's side, several studies have con ﬁrmed that an analy-
sis of travel agency users must consider the different market segments
and the differences between them ( Kuo et al., 2013 ). The decline of
the traditional travel agent model is researched by Castillo-Manzano
and López-Valpuesta (2010) who study the in ﬂuence of 27 socio-eco-
nomic factors and trip attributes on passenger purchase channel choice.
Their results show that the pro ﬁle of a tourist who has a greater likeli-
hood of making his/her bookings online is that of a young person, a stu-
dent or educated to a high level, and a frequent traveler booking a
simple journey and using a Low Cost Carrier. The factors linked to an in-
creased likelihood of making purchases by phone include: being male,
middle-aged, on a business or short trip, and using a travel agency. Fi-
nally, passengers over 65 years of age, with a lower academic level,
who use a travel agency and are going to take a more complicated
trip, are more likely to purchase their tickets in-store.
Thus, one of the most commonly used segmentation criteria in the
tourist sector is that of addressing the purpose of the visit or the bene ﬁt
sought. Some authors, such as Poon (1993) ;Cha and Uysal (1995) and
Middleton (1997) , highlight this criterion as the most important one
in the travel agency sector. The importance of acquiring deeper knowl-
edge about the customers and identifying the motivational and psycho-
logical pro ﬁles of the different segments is justi ﬁed by the complexity
and range of the determinant factors of the demand, depending on the
reason for travelling ( Castillo-Manzano & López-Valpuesta, 2010;
Crouch, 1994 ). Therefore, it is appropriate to differentiate between the
holiday and corporate segments because understanding tourists' attitudes
is necessary in order to design integrated strategies ( Ilbery et al., 2007 ).
Also from a marketing orientation, considering a supply and geo-
graphical perspective, Stuart, Pearce, and Weaver (2005) examine the
structure and functioning of tourism distribution channels in a periph-
eral region of the South Island of New Zealand, based largely on the col-
lection and analysis of information from in-depth interviews. They
study different distribution strategies aimed at their main segments
(tour groups, special interests and semi-independent travelers, inde-
pendent travelers, and business travelers), and their ﬁndings show
that businesses serving the group, special interest, and semi-indepen-
dent segments make greater use of inbound operators, wholesalers,
and retail travel agents. They also have their products pre-purchased
in the market, generally as part of a personalized package, whereas busi-
nesses focused on independent travelers tend to rely on a mixture of
strategies involving information dissemination and sales through
other intermediaries, especially information centers and formal or infor-
mal networks of other providers. Gilbert (1990), for example, discussed
variations within Europe in the use of travel agencies versus direct pur-
chases from tour wholesalers, and they outlined factors, such as conve-
nience, time, and the external environment, that in ﬂuenced the way
holidays were purchased. Later, Heung and Chu (2000) tried to identify
the most important factors in choosing a travel agency for all-inclusive
package tours, as perceived by Hong Kong consumers. Their results
showed that
“agency reputation ”was rated as the most important attri-
bute in travel agency selection, followed by “word-of-mouth communi-
cation ”and “staff attitude ”. Later, the study by Hudson, Snaith, Miller,
and Hudson (2001) explored 156 travel agencies across the United100 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

Kingdom, using a mixture of focus groups, interviews, and mystery
shoppers to understand the factors that in ﬂuence travel agency recom-
mendations in the U.K. Among their ﬁndings, they indicate that
when the agency is vertically integrated, it has considerable in ﬂu-
ence on the recommendation process and will attempt to push the
holidays of its parent company, rather than give impartial advice to
consumers.
In another context, also from a marketing and geographical perspec-
tive, Zhang and Morrison (2007) developed a qualitative pilot research
project in China. They conducted nine exploratory in-depth interviews
with owner-managers of small to medium sized (SME) travel agencies
in order to ﬁnd out how SME travel agents could stay competitive in
China's travel service sector. Their ﬁndings indicate that a small size
and simple structure, a short period of time in business, and a lack of
management experience and market recognition are the major charac-
teristics of the SME travel agencies in China. Zhang and Morrison
(2007) , considering their internal strengths (products tailor-made for
customers, using the assets of local knowledge and expertise, allowing
personalized service, and building strong and loyal market relationships
with existing customers), recommend considering other forms of alli-
ances with SMEs and large ﬁrms to attempt to overcome fragmentation
disadvantages and competitive pressures.
Third, other studies analyze the relative ef ﬁciency of travel agencies
in a speci ﬁc country as another strategy to increase competitiveness, by
studying travel agencies from the supply or internal perspective
(Lacalle, 2013; González Rodriguez & Martín Sámper, 2012; Fuentes,
2011; Köksal & Aksu, 2007; Barros & Matias, 2006; Butler, Carter, &
Brunn, 2002; Palmer & Dunford, 2002; Anderson et al., 1999 ). Despite
the importance of travel agencies in the marketing and distribution of
tourism products, it should be noted that most studies on ef ﬁciency in
the tourism sector focus on the hospitality industry, with data on hotels
in the USA, Portugal and Taiwan ( Sellers Rubio & Más Ruiz, 2009 ). In the
past thirty years, only 6 articles have been detected that are speci ﬁcally
related to the estimation of ef ﬁciency in travel agencies. On the one
hand, Bell and Morrey (1995) ;Köksal and Aksu (2007) andGonzález
Rodriguez and Martín Sámper (2012) evaluated the ef ﬁciency of travel
agencies using the non-parametric DEA technique. On the other hand,
Anderson et al. (1999) estimated the ef ﬁciency of travel agencies
using both DEA and the stochastic frontier, whereas Barros and Matias
(2006) only consider a cost frontier model, allowing for the incorpora-
tion of multiple inputs and outputs in determining relative ef ﬁciencies
in 25 Portuguese travel agencies from 2000 to 2004. The results suggest
that capital, labor, sales, and marketing activities are the main factors
determining ef ﬁciency in this sector.
More Recently, Fuentes (2011) analyzed the relative ef ﬁciency of 22
travel agencies with similar characteristics in Spain using the DEA tech-
nique, providing possible lines of action that agencies can take in order
to improve their ef ﬁciency in the future. There is no consensus about the
methodology applied to carry out the ef ﬁciency analysis. However, the
most frequently used inputs in the analysis of ef ﬁciency can be grouped
into variables related to the work factor ( Köksal & Aksu, 2007; Wöber,
2006 ), travel expenditures, such as car and airline costs and hotel bills
(Köksal & Aksu, 2007; Wöber, 2006 ), and environmental factors ( Bell
& Morrey, 1995 ). The total sales variables and the number of clients
tend to be used as outputs ( Barros & Dieke, 2007 ).
After analyzing the three groups of strategies used to improve com-
petitiveness in travel agencies (based on the quality of the supply, the
customer side, and the ef ﬁciency), it can be noted that most of these
studies only focus on certain parts of the demand or the supply from a
quantitative perspective. They do not consider a more overall analysis
of the sector in a particular region, going beyond the customer side to
analyze possible trends and strategies for success from the supply side
and considering experts' opinions about future scenarios. Therefore,
the in-depth customer perspective must be complemented by the per-
spective of managers and experts, as future decisions and strategies of
travel agencies will ultimately be made by them. With this in mind,we developed three methodological phases in our research, and we ex-
plain them in the following paragraphs.
3. Methodology
The research was conducted in the main large cities in Spain, consid-
ering their number of inhabitants (see Table 3 ) during 2014, and it was
developed in three complementary methodological phases. In the ﬁrst
phase, 15 focus groups with customers were developed in order to iden-
tify their personal and more psychological characteristics when using a
travel agency. Individuals were chosen from different contexts and
socio-demographic pro ﬁles to obtain an adequate representation of
the Spanish population, and it was veri ﬁed that individuals were partic-
ipating in this type of dynamic for the ﬁrst time. In any case, the re-
searchers sought a variety of comments and motivational
contributions, rather than merely the representativeness of the
individuals.
All the individuals voluntarily agreed to speak about their travel-re-
lated behavior and motivations, and they were offered the incentive of
entering a drawing for a holiday. The number of participants in each
group ranged between seven and eleven, and some meetings contained
a mixture of current travel agency customers and non-customers,
whereas others only contained either corporate or holiday customers,
given their special characteristics. The average length of each meeting
was 80 min. The 15 meetings were held in the evening in hotel confer-
ence rooms in seven big and important tourist cities (Madrid, Barcelona,
Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Palma de Majorca and Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria).
In the second methodological phase, 30 managers of various travel
agencies and 12 sector experts were interviewed to obtain their opin-
ions about possible future trends and scenarios for the sector. After
conﬁrming that they had read the previously provided conclusions of
the group studies, the 42 individuals (experts and managers) were
asked (open questions) for their opinions about possible sector trends.
The proposed sector trends were grouped and sent back to managers
and experts to achieve a certain consensus. Each trend was rated from
1 to 10, regarding the possibility of that trend becoming a reality. The
authors selected the trends that obtained an average rating higher
than 7 from the interviewees. This level of agreement guarantees cer-
tain agreement and realistic scenarios, while dropping emerging and
uncertain trends.
In a second interview, after they had received a summary of the
main trends they had identi ﬁed by mail, managers and experts were
asked (open questions) to identify the strategies they would recom-
mend for the future success of the sector in Spain. The length of the in-
terviews varied between 34 and 108 min, with the average length being
65 min. Finally, they were sent summaries of all the proposed strategies
by mail, and asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with
each recommended action. The decision was made to include the
grouped actions recommended by over 70% of the interviewees in this
study as generic strategies for the travel agency sector in Spain.
4. Analysis and results
Next, there is a presentation of the conclusions of the dynamics of
the corporate and holiday segment focus groups, followed by the results
obtained in the analyses of the sector trends, as re ﬂected by the mana-
gerial and expert interviewees, and concluding with the proposed strat-
egies for success in the future.
4.1. Group dynamics: corporate segment
This section presents comments about the most signi ﬁcant results
obtained from the focus groups with individuals from the corporate seg-
ment. It contains descriptions of the bene ﬁts sought by using a travel
agency, barriers and reluctance to using a travel agency, an evaluation101 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

of different aspects of the service, associations about the business and its
services, and other important elements.
With regard to the bene ﬁts sought, the participants mostly consid-
ered that the bene ﬁts of using a travel agency are convenience, security,
peace of mind, freedom from worry, usefulness, and trust. It was also
clear that young people highlighted price and offers, whereas older cus-
tomers were more demanding and attached more importance to time-
saving and ﬁnding alternatives and solutions. This business segment is
very special because the desired bene ﬁts do not refer to an explicitly
expressed motivation or a desire for diversion; in fact, the bene ﬁts are
the consequence of the socio-economic system, which obliges one to
travel without really wanting to. At this point, the controversy about
whether a ﬁrm should consider its employees' family situation before
making them travel arises in the discussion. Contrary to what one
might expect, many young, single people believe that the personal sac-
riﬁce that travel involves is the same for them as for married employees
because they mention the in ﬂuence of business trips on their personal-
ities. “You become lonely and less sociable ”;“You isolate yourself as if
you were escaping from something ”.
On the other hand, the corporate segment displays a more rational
and objective component than other segments, which may be due tothe corporate traveler's work and conditions. There is a greater distance
from the members of one's ‘crowd ’and usual social circle, with the level
of the intervening ‘ME’being rational, calculating, neither emotional nor
impulsive, and oriented toward reality. Thus, this segment makes com-
ments such as “The agencies signify time-saving, convenience, and a
certain security, although they must toe the line ”. Members of this seg-
ment always give priority to the component of time, both psychological
and chronological: “Time, punctuality, speed, gain, lose, effort, money ”.
Furthermore, they always express the need to control in order to be
sure, trusting neither the person nor the brand, and so there is never
total freedom from worry. Consequently, their main motivation is the
service, de ﬁned as attention, sensitivity, adaptability, trust, security,
andﬂexibility to changes. The human element is highly valued: “They
should be able to put themselves in my place ”,“They should know
what I want ”,“They should be interested in me ”. Even though price is
important, it is relegated to second place because “convenience must
be paid for ”.
With regard to the main barriers and reluctance shown by corporate
customers, whereas the open and more conscious words have a more
positive nature, the latent and subconscious words stemming from the
associations and projections made have a more negative nature. There
are signs of fear, insecurity, and mistrust about possible non-compli-ance, lack of concern for the customer, misinformation, evading respon-
sibility, rigidity, and constant staff turnover. “They pass the buck from
one to the other ”;“They can't take it for granted that you know
something ”. Although most experiences are positive, thebackground debate is negative and often the result of comments
they have heard and the social in ﬂuence of their social and reference
groups.
Regarding the comments and evaluation of certain aspects of the
service, ﬁrst, there is a clear problem with the perceptions of the infor-
mation provided: “there is too little, it is bad, misleading, confusing, su-
perﬁcial, standard and typical ”, and it is linked to a lack of
professionalism and the limited development of the business concept.
“They do nothing to make the sale; they just sit there ”and “Price isn't
everything ”and “There are other needs to be met ”. The cases of satisfac-
tion with this aspect are true exceptions and due to relationships with
speciﬁc individuals at the agency who are very highly rated. Customers
consider that travel agencies are convenient rather than useful: “The
travel agency obligates the customer to adapt to it, rather than the
opposite ”.
With regard to the evaluation of other service characteristics, techni-
cal knowledge about the reservations process and the products and ser-
vices is patchy and confused. They believe that agencies could do a lot
for them because all that knowledge and information is available to
them, but “the agent's apathy does not help ”.
It is paradoxical that they suffer some anxiety when what they really
seek is peace of mind and security, but “Many times I use the agency be-
cause I have no other option ”. Thus, the agencies are seen as mere dis-
pensers of tickets and separate services, although they know that they
can do much more. Customers do not want to have to ask; they want
to be informed, and they also want a more personalized service. “They
know what I want, and that is to receive real information, not be
bombarded with surveys and lea ﬂets. That's not on ”. The lack of profes-
sionalism is seen as the most signi ﬁcant and con ﬂictive problem, and it
is interpreted as a lack of training and polish, scant attention in provid-
ing the service, reduced knowledge, and not having the correct attitude
or aptitude. They should know what they are selling and should “ﬁrst be
salesmen and then technicians ”,b e c a u s e “that means putting them-
selves in your place and knowing what you want, not giving you bro-
chures they don't even know about ”.
Finally, the associations the customers make with various elements
of the travel agency is quite signi ﬁcant. For example, the location of
the agency is of almost no importance to this segment; the size of the
agency is not very important, although this segment normally works
with large agencies whose brands give more security, professionalism,
and choice of points of departure and arrival. “If they are large, at least
you know that you can complain and they will take notice of you ”.
This segment values the specialization of the agency very highly be-
cause they think that a large agency adapts better to personal require-
ments. Moreover, the person (the travel agent) is much more
important than the organization (the agency), and he/she is really
what promotes loyalty; however he/she can be counterproductiveTable 3
Methodology of the study.
Phase Objective Method Results
1 Understand internal and
psychological characteristics of thecustomer.15 focus groups with customers:
corporate and holiday.Beneﬁts sought by using a travel agency
Barriers and reluctance to using a travel agencyImage of different aspects of the serviceAssociations regarding the business and its services
Other elements
2 Identify trends and future scenarios. 1. Send conclusions of focus groups to
managers and experts.2. Interviews with managers (30) andexperts (12).3. Interviewees rate trends accordingto their possibility of becoming real.14 trends affecting the travel agency sector
3 Propose recommendations to
succeed.1. Send conclusions of trends to
managers and experts.
2. Interviews with managers (27) andexperts (10).3. Interviewees recommend thestrategies or not.23 strategies grouped into two large categories, (1) actions focused on marketing; and
(2) actions focused on the organizational structure and aspects of management.102 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

insofar as “When they get to know you, they take advantage and either
ignore your needs or just sell you expensive products ”. The image of the
agency and its brands is not obtained in a precise way; the products, air-
line tickets, hotels, etc. play a leading role, and the agencies are seen as
mere dispensers.
Other aspects highlighted by corporate customers is that they do not
know their rights and attempt to take precautions as far as possible bypaying by credit card to protect themselves from what might happen.
They also show clear disapproval of the practice used by many agencies
of surveying ﬁrms or secretaries, etc. about the agency the ﬁrm works
with because “It shows little competence ”,“It's not a professional
thing to do ”,o r “I don't like that ”.
It can be concluded that the corporate customer's behavior is based
on a rational, non-impulsive decision, where the customer seeks service,
is risk-averse, and is not interested in changing agencies. The reason for
the choice of purchase normally lies in an established relationship, ﬁrst
with the person and then with the agency, as well as in the speci ﬁco f –
fers made by the agency or its products.
4.2. Group dynamics: holiday segment
This segment comprises a homogeneous group of individuals. How-
ever, some differences were found that were basically explained by the
variables age and socio-economic level. This section presents the most
signiﬁcant results obtained from the group discussions in which holiday
customers took part. It describes the bene ﬁts sought in using a travel
agency, the barriers and reluctance to using a travel agency, the evalua-
tion of various aspects of the service, and the associations they make
with the business and its services.
At the outset, it should be understood that, unlike the case of the cor-
porate customer, the motivational context of these customers is very
emotional, as the need that gives rise to the wish to travel may be plea-
sure-based, but also frustrating (as shown in the case of many ex-users),
and where many stimulating elements, such as dreams, fantasies, asso-
ciations, implications, imitation, prior knowledge, etc., play a part. In anycase, the stimulus for this segment is extremely intense.
With regard to the bene ﬁts sought, the homogeneity of this segment
stands out, and pleasure-seeking, enjoyment, play, fantasy, possession,
knowledge, and a sense of the journey are all highly signi ﬁcant. Thus,
the power of seduction lies precisely in these aspects, and the travel
agency should focus on them. A holiday represents an important invest-
ment by the customer and involves signi ﬁcant economic effort accom-
panied by con ﬂictive decisions and elements of cognitive dissonance,
which explains the customers' caution and reticence toward the agency,
and their wish to “Let everything turn out as I have dreamed ”.T h ec u s –
tomer expects to remember this holiday forever. It should be kept in
mind that few products are talked about and shared as much after
their use as holidays are (showing photos and videos to friends, giving
presents and souvenirs, etc.), with the trip being a product involving
great social interaction. Therefore, the basic needs that the agency cus-
tomer wishes to satisfy are recreation and pleasure, security and protec-
tion, comfort and well-being, contact and affection, and curiosity.
With regard to differences within this segment, no differences relat-
ed to geographic area were detected, whereas there were differences re-
lated to age. Older people are motivated mainly by price and offers, and
they are less demanding, perhaps because of having fewer experiences
and lower prior expectations. On the other hand, although price is still
the priority factor for the younger segment, young people understand
that the quality-price relationship has to be balanced, and they are
more independent and put price before the accommodation's quality:
“It should be clean and decent, and then, with a bit of imagination,
you can have a good time ”.
Regarding the barriers and resistance, the main problem is that
needs are not satis ﬁed, with expectations related to trust, freedom
from worry, compliance, usefulness, truthful information, professional-
ism, attention, waiting time, ﬂexibility and available alternatives notbeing met. Some comments are: “You contract a certain quality and
ﬁnd you get a lower quality ”;a n d “It's as if you are annoying them
when you ask for more information ”. There is enormous frustration
with the service “Even when they give you the money back ”, and it is
seen as a betrayal of one's efforts and fantasies, leading to negative feel-
ings toward the agency. These feelings are generalized to all agencies,
and when the ‘word of mouth ’effect is considered, we can see how
the travel agency image is surrounded by an aura of rejection and
deception.
It is noteworthy that there is no clear perception of the usefulness of
the travel agency, although its usefulness is sometimes recognized.
“There's no option but to use them ”. There is a widespread opinion
that “they don't offer you all the possible alternatives, and the type of
contract and the small print are a trick the agency uses to get out of its
responsibilities ”. Moreover, many users prefer to ignore the services of
an agency, in order to not lose what they value most: the desire for plea-
sure, freedom and independence. Therefore, they seek freedom of
movement, spontaneity and improvisation. “You learn much more if
you travel without an agency ”,“In Internet you get what you want ”,
and these aspects can be satis ﬁed better by national tourist of ﬁces, the
Internet, and directly by the service providers. Another group of cus-
tomers that does not use the travel agency is de ﬁned by the types of
trips they make: visits to family and friends or to uncomplicated desti-
nations within their own country or a neighboring one, which are
easy to organize.
In terms of the evaluation of the service characteristics, the cus-
tomers' technical knowledge about the services offered by the agency
is quite limited. Moreover, they blame this situation on the travel agen-
cy, which gives them insuf ﬁcient, useless or irrelevant information, with
the agency's attitude toward information not being the most appropri-
ate. One complaint is that “brochures are not the same as information ”
because, while necessary, they are very thick and low quality. “I don't
want loads of brochures because I don't have to know more than they
do in order for them to help me ”. Only rarely do users receive personal-
ized information about the customs or gastronomy of the holiday destina-
tion. The customer wants to be listened to and understood, and receive
detailed information with friendly treatment by the travel agency.
Finally, the customers made some comments about various aspects
of the agency. In general, they are satis ﬁed with the location of agencies
because of their large number, and they value some speci ﬁca t t r a c t i o n
that draws them to the agency. They also mention that it is important
that their travel and holiday habits are considered. The knowledge of
the contact person at the agency, rather than the size of the agency, isthe main element. In any case, the large agencies are associated with
brand and seriousness, distance and coldness. On the other hand,
small agencies are seen, especially by young people, as being more
human, accessible and specialized, and as offering more illusion. With
regard to technical quality, the technical knowledge of the agency itself
and its employees and technical solutions are negatively evaluated,
whereas technology is assessed positively. In relation to functional qual-
ity, personalized attention, accessibility, and attitude are not evaluated
positively, but staff behavior is adequate. The travel agent, who has
the dual role of technical management and relations management, is
particularly weak in the latter factor. “It seems they are not interested
in keeping their present customers ”.
With regard to the image of the agency and its brands, the general
impression is that all agencies are the same, with very little brand
image. Although it is true that users prefer a well-known agency, they
describe them as mercantilist, and as not being close to the user, with
the contact person maintaining the relationship and receiving the
trust of the user. Users associate travel agencies with banks (mercantil-
ist, small print, and power), social security (queues, long waits, bad ser-
vice) and supermarkets (you are buying rather than the agency selling).
The users' ideal image contemplates such aspects as “They should be
specialists in you, human quality, loyalty, comprehensiveness, fairness,
personalization, 24-hour service, protection and professionalism ”.103 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

In conclusion, it can be said that, in the purchase process, there is a
strong initial impulse to seek one's desires and grati ﬁcation, with an at-
traction to hedonistic pleasure, although a signi ﬁcant initial barrier is
price. Thus, there are two opposing stimuli leading to the search for in-
formation that justify the decision and even reinforce and rationalize it
once it has been made.
4.3. Sector trends as expressed by professionals and experts
The comments of the experts and travel agency managers, based on
their knowledge of the sector and the analysis of the customer com-
ments in the previous sections, allow a prediction to be made about se-
ries of trends in the sector in the next few years. In general, the sector's
future is perceived as dif ﬁcult, with many changes within an evolution-
ary adaptation, requiring traditional travel agencies to make changes in
their management and actions in order to be able to compete success-
fully in the market. The following section presents the 14 most signi ﬁ-
cant trends:
(1) A general increase in competitive pressure, which is basically due
to factors such as the growth in the size of large tourism groups,
the entry of companies from outside the tourist sector (banks,
hypermarkets, insurance companies) that aim to optimize their
infrastructure and customer portfolios, the intensi ﬁcation of di-
rect customer contact, which will be maintained by many tour-
ism product supply companies offering the customer special
services at a lower cost to the company than the travel agency
commission, a wide range of alternatives to the traditional travel
agency (e-intermediaries, Internet, GDS changes, etc.) that are
still in the process of consolidation, but involve signi ﬁcant chang-
es in the sector. This leads to a marked competition in prices that
is basically due to the low differentiation in the sector.
(2) Greater market concentration and a reduction in the number of
travel agency branches, with large travel agency groups consid-
ering their business minimum at a national level in order to becompetitive. This means that the large chains will enjoy previ-
ously unknown negotiating power in the market. Moreover,
these large groups bene ﬁt from economies of scale that give
them a considerable competitive advantage over independent
agencies. Finally, the entrance of foreign capital into the sector
is quite likely. This will presumably occur through the takeover
of large national chains that will form part of large multinational
groups.
(3) Associations of independent agencies and specialization will be-
come more common. For example, the organization Business
Travel Contractors has been working for years in the United States
to pressure service providers, especially airlines, to obtain better
negotiating conditions. In Europe, GEBTA is an association for
corporate travel agencies that already has signi ﬁcant weight in
the sector. There will also be greater specialization among inde-
pendent agencies focusing on market niches.
(4) Lower margins and business pro ﬁtability, mainly due to two fac-
tors: (1) the lowering, or even total elimination in some cases, of
commissions paid by the supply companies, and (2) the reduc-
tion in the average price of tourist packages, along with the in-
crease in discounted last-minute sales, will lead to a drop in
income per reservation.
(5) Regulation that is less restrictive, but more protective of the cus-
tomer. Current Spanish travel agency regulations impose signi ﬁ-
cant entry barriers in the sector, although the trend is toward
greater deregulation. Another aspect that is on the increase is
the protection of the customer, with this responsibility falling
on the travel agency and the supplier.
(6) Expansion of services provided via BSP ( Billing & Settlement Plan )
and GDSs, which will form a wide, integrated network of connec-
tions and systems among sector companies.(7) Travel agents will become true specialists and travel consultants,
receiving continuous training and improving their knowledge.
Companies will try to avoid high staff turnover and loss of talent.
It is worth noting that there is a high turnover of agents, compa-
nies devote little effort to training, salaries are low, and em-
ployees have limited knowledge of the new technologies and
are saturated with information from suppliers that they are un-able to assimilate.
(8) Changes in customers, where, apart from those identi ﬁed in the
group sessions, the managers and experts have added that the
new consumers are multi-consumers who have a greater envi-
ronmental awareness and are accustomed to handling the new
technologies. Moreover, while the seasonal character of the hol-
idays in Spain continues to be quite marked, the tendency seems
to denote a steady but slow change to year-round holidays.
(9) The expansion of the so-called “travel hypermarkets ”.T h em a i n
tourism groups will develop these large centers in the city out-
skirts, where they will offer a wide range of services 7 days a
week, free parking, etc. It is estimated that each of these centers
can attain the business turnover of 15 traditional agencies.
Some years ago, groups like Airtours, with its Holidayworld cen-
ters, and First Choice, with Holiday Hypermarkets, initiated this
concept outside of Spain.
(10) The development of new technologies. Travel agencies have
made large investments in computerized reservations systems,
CRM, marketing, etc., which will give them better knowledge
about the customer. TICs enhance the possibilities of communi-
cation with the customer through multiple devices. The new
technologies allow quick, economical access to the information,
while also bringing the agency closer to the customer and the
supplier.
(11) The spread of direct sales. This can be seen clearly in the cam-
paigns run by many companies, where the customer is urged to
contact the supply company directly. This will oblige travel agen-
cies to act as wholesalers, creating products and selling them di-
rectly to the customer, as well as specializing in speci ﬁc
segments or niches.
(12) New physical layout of the agencies. The zones of back of ﬁce, re-
ception, personal consultancy service, the computerized services
area, rest area with product demonstrations, etc. will be separate.Processes will be redesigned to optimize space while best meet-
ing customer needs.
(13) More power to the customer and social nets that allow them to
communicate and in ﬂuence other travelers. Internet 2.0 means,
in many cases, that customers become the most reliable informa-
tion source for other customers.
(14) Rise in sales of new products and new types of vacations, as well
as a large number of niche markets. Some relatively new prod-
ucts maintain their sharp increase: cruises, nature-rural, etc.
New circumstances, such as petrol prices, give rise to new types
of vacations, with short haul destinations, all inclusive packets,
etc. becoming more popular. Finally, there are a lot of niche mar-
kets (socially responsible trips in nature and the destination,
learning vacations, etc.) growing in the market.
4.4. Strategies recommended for the sector by managers and experts
Finally, after analyzing the conclusions of the group sessions and the
identi ﬁed trends, the different managers and experts made a series of
recommendations for future strategies for success to be undertaken by
Spanish travel agencies. The following is a presentation of the 23 pro-
posals grouped into marketing-related actions and actions addressing
the organizational and management structure.
1. Actions focused on marketing.104 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

(1) Make each different market segment aware of the advantages the
travel agency can offer because the public is often completely un-
aware of them. Agencies must develop a stronger market ap-
proach, publicizing the added value they give the customer, and
actively using public relations tools.
(2) Strengthen brand awareness, so that the user is truly a customer of
the agency, and not of the tour operator or company providing theproduct, or even of a speci ﬁc employee of the agency, due to the
risk of staff changes. The customer decides to go to a certain agen-
cy based on the value received and the effort made, and the agency
brand should make a signi ﬁcant contribution to this. This action
will require reliable processes that guarantee the standard quality
of the service provided.
(3) The independent agencies should mention their independence to
the user and ensure that the customer knows the characteristics of
their personal advice service, with no third-party interests, be-
cause they do not belong to any group or tour operator, which en-
ables them to act more objectively. In turn, it would be
appropriate for them to be integrated into purchase groups,
which would allow them to improve their margins.
(4) Integrate into the distribution system service elements that con-
sider customers' psychological factors that may have some effect,
such as patriotism and a feeling toward local or regional compa-
nies that may divert consumers to speci ﬁc agencies and products
(a common example is ﬂag-carrier airlines).
(5) Exploit the new technologies, especially in the case of indepen-
dent travel agencies. It should be emphasized that investments
in technology must be made with caution, and only when the
smooth running and pro ﬁtability of the technology have been
proven. TICs may also help the agency to systemize processes by
reducing paperwork and improving the management of customer
and supplier information, due to the use of multiple communica-
tion devices. In no case must the intensive use of technology pro-
duce coldness and insecurity for the customer; quite the contrary,
it must complement human contact and enhance the warmth and
trust contributed by the human touch. Develop regular, timely,
and quick communication processes with customers, with sup-
port from alliances with other ﬁrms if necessary; this will enable
agencies to obtain better knowledge about their customers. In
this regard, it would be suitable for agencies to develop more in-novative window-dressing and merchandising, as well as im-
provements in CRM, and especially in Internet 2.0, with
newsletters, blogs, etc.
(6) Develop better social relations with the immediate environment,
for example, by becoming the local, village or club travel agency,
with a portfolio of members, friends, acquaintances and lifelong
customers.
(7) Develop agreements with companies (that may already be corpo-
rate customers of the travel agency) to capture their employees'
holiday business by making special offers, or even personalized of-
fers, for the speci ﬁc periods when each employee takes his/her
holiday.
(8) Undertake more aggressive and creative sales actions. Imagination
and the development of actions not based on price have still not
made an appearance in the sector. In simple terms, it is not neces-
sary to put a price on every element in the shop window. More-
over, the use and optimization of yield management (both by
the travel agency and the supplier) can help to improve the man-
agement of discounts, rappels and offers. Travel agencies should
pay more attention to the customer's overall sacri ﬁce (not only
the price) and the value, services and experience received in
compensation.
(9) Charge the customer transparent and fair management fees. These
rates charged per operation or service should be based on the con-
tribution of real added value, such as information, consultations,
offers or any other added service.( 1 0 ) R e i n f o r c et h es a l eo fm o r ep r o ﬁtable products (e.g., cruises)
and other related products, such as travel insurance, guide-
books, or speci ﬁc material, which can make additional pro ﬁt
for the agency. On the other hand, increasing the number of
services or functions the agency currently provides may also
be a valid alternative.
(11) Obtain better performance in peak season: Christmas, Easter,
summer and bank-holiday weekends. These periods are some-
times “ignored ”because high activity is guaranteed, but agencies
do not achieve the results they could with optimum management.
(12) Design shop and point-of-sale layouts that facilitate the product
sales process, with comfort for the agent and customer, andwork processes integrated into the physical layout of the furnish-
ings and other equipment. Thus, an agent should not have to get
up from his/her seat for any reason, and the customer should
not have to lean forward to see the agent's computer screen.
(13) Become true specialists and travel consultants rather than provid-
ing travel at the customer's request. This makes it necessary to
have thorough knowledge about one's products. It must be em-
phasized that being a travel consultant is not the same thing as
being a travel agent. It has to do with transmitting better quality
information and, above all, keeping one's promises and showing
interest in the customer. The consultant must design a travel ex-
perience that is completely tailored to the needs of the customer.
(14) Improve the employees' training in attitude and aptitude because
some aspects, such as sales techniques, reservations system man-
agement (Amadeus), and telephone assistance techniques, are
crucial to the agency. The employees represent the image of the
agency and, therefore, are one of its most valuable assets.
(15) Reinforce the customer relations and contacts service when the
customer is highly involved: the level of customer involvement
depends on the nature of the product purchased (it is not the
same for long-haul holidays as it is for a simple airline ticket),
the circumstances of the customer (e.g., a honeymoon), and the
personality of the customer. In low involvement situations, how-
ever, quick, non-intensive, homogenized service may be suf ﬁcient.
In this case, automation is an interesting solution (e.g., automatic
dispensers) because the customer is not willing to pay a service
fee for these services, and the agency can avoid repetitive actions.
In high involvement situations, it is advisable to promote differen-tiation through relations with the customer (e.g., professionalism,
availability, follow-up), structuring of the service (e.g., accessibili-
ty, efﬁciency, speed), and offering highly specialized own-brand
products adapted to the customer, etc.
(16) Specialize, either in the product (e.g., cruises, adventure, a speci ﬁc
destination), the market (corporate, singles, families) or both (ad-
ventures for young people), in order to provide better customer
attention. In the case of large agencies, the specialist department
must be intensi ﬁed, with specialists for each product and market.
It is important to choose the right customers, focusing on those
who generate high sales turnover with adequate pro ﬁtability
and consistent loyalty levels.
2. Actions focused on the organizational and management structure.
(17) Increase size to obtain economies of scale in purchases, image,
training and logistics. Growth can be achieved through expansion,
takeover, merger, franchising, associations or vertical
development.
(18) Cut operating and structure costs. It is necessary to develop cost
accounting and reduce some costs, such as communications, mes-
sengers, etc. The application of other actions, such as reducing
credit card charges in favor of electronic payment, should also be
considered.
(19) Increase sales per employee. Since employees represent one of the
agency's main costs, agencies should keep employees from spend-
ing time on administrative tasks that do not add value to the cus-
tomer, so that they can devote time to sales.105 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

(20) Develop better management of products and stocks, with better
planning and designing of internal processes. In many cases, it is
necessary to create own-brand products that allow the agency to
operate with interesting margins.
(21) Concentrate sales on the most pro ﬁtable suppliers, based on the
commissions offered and discounts for purchase volume. In return
for these higher pro ﬁts, agencies give preferential treatment and
support to the products offered by those suppliers. Strengthen col-
laboration with preferred suppliers, so that they provide more
brochures, front-page covers on the agency's catalogues, ﬁnancial
contributions for advertising, etc., which facilitate the operating
process or improve commercial assistance.
(22) Charge the supply companies and tourist destinations a ﬁxed
amount of money for the monthly display of their brochures and
promotional material, with an extra charge for eye-level display
or shop-window space. Obviously, the commissions paid by
these companies would be lower, but agencies would be able to
convert part of their variable incomes into ﬁxed incomes.
(23) Sign exclusive distribution contracts with small, specialist supply
companies and tour operators that do not have good opportunities
in the large travel agency chains.
5. Conclusions and implications
Given the dif ﬁcult situation that the Spanish travel agency industry
is currently facing ( Fuentes & Alvarez-Suarez, 2012 ), we decided to
carry out a qualitative study to identify possible strategies for success
in this sector. Initially, there was an in-depth analysis using focus groups
toﬁnd out the perceptions of the main segments of the agency,
distinguishing the holiday customer from the corporate customer.
Then, the main trends in the sector were identi ﬁed through in-depth in-
terviews with managers and experts; after reaching agreement about
these trends, recommended strategies for action in the travel agency
sector in Spain were established. This section highlights the most note-
worthy conclusions of the study, as well as some research streams thatcould be of interest to the travel agency sector in the future.
The focus groups revealed various internal aspects of customers re-
lated to their motivations during the relationship with the travel agen-
cy. Thus, it can be said that the customer seeks higher quality and a
better quality/price relationship, as well as a wider variety of products
and services, more assistance in different aspects, trust, more informa-
tion, convenience, greater security, and speed. The desired service is
characterized by high attention, sensitivity, adaptability, trust, security
andﬂexibility, with the human aspect being highly valued. Travel agen-
cies are better perceived in their technical management role than in
their management of relations with customers. In the case of both seg-
ments (corporate and holiday), while the open and more conscious de-
bate had a more positive character, the underlying, subconscious debate
was more negative, with mention of fear, insecurity and mistrust. More-
over, customers do not have a clear perception of the usefulness of trav-
el agencies, although this usefulness is sometimes recognized. Finally,
and regarding the image of the agency and its brands, there is a gener-
alized impression that all agencies are the same, with little brand
image, whereas the brands of the products offered have a prominent
role.
The following differences between the two segments stand out. The
corporate segment displays a rational, objective, calculating component
that is neither emotional nor impulsive: they seek service and are risk-
averse, and so they are not interested in changing agencies. On the other
hand, the holiday customer displays a much more emotional motiva-
tional approach to the service, where the need that leads to the wish
can be strongly pleasure-based, but also frustrating, due to the econom-
ic and emotional investment. The stimulus for this segment is intense
and involves a search for pleasure, and the elements of enjoyment,
play, fantasy, possession, knowledge, and sense of journey play a signif-
icant part. Therefore, there are two contrasting stimuli: a strong initialimpulse to seek one's desires and grati ﬁcation, while price is a signi ﬁ-
cant initial barrier. Price is another differentiating element. The corpo-
rate customer's purchase decision originates in established
relationships, ﬁrst with the person and then with the agency, then in
speci ﬁc offers by the agency or for its products, and ﬁnally in the
price. By contrast, the holiday customer, especially the elderly and
younger segments, attach much more importance to price. Other differ-entiating factors have to do with the evaluation of service attributes by
both segments, holiday and corporate. Thus, location is more important
to the holiday customer, while size and degree of specialization aremore important to the corporate customer.
Moreover, based on their knowledge of the sector and the analysis of
the results of the focus groups, the experts and managers interviewed
identi ﬁed 14 principal trends that will affect the sector: a general in-
crease in competitive pressure, greater market concentration, and a re-
duction in the number of travel agency branches; associations of
independent agencies and specialization will become more common;
lower margins and business pro ﬁtability; regulation will become less
restrictive, but more protective of the customer; expansion of services
provided via BSP and GDS; travel agents will become true specialists
and travel consultants; changes in customers and new behaviors; the
expansion of the so-called “travel hypermarkets ”; the development of
new technologies; the spread of direct sales; new physical layout of
the agencies; more power for the customer and social nets that allow
them to communicate and in ﬂuence other travelers (Internet 2.0);
and an increase in sales of new products and new types of vacations,
as well as a high number of niche markets.
The experts and managers also made a series of recommendations
about generic strategies and actions to be undertaken by travel agencies
in Spain. These 23 strategies fall into two large categories, (1) actions fo-
cused on marketing: make each different market segment aware of the
advantages that the travel agency can offer; strengthen brand aware-
ness; the independent agencies should mention their independence to
the user; integrate service elements into the distribution system that
consider any of their customers' psychological factors; exploit the new
technologies; develop better social relations with the immediate envi-
ronment; develop agreements with companies to capture their em-
ployees' holiday business; engage in more aggressive and creative
sales actions; charge the customers transparent and fair management
fees; reinforce the sale of more pro ﬁtable products and other related
products; obtain better performance during the peak season; design
shop and point-of-sale layouts that facilitate the product sales process,
with comfort for the agent and customer; become true specialists and
travel consultants rather than providing travel at the customer's re-
quest; improve the employees' training in attitude and aptitude; rein-
force the customer relations and contact service where the customer
is highly involved; specialize, either in the product, the market or
both; and (2) actions focused on the organizational structure and as-
pects of management: increase size to obtain economies of scale; cut
operating and structure costs; Increase sales per employee; develop
better management of products and stocks, with better planning and
design of internal processes; concentrate sales on the most pro ﬁtable
suppliers; charge supply companies and tourist destinations a ﬁxed
amount of money for the monthly display of their brochures and pro-
motion material; sign exclusive distribution contracts with small, spe-
cialist operators.
Better knowledge about the travel agency customer in Spain, in ad-
dition to identifying the main trends affecting the sector in the future,
adds important and useful information for managers of travel agencies
to use to make better decisions. Nevertheless, the different strategies
proposed are intended to offer a generic orientation to the industry.
Finally, there are many interesting aspects of customer behavior and
perceptions that have come to light during this research that require
further study before suitable strategies for travel agencies can be de-
ﬁned in greater detail in the future. There is a need for more research
in the different regions to provide managers with better knowledge106 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

about the market that can help them in developing successful strategies.
Some of these aspects are: (1) a feeling of distance from their group and
usual circle that creates isolation in corporate customers when travel-
ling; (2) the importance of both the psychological and chronological as-
pects of the time component for the business customer; (3) the role of
travel agents in their relationship with the customer; (4) the feelings
of a large number of non-users who do not use travel agency servicesin order to maintain freedom and independence; (5) the fact that
many customers associate new technologies with coldness and insecu-
rity, whereas human contact is associated with warmth and trust;
and (6) the need to differentiate the previously mentioned aspects
across regions. Research should help to integrate these customer as-
pects with future trends in order to propose speci ﬁca n dp r a c t i c a l
actions.
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Teresa Aguiar-Quintana , Ph.D. in Business Administration at
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria University, Spain. She is an Asso-ciate Professor in Tourism Management of the Institute of
Tourism and Economic Sustainable Development (TIDES) at
the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. She spent
10 years in industry prior to his return to academia. Her re-
search focuses on Tourism and Hospitality Marketing andManagement. In Particular: service recovery, service quality
and leadership in hospitality organizations. She has also con-
tributed to a wide range of research projects and she has
written diverse books and international papers.107 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

Sergio Moreno-Gil , Ph.D. in Business Administration at Las
Palmas de Gran Canaria University, Spain. Director of Institu-tional Relations UNESCO Chair of Tourism Planning and Sus-
tainable Development. ULPGC. Director of marketing and
destination development at TIDES Tourism and Sustainable
Development Institute. In the past, he has worked for Hilton
Hotels in Germany, TUI Group Spain, in the quality depart-ment, and as a visiting researcher at World Tourism Research
Centre (UoC –Canada). He has written more than 20 books
and international papers.
Patricia Picazo-Peral , is a postdoctoral researcher at Tour-
ism and Sustainable Development Institute (TIDES). Univer-sity of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. She holds a PhD degree in
Economics, Business and Tourism, a Master degree in tour-
ism business administration and a Bachelor's degree in Tour-
ism from University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. She has
also contributed to a wide range of research projects andshe has written diverse book chapters and international pa-
pers. Her research focuses on Tourism and Hospitality Mar-
keting and Tourism Distribution Channels. In particular:
Projected Image, destination and Accommodation image
and segmentation.108 T.A.- Quintana et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 98 –108

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