“Before planning your next trip, take a small leap of faith and entrust your travel plans, finite budget and stress levels to a human being who understands the nuances of human behaviour and knows how to ask the right questions in order to elicit the right information. In other words — ask your local travel agent!” That’s the concluding message of a new no-punches-pulled 12-page brochure produced by the Travel Centres consortium. 
The introduction to ‘Why You Need a Travel Agent!’ states:
“Think that the Internet is the greatest thing since sliced bread or that the best deals can only be found online? There are numerous reasons why the ‘smart money’ continues to favour the travel agent.
“In the pages that follow, find out why:
- You are much more likely to pay extra for your travel purchases when you use certain travel web sites, based on the computer hardware you use.
- You cannot always trust the recommendations you read online. The Internet will only give you the right answers if you ask it the right questions.
- Using a good travel agent can save you money most of the time.
- You enjoy little or no financial protection when you book directly with many suppliers, such as airlines, hotels, car rental operators and transfer companies.”
The author, Dominic Burke, can be contacted at [email protected]
