<p>Prasanna R is heading to Rajasthan for a 10-day holiday with his family on Saturday. The IT professional from Whitefield opted for an end-to-end travel package rather than planning the itinerary by himself. Several factors influenced his decision. He has no local contacts in Rajasthan, and his aged parents are accompanying him. “It was confusing to pick one from various desert safari options, which we were keen on doing. I was pressed for time,” shares the 40-year-old.</p>.<p>It was his first time engaging a travel agency and he felt the price difference between the package and planning the trip himself was not significant.</p>.<p>Contrary to popular belief, city-based travel agencies haven’t become irrelevant. They say they are experiencing steady business despite stiff competition from online trip aggregators and young travellers who prefer DIY bookings. Most of their clients are above 35, couples with young children, joint families and elders (looking for pilgrimages and guided tours). Honeymoon packages continue to be in demand.</p>.<p>“Bookings have slightly dropped over time, but the ticket size has gone up. So it evens out,” says Ranjini Nambiar, CEO of Whitefield-based Footloose Yatra Consultants. About 90% of her clients are senior executives and elders.</p>.<p><strong>Hassle-free trips</strong></p>.<p>HR consultant Geetha Rajan, who lives near Thippasandra, often travels internationally with her husband. Her children offer to make travel arrangements for her yet she opts for tour operators. The 57-year-old wants to travel peacefully with the confidence that everything from her visa, city permits and tickets to sightseeing points, airport pick-up, stay, transportation, and travel guide is taken care of.</p>.<p>Software engineer Pallavi G K says it is a “headache” to plan a long trip to an unfamiliar place by oneself, and as one grows older, patience wears thin too. She is in her 40s. “Last year, we went to Kashmir via a tour operator because of security concerns. This year, I repeated that with Himachal Pradesh because my teenage daughter and I were travelling without a male companion. I’m not sure if we could have travelled stress-free on our own,” says the north Bengaluru resident.</p>.<p>She is drawn to personalised service and greater accountability that offline travel agents bring with their network of local vendors. She recounts how a self-booked trip to Hong Kong in 2016 had not lived up to expectations. “Our accommodation did not look half as good as it did in online photos. Who could we complain to? Customer care?” she asks.</p>.<p>Md Imran of Prestige Holidays Tours and Travel, Residency Road, talks about a growing dissatisfaction with online hotel bookings. “Many people call us up for urgent help. When they reach the hotel that they have reservations for they are told there are no rooms available!” he says. </p>.<p><strong>Scale v/s loyalty</strong></p>.<p>Interest in travel has increased as more countries become visa-free or offer visas on arrival. Tour agencies are benefitting from this shift, says Rajath, a representative of Global Travel Chariot, Basavanagudi. “We face more competition from local tour operators than online aggregators. They have grown in number. They are offering high discounts, and ‘0% interest EMIs’ to woo customers,” he says.</p>.<p>It’s also common for them to upgrade the hotel of clients from say a two-star to a three-star unasked, or buy souvenirs, such as Mysore Pak, on their behalf. “We go the extra mile to please customers. Online aggregators are operating on scale, while we operate on trust, retention and word of mouth,” says Imran.</p>.<p>He says there is no dearth of bookings because they also offer sub-services like cab rides, or take orders from online aggregators.</p>.<p><strong>Evolution</strong></p>.<p>To stay relevant, Ranjini posts about new destinations on social media, sends out visually appealing digital itineraries on request, and makes sure her small team resolves client queries in a matter of hours. “Earlier, we could take a day to respond,” she recalls.</p>.<p>Rajath says having a website is a must, as also emails and WhatsApp to broadcast travel offers to their customer base. “We also work around itineraries generated by ChatGPT. People send that across often,” he says.</p>
<p>Prasanna R is heading to Rajasthan for a 10-day holiday with his family on Saturday. The IT professional from Whitefield opted for an end-to-end travel package rather than planning the itinerary by himself. Several factors influenced his decision. He has no local contacts in Rajasthan, and his aged parents are accompanying him. “It was confusing to pick one from various desert safari options, which we were keen on doing. I was pressed for time,” shares the 40-year-old.</p>.<p>It was his first time engaging a travel agency and he felt the price difference between the package and planning the trip himself was not significant.</p>.<p>Contrary to popular belief, city-based travel agencies haven’t become irrelevant. They say they are experiencing steady business despite stiff competition from online trip aggregators and young travellers who prefer DIY bookings. Most of their clients are above 35, couples with young children, joint families and elders (looking for pilgrimages and guided tours). Honeymoon packages continue to be in demand.</p>.<p>“Bookings have slightly dropped over time, but the ticket size has gone up. So it evens out,” says Ranjini Nambiar, CEO of Whitefield-based Footloose Yatra Consultants. About 90% of her clients are senior executives and elders.</p>.<p><strong>Hassle-free trips</strong></p>.<p>HR consultant Geetha Rajan, who lives near Thippasandra, often travels internationally with her husband. Her children offer to make travel arrangements for her yet she opts for tour operators. The 57-year-old wants to travel peacefully with the confidence that everything from her visa, city permits and tickets to sightseeing points, airport pick-up, stay, transportation, and travel guide is taken care of.</p>.<p>Software engineer Pallavi G K says it is a “headache” to plan a long trip to an unfamiliar place by oneself, and as one grows older, patience wears thin too. She is in her 40s. “Last year, we went to Kashmir via a tour operator because of security concerns. This year, I repeated that with Himachal Pradesh because my teenage daughter and I were travelling without a male companion. I’m not sure if we could have travelled stress-free on our own,” says the north Bengaluru resident.</p>.<p>She is drawn to personalised service and greater accountability that offline travel agents bring with their network of local vendors. She recounts how a self-booked trip to Hong Kong in 2016 had not lived up to expectations. “Our accommodation did not look half as good as it did in online photos. Who could we complain to? Customer care?” she asks.</p>.<p>Md Imran of Prestige Holidays Tours and Travel, Residency Road, talks about a growing dissatisfaction with online hotel bookings. “Many people call us up for urgent help. When they reach the hotel that they have reservations for they are told there are no rooms available!” he says. </p>.<p><strong>Scale v/s loyalty</strong></p>.<p>Interest in travel has increased as more countries become visa-free or offer visas on arrival. Tour agencies are benefitting from this shift, says Rajath, a representative of Global Travel Chariot, Basavanagudi. “We face more competition from local tour operators than online aggregators. They have grown in number. They are offering high discounts, and ‘0% interest EMIs’ to woo customers,” he says.</p>.<p>It’s also common for them to upgrade the hotel of clients from say a two-star to a three-star unasked, or buy souvenirs, such as Mysore Pak, on their behalf. “We go the extra mile to please customers. Online aggregators are operating on scale, while we operate on trust, retention and word of mouth,” says Imran.</p>.<p>He says there is no dearth of bookings because they also offer sub-services like cab rides, or take orders from online aggregators.</p>.<p><strong>Evolution</strong></p>.<p>To stay relevant, Ranjini posts about new destinations on social media, sends out visually appealing digital itineraries on request, and makes sure her small team resolves client queries in a matter of hours. “Earlier, we could take a day to respond,” she recalls.</p>.<p>Rajath says having a website is a must, as also emails and WhatsApp to broadcast travel offers to their customer base. “We also work around itineraries generated by ChatGPT. People send that across often,” he says.</p>