Qld: Travel agency group goes high tech to stay relevant
By Dale Paget
GOLD COAST, Aug 23 AAP - Australia's largest travel agency group will introduce 24-hourATM style ticketing machines and refurbish hundreds of travel centres to make them moreuser friendly.
Announcing the new marketing strategy at the Travelworld annual conference on the GoldCoast today, Jetset Travelworld chief executive Bob Sparks said the changes were neededto maintain the relevancy of travel agencies.
"If we continued to do business the way it was done we don't deserve to be relevant,"
said Mr Sparks.
"Consumer habits are changing. The younger generation is far more interested in technologyand so forth and we've got to be able to be ready for that."
Selected travel centres will be fitted with ticketing terminals similar to bank ATMs.
"We see ourselves being able to trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week shortly byputting machines through the window of the centre like the banks did," Mr Sparks said.
"It's an extension of what you can do now in terms of the Internet but we will makethis available to them through the centres."
Jetset Travelworld has a network of more than 700 centres.
The company's 300 Travelworld agencies will be the first to undergo the facelift. Chairsand desks will be replaced by lounges, public computer screens, wall displays and travelproducts including books, videos and accessories.
"Travel retailing has lagged behind all other retail centres by the extent of threedecades," said Mr Sparks.
"They are like processing centres, they are not really retailing centres. We are simplyembracing a more modern approach to retailing."
AAP dp/sc/mg/de
KEYWORD: TRAVEL
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