Bon Voyage!

Travel agents describe their industry as a very competitive business in which technology can help give them an edge. Early in this decade, some agents got an edge by acquiring computers, which allowed quick access to flight schedules. Today, however, computers are a basic tool of the trade. “If you don’t own a computer, you can’t survive,” said Lisa Moore, owner of San Diego-based North Park Travel.

Now some agencies have videocassette libraries and a screening room to show tapes of vacation spots. “It gives the customer a chance to see a place before deciding on a visit,” said Penelope J. von Kalinowski, president of Los Angeles-based Windsor Travel.

And agents are buying machines that produce boarding passes, which assure seat assignments. Similarly, some agents will soon arrange access to UltraSwitch, an electronic hotel booking system that eliminates the need for telephone reservations.

Some technology is designed for those who want to bypass agents. With Hotelticket, a computerized booking system, a hotel guest can purchase an airline ticket by calling a central reservation clerk in Miami through an 800 toll-free number. After the clerk checks the caller’s credit, a machine at the caller’s hotel prints out the appropriate airline ticket and boarding pass.

On another technological front, Southwest Airlines pioneered the development of a mechanical ticket vendor. The Dallas-based carrier sells tickets through automated teller machines in convenience stores in Texas and Louisiana.

However, agents do not think that the machines are a serious threat. Said Susan Tanzman Kaplan, co-owner of Los Angeles-based Martin’s Travel & Tours: “Agents will always be concerned about new competition. . . . But if someone wants expertise, they go to a full-service agent.”

Agents have traditionally helped people prepare for trips abroad, but California agencies can boost revenue by handling accommodations and domestic travel arrangements for foreign visitors, according to Margaret Jones, who owns an Anaheim-based agency affiliated with Ask Mr. Foster.

Jones is a director for the American Society of Travel Agents and chairs an ASTA committee on “receptive services.” ASTA recently sent a survey to about 22,000 agents nationwide to determine how many agencies were involved in such services. Only about 250 agencies responded to the survey, she said. “There’s so much potential in receptive services, but most of us are concentrating on sending people out of the country.”