Service in Computer Age

A 12-year-old with a computer, modem, the right telephone number and mom’s charge card can book round-trip tickets for two to Aruba in minutes without calling a travel agent.

But the home computer and on-line services like Compuserve or Prodigy haven’t replaced travel agents. If the future is in interactive television, travel agents say they’ll need to focus even more on providing a service that travelers want and trust.

“We have to provide some level of service they can’t get from a wired box,” Travis Tanner, president of Carlson Travel Network, one of the country’s largest agency chains, said in a recent speech to travel executives.

Whether it’s a travel channel that allows viewers to call up video of a potential vacation spot and make reservations, or an on-screen chat with the travel agent, the industry is hoping to use the technology.

“The same kind of thing happened when (computerized reservation systems) came in. People said (travelers) are going to bypass us, but it made us grow,” said Earlene Causey, head of the American Society of Travel Agents and owner of VIP Travel Agency of Baytown, Tex.

The big chains are probably in the best position to exploit the new technology. Smaller agencies such as Causey’s need to pull together into groups that can make their services available on interactive systems.

“Maybe 10 years from now, there will be less brick and mortar and we’ll join with clients on interactive television,” she said.