Introduction
An online travel agency (OTA) is an online or web-based platform that provides consumers with facilities for browsing and booking hotels, transportation, lodging, restaurants, experiences, flights, cars, tours, cruises, etc.
What is Online Travel Agency?
Online travel agencies provide a straightforward way for travelers to find places and activities to do in the area they are visiting. These agencies are a summarized way for the tour operators to attract customers in way of providing several bookings and other facilities as well.
How do Online Travel Agencies work?
The work of travel agencies is primarily done by travel agents. Travel agents are the gold coin in travel agencies and the whole work revolves around their performance.
Travel agencies aim to provide basic facilities to people at affordable packages which the consumers find cheap and attractive.
Travel Agencies Work on Two Models:
1. MERCHANT MODEL- merchant model works in a manner in which hotels sell their room to the OTA’S at a cheaper rate and then these OTA’S sell it t the consumers with the best price available.
2. AGENCY MODEL- in this model the OTA’S receives a commission from the hotel and the hotel directly charges the full price from the customers. This avoids the long process and makes the work easier for all i.e. OTA, hotel and customers.
Advantages of Online Travel Agencies:
1. It helps in expanding the reach as the OTA’s are popular and hence provide the tour operators to reach more travelers.
2. By getting signed up or getting in touch with OTA’s one can simply attract a larger audience as these OTA’s spend a lot of money in their advertising which will indirectly help the clients get a better audience through these agencies.
3. Impartial reviews on online travel websites may give new customers the confidence to book. Consumers feel more secure using an OTA they are familiar with than booking directly with an individual operator or website as it gives them the confidence to deal with the familiar OTA.
Disadvantages of Online Travel Agencies:
1. Extra cost some OTA’s generally charge a high commission on every sale which makes the company incurs a high charge.
2. OTA’s may put some restrictions on the companies, which makes it difficult for them to trade freely and get through the work in a free manner.
3. Using OTA’s generally does not reduce the burden because even being under the OTA’s one has to maintain its own website and marketing channel for proper work.
4. Getting registered under OTA’s increases the work load as the company has to manage too many things then.
Why do you need an Online Travel Agency?
Working with an Online Travel Agency (OTA) not only provides with the scope of reaching more travelers globally but it also allows you to engage them when they’re researching, planning and booking their next trip. It helps them to discover how they work, what tools they offer and to choose the right one for your business.
How to Grow an Online Travel Agency (OTA) Business?
OTA’s generally earn money by charging commission from the tour operator. It is easy for bigger partners to do so as they can negotiate a better price because of their size but small firms can end up losing money as the commission charged by OTA’s is high.
The basic ways of increasing the revenue of online travel agencies are:
1. Getting engaged with the people, and getting to know their needs will help the agencies best to stand in the market.
2. It also requires the agency to be responsive and always available whenever the customers want. Availability is a must because if there’ll be no one available then the customer will simply shift to some other agencies.
3. The OTA’s need to engage themselves best with social media as social media acts as the interagency between the OTAs and the customers.
Online Travel Agency in India
The tourism industry in India is on the rise, which directly or indirectly makes the OTAs an emerging sector.
A few of the best online travel agencies in India are:
1. CLEARTRIP is a 15-year-old agency that helps their customers by providing easy access and availability to all places in the area they are visiting. Its head office is located in Mumbai.
2. Goibibo is among the top OTAs in India. It has been working for the past 12 years and coming up with the best outcome. It provides facilities like free signup, a smart dashboard, etc.
3. MakeMyTrip specializes in providing access to airlines operating in India and to and from India. It is a never-stopping agency that has been working for the past 21 years now. It provides multi-hotel support and various other unique facilities.
4. PAYTM is best known for providing offers on various flights, hotels, and other bookings as well. It has been active for the past 11 years and is doing a tremendous job in the market.
Conclusion
Online travel agencies are the best helping hands for travel lovers. It provides them with the best package and offers for the place where they are interested in having a tour. Online travel agencies are becoming more prevalent as they gain huge importance in the accommodation sector.
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