Managing Your Travel Business: Phone or Web Bookings?
by John Hawks

When you’re ready to book a trip for your clients, what’s your next step? Do you pick up the phone -- or power up your computer?

For those of us who still remember the thrill of installing our first fax machine in the 1980s or our first Internet connections in the 1990s, it’s amazing to consider the options available to home-based travel agents today for making travel reservations. Just 10 years ago, most agents spent most of their days on hold with cruise lines, airlines, tour operators, and other suppliers, phoning in their bookings and receiving verbal confirmations. Now, the immediacy of the Web has given home-based agents more power to control their schedules (and improve their earnings!) by shifting phone bookings to the Internet.

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