A Study of Travel Agencies' Human Resources in Relation to Internet Marketing

When technological advances emerge in electronic commerce, travel agencies rapidly take account of their application in Internet marketing. Internet marketing presents many advantages to its users, such as the ability to break the barriers of time and space, convenience and speed of trade between travel agencies and consumers, ability to provide customers with sufficient information of travel services and products, and low cost. In order to take advantage of the new Internet market, travel agencies have already set up websites to attract potential customers. However, the traditional marketing of travel agencies generally depends on the sales force, because travel agency representatives act not only as salespeople, but also as guides and escorts. Therefore, personal selling offers the benefits of evaluating travel courses in advance, providing information on various choices, and accompanying customers throughout the trip to help them feel at ease. Since Internet marketing and personal selling both have their own advantages, should travel agency salespeople feel threatened by the emergence of Internet marketing? Will the marketing functions impact travel agency salespeople because consumers purchase services on the Internet themselves? The purpose of this study is to discover whether the travel agencies salespeople feel threatened by the development of Internet marketing. Also, this study seeks to reveal the specific personal thoughts of travel agency salespeople if they do feel threatened. At its conclusion, this study will provide suggestions for training programs or criteria of recruitment for the human resource directors in travel agencies. Also, those interested in travel business may use the results of this study as guidelines as they prepare themselves for the impact of Internet marketing.