How to Find a Good Travel Agent
Travel agents, travel advisors, travel specialists…
Whatever you call them, the long-predicted demise of the travel agent hasn’t come to bear. But a post-Covid reckoning and a lot of soul searching about sustainability, environmental impact, mass tourism, and the way we plan our trips is definitely bringing about big changes in the industry. And one of the biggest developments is the rise of the “local expert.”
As travel evolves, we’re finally seeing a shift away from the days of travel agents who claim to specialize in dozens of countries and a much overdue move towards hyperlocal specialization.
This new breed of travel agent isn’t trying to convince you that you should hire them for every family vacation regardless of whether you’re headed to Japan or Peru. Instead, these agents are planting their flag in one country, and sometimes only in a region of a country, and proudly declaring that this is their only area of expertise. And better yet, many of these new travel agents are locals, born and raised in the area.
And in this new landscape, a host of innovative online travel platforms have emerged, making it easier than ever for travelers to find a locally-based, in-destination travel agent with whom to plan their trip.
Not all change is bad after all!
Local vs. traditional travel agents
Before discussing the benefits of a “local expert” local travel agent, lets talk about the potential benefits of a traditional one.
The main benefit of a typical travel agent is that they do the leg work for you. They either know the destination to some extent or research it (hopefully) if they don’t. They then handle the logistics; making the bookings and arrangements for you.
While that was very useful 30 years ago, with so much information on the internet, easy international communication, simple cross-border payment systems, and all different websites to easily book for yourself, having someone else click the buttons for you isn’t much of a help anymore.
The problem with traditional travel agents is that their knowledge is limited. When you offer planning services for dozens of countries, there’s just no way you can specialize in any of them. For many destinations, the agent may have never even actually been to them.
As a result, what they suggest for you will often be canned, generic itineraries with little personalization. Your agent may be relying on other agents’ recommendations or going off of information they find on the internet. Not an ideal situation if you’re a client who’s paying for expertise and peace of mind.
In many cases, when you work with a traditional agent you’ll just be getting variations of the same trip they suggest for everyone. In other instances, they use computer software and algorithms to put together a proposal for you. Not much personalization in that. With limited local knowledge, there’s really only so much they can customize for you. And if you ask them about towns and regions with which they’re unfamiliar, they’ll be out of their depth.
Now, some non-local travel agents will surely know certain destinations well and many of them plan great trips. But on average, that’s just not the case.
Send them an email or schedule a free introductory Zoom call to see how they can help you plan a better, more authentic trip!
Send them an email or schedule a free introductory Zoom call to see how they can help you plan a better, more authentic trip!
Benefits of working with a “Local Expert” travel agent
So, what are the benefits of working with an in-destination travel agent? We’ve outlined a few of the major ones below:
Their country knowledge is seriously in-depth
They have on-the-ground connections and are available in-country in case anything goes wrong
They have a trusted network of local suppliers, vendors, guides, hoteliers, etc., with whom they have real relationships
You get suggestions for alternative destinations and ideas on how to get away from tourist traps
Your trip is actually tailor-made instead of just another generic itinerary churned out by a fancy piece of software
More of the money that you spend on your trip will stay in the local community
Local agents live in the community and are invested in seeing its people benefit from tourism
Most local agents exclusively specialize in their own country and many of them have been involved in travel for decades, often having worked as guides before becoming agents.
This means that they have serious firsthand knowledge of the places you’ll be going rather than just having seen it on a computer screen or visited once on a familiarization trip. Their level of regional knowledge and expertise is simply unparalleled.
Many travel agents and large travel agencies have been using what are known in the industry as DMCs - Destination Management Companies - for years. DMCs are local agencies who are subcontracted by foreign or multinational agencies to actually plan and arrange the trips they sell.
This means that when you book a group tour or a private trip with a big agency based in your country, the chances are pretty good that they’re just farming out most of the planning process to a local company and then charging you a significant mark up. Your local agency is essentially just a middle-man, which increases your price and also means that the agent with whom you’re working likely has very little actual involvement with planning your trip.
The big change that’s happening is that many of these same DMCs and/or their former employees have decided to start selling their services directly to international travelers. Rather than planning an anonymous trip that’s sent to them by some foreign agency or agent, they’re now available to work directly with the travelers themselves, one-on-one.
This has two huge benefits for travelers:
You get direct access to the local experts and are able to plan a far more personalized and authentic trip.
You get a price cut: without the commission from your local agency/agent, the price for your trip will be significantly less.
How to find a good local travel agent
Unfortunately, it’s surprisingly hard to find local travel advisors on your own. And, even if you do, figuring out how to pick the right travel agent is even harder. When using Google, the vast majority of search results for local agents are:
Ads for large multi-national agencies
Guided group tours
Generic pre-made package tours
Travel agents based in your own country
If you want a personal travel advisor to plan something tailor-made, you don't want any of those. So what do you do?
Online platforms
Fortunately, there are a few online platforms that connect travelers with local agents: Go Ask A Local, kimkim, Zicasso, and a handful of others. Each platform has a slightly different process and focus.
Zicasso, for example, focuses on luxury vacations while Go Ask A Local is all about authentic, local, and off-the-beaten path travel.
What the platforms share in common is that you can browse a network of in-destination local travel agents who exclusively plan tailor-made trips to their own countries. You’ll find agents with different specialties ranging from multi-generational trips, to active & adventure travel, honeymoons, and more. You can check out sample itineraries, chat with the local experts, and request a custom itinerary with no strings attached.
In the case of Go Ask A Local, you can even schedule a free Zoom call to actually meet the local agent who would plan your trip. You can see all of our Local Experts at www.goaskalocal.com/tailor-made-trips.
You also benefit from the fact that the platforms have already vetted the agents so you can just focus on the planning.
Review sites
If you don't want to use one of the platforms, be ready to put in some work and do a lot of research. A good start is going directly to a few different reviews websites and searching for local travel agencies. A search for something like “Jordan Travel Agent” or “Sri Lanka Tour Operator” on Tripadvisor will turn up results for lots of local agencies. You can then browse their reviews and head over to the websites of any company that you’d like to learn more about.
Remember that different countries use different review sites, so don’t just check Tripadvisor - sites like Trustpilot, and rather surprisingly also Yelp, may have some good leads as well.
Word of mouth
Don’t sleep on this tried and true method. While not everyone has friends who travel, if you do, chances are that either a friend or a friend of a friend has been where you’re hoping to go. They just might have that perfect local hook up for you. So ask around!
Google and Google Maps search
A Google search typically gets an odd mix of results, but you may get lucky. Start off by googling things like "Thailand-based travel specialist" and "Thailand local travel agency". You’ll get a lot of misses, but a few hits too.
You can also go on Google Maps, pick the capital city or most-visited city of the country you’re planning for, and then search for travel agencies. Most of the results will be locally-based agencies that plan outbound travel to other countries, but you’ll often get a number of results for local agents that plan domestic trips.
Send them an email or schedule a free introductory Zoom call to see how they can help you plan a better, more authentic trip!
Send them an email or schedule a free introductory Zoom call to see how they can help you plan a better, more authentic trip!
How to pick the right travel agent
Once you’ve narrowed down your options, take the list of travel agents or agencies that you like and do a deeper dive.
Check out their website, especially the about page. See if they show the names and photos of their team. A small team is usually a good sign. An anonymous page with little info is a bad one.
Next, see if the company’s contact phone number is a national (for the destination) number. If it is, that’s a good sign too.
When you email customer support and get a little bit into the process, see if the same person responds to you each time.
Ask to have a video call at some point - you want to know who you’re dealing with.
Also check what commitments they’ve made to sustainability initiatives and if they’re registered with the appropriate government agencies and fully insured.
Read their terms and conditions carefully.
Common mistakes people make when choosing a travel agent
1 . Choosing an agent with little knowledge of the destination and few real on-the-ground connections
Good travel agents have trusted contacts in-destination who they can rely on even should they not be super familiar with a certain aspect of a trip. An agent who has planned a handful of trips somewhere doesn't have that network. They'll be googling and chancing it the same as you would.
2. Not being realistic with budget
Some travelers hate knowing that using a travel agent means that they’ll pay more than they would on their own. That's understandable. But it’s counterproductive. Many agents will also claim that their services are "free". That's rarely true and misleading at best.
When you use a travel agent, you should expect that you’re going to pay a slight premium. They need to get paid for their work. You're paying for expertise, peace of mind, and stress-free planning. Accept that your budget will need to be a bit higher and move on.
3. Not doing research on the destination ahead of time
Hiring a travel agent doesn't mean that they magically know what's best for you. The best way to get a perfectly planned trip that is truly tailored to your interests is to do some research on your own and share your thoughts and ideas with your agent.
Ask lots of questions about different locations. Tell them what you liked and didn't like from your research. Share things from past trips that were truly memorable and special for you. The more they understand about your travel style, the better they can plan for you.
4. Not being upfront about preferences
Don't be shy! This is your trip and you deserve to have something extraordinary. If you don't like something your travel agent suggests, tell them! And explain why. They won't be offended. They want to know what your preferences are so that they can plan something that’s perfect for you.
Send them an email or schedule a free introductory Zoom call to see how they can help you plan a better, more authentic trip!
Send them an email or schedule a free introductory Zoom call to see how they can help you plan a better, more authentic trip!
How do travel agents get paid?
How your would-be travel agent makes money on your trip is generally one of the first questions people wonder about. But it can feel awkward to ask. It shouldn’t.
Most travel agents these days will tell you that using their services doesn’t cost you a penny more than booking your own. They say that rather than charging you anything, they get paid via commissions from tour operators, hotels, and other vendors and service providers. Sometimes that’s true, but in our experience it’s not always entirely accurate.
How travel agents get paid
Commissions from vendors, hotels, tour operators, and other service providers
Daily planning fee
Hourly planning fees
Markups on bookings
Commissions: Most travel agents genuinely do have arrangements with service providers and get paid through commissions. For example, when an agent books you a $200 a night hotel, they may receive a 10% commission from the hotel ($20).
Hourly planning fees: Some travel agents charge on an hourly basis like a lawyer or consultant would, and do genuinely give you each service at its actual cost.
Daily planning fee: A more recent trend is to simply charge a daily planning fee, i.e. $150 per day of trip. For that type of arrangement, your agent would charge you a flat rate of $1,500 to plan a 10-day trip, for example.
Mark-ups on bookings: Though most travel agents don’t like sharing this info, many of them charge a mark up on the services that they book for you. For example, if you’re going on safari in Kenya, your travel agent might source a $500 excursion from a local tour operator and charge $600 for it on your itinerary. This is no different than what happens when you book a tour on tour booking platforms like GetYourGuide, Viator, etc. - the tour operator gives the platform a price and the platform charges a higher price to you.
At the end of the day, most travel agents get paid via a mix of the aforementioned methods. And the easiest way for you to understand how your agent will get paid is just to ask them!
Will your trip cost more with a travel agent?
Almost certainly. Good travel agents provide a valuable service and they work hard to plan your trip. They spend hours of their time getting to know you and your travel style, creating itineraries, contacting vendors and service providers, and putting everything together.
Then, when you’re actually on your trip, they continue to be available should you need them for anything. This is a lot of work, and your travel agent deserves to be compensated for it.
We know that it can feel painful to pay a travel agent to do what you, in theory, could do on your own. But a good travel agent isn’t just making calls and clicking buttons for you; most of what you’re paying for is their decades of experience and deep knowledge of the destination. You could spend hundreds of hours researching your trip and you still wouldn’t be able to plan the trip that they can.
Think of it this way - you could probably learn how to build a house and do it on your own. But would you feel comfortable living in it? And would it be worth the time?
Most of us don’t have much vacation time and the big trips that we get to go on are precious. When you’re spending thousands of dollars, it’s important to get everything right. A good travel agent doest that; they’ll take an OK trip and turn it into the adventure of a lifetime. In our opinion, that’s worth paying for.
Plan your next adventure with a local travel agent!
At Go Ask A Local, we connect independent travelers with the best in-destination local travel agents for tailor-made trips that go way beyond the highlights.
Our Local Experts are veteran travel pros who have spent decades helping visitors explore their countries. They are based in their destinations and know them as only a local can.
If you want to plan the adventure of a lifetime, connect with one of our Local Experts and start planning a better trip today!
