Benefits of a Travel Advisor

If only the travel industry kept it real.

Interestingly enough, before we took the step to become a travel advisor, we thought the very same thing. Through learning about the industry, it’s a bit remarkable that our value is still under-developed and undersold. To be transparent, this is more about how we’ve done a poor job to serve our clients and the people we connect with.

If you’re anything like us, you’ve had the thought (maybe right now!) that the last thing you need is a middle layer to help you book a trip. This is true and I’m not going to even attempt to convince you otherwise. However, the outcome Cocoa & Chocolate desires for you is something more, much more than booking!

Let’s start with maybe the most surprising fact; travel advisors are the best and (surprisingly) least inexpensive way for hotels and other travel suppliers to attract customers. It’s true! Online Trip Advisors (commonly referred to as OTAs) often demand a much higher revenue split with the supplier because of their popularity. The likes of booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, etc. each are part of this category. This explains why you can go online and get discounted rates to book, but may struggle to feel as though you’re appreciated by the supplier when on your trip. Once the you book online (thru the OTAs or even directly with the supplier’s own competitive rate), there is little incentive for the OTA to ensure your experience is unique and seamless.

Conversely, travel advisors (as an agency and industry) demand less revenue split with the supplier. This incentivizes the supplier to not only prefer us, but they very frequently offer unique and exclusive upgrades and benefits through us!! These upgrades, while still costing the supplier, provide you the customer twice the experience for a lower cost. AND don’t forget, the experience you had was quite memorable - an imprint supplier brands expect will benefit them for future travel.