Comments on: Eliminating the Middle Man

By: arun jaswal

arun jaswal — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:15:44 +0000

hi
Honestly accepted many times it more expensive to go through middle man (travel agent)… but there are many travel agents who spend millions of rupees every month to promote their business online.. such travel agents obviously will charge high from customers… to recover their marketing cost and to maintain profits…

It is quite difficult to find reasonable travel agent who provides right information and reasonable packages which is called true value for each penny you spend…. because these travel agent do not charge excessive from their clients and hence do not spend on internet marketing… everybody knows that now a days internet marketing is very expensive..

I am a travel agent based in India but all my efforts is to create good image of travel and travels agents…

By: dlf

dlf — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 00:17:29 +0000

Traveling alone opens up your world to new experiences and exposure to people from a different regions of the world. It provides opportunities that are hard to find when you are traveling with a companion or tied up with another person’s travel plans. Alone you can soar and explore and rely on your own instincts and resources to the see the world at your own pace. If you choose this path you may savor every minute of your journey and just may learn to love the idea of traveling on your own.

By: Sherry

Sherry — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:59:59 +0000

Hey Stuart, I appreciate your thoughts. I agree with you, there is value to what a middle man can offer; namely time saving and peace of mind. However if you want to travel and try to save money, then doing the research yourself locally when you arrive is another option. For me, it depends on what my priorities are – is your budget or your time more important – that’s different for everyone. For people that simply have a week of vacation to take, then paying for the middle man can make sense. However if you are on a longer journey, then doing local research can make sense.
As for Saigon, I find that Sinh cafe is reputable. It’s not the best tour I’ve ever taken, however, it was a good value for my money.
Sherry

By: Stuart

Stuart — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:21:57 +0000

Interesting read — particularly using Saigon as an example.

Sure the tour company who got you on board for the Inca trail makes a margin, but for that margin they (in part) save you the effort/time/cost of finding a local operator that will meet your expectations. How confident would you be of showing up and quickly finding a cheaper local agent that would deliver the same experience — you might — or might not — find one. This unknown is something a reputable tour company works to mitigate.

Just to note my bias before I go on, Saigon — as with Hue and Hanoi — is a veritable snake-pit of unscrupulous agents/operators and I have difficulty taking anything a Vietnamese travel agent says at face value. That said, if the $66 tour you mention was going to throw you onto an Open Tour then I think the comparison is valid, but if not, you’re really comparing apples and oranges. Open Tours are cheap, and a good way to meet other travellers — that’s about where their advantages end.

Yes it’s true, in cutting out the middleman for tours you’ll often get a lower price, but don’t bank on a similar experience — for tours, especially in Vietnam — you often get what you pay for.

While it depends on your timeframe and goals, I’d say a better approach is simply not to do a tour at all — just do it yourself!

Cheers

Stuart

By: Recession proof travel - Eliminate the Middle Man | Ottsworld

Recession proof travel - Eliminate the Middle Man | Ottsworld — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:11:49 +0000

[...] out my latest post on the Indie Travel Podcast about how to save money while traveling. Booking tours online can be a great way to organize your trip ahead of time. But it’s also a [...]