Bargain Breaks

Travel Agencies

A travel agency means an office of a travel agent or an organization where all travel goods and services are assembled and co-coordinated for the smooth conduct of the travel or tourism business.

Functions of a travel agency are dependant on the scope of activities that the travel agencies are involved in, the size of travel agency, location of the travel agency etc. Its functions are as under:

Travel information to the tourist.
Preparation of itinerary.
Ticketing.
Foreign exchange.
Insurance.
Liaison with providers of services.
Other services like car rental, cargo services etc.

The most important function of a travel agency is to avail information to the customer tourists. The person who delivers all information should be well versed regarding happenings and updates in travel industry. Another function is the itinerary preparation to the clients according to their budget. Itinerary is the sequential arrangement of a travel plan and is more important for a group travel.

Yet another function is ticketing .The agents should have thorough knowledge of the schedules of various modes of transport e.g., air, sea, road, rail etc. Some travel agencies provide foreign exchange facility to its customer’s. It saves time and unwanted movement of customers at a destination.

Another optional facility provided is the insurance .All the agents usually advise the tourists to go for insurance just incase if they miss their flight, lossage of baggage etc. Validity of insurance differs from agency to agency .The agents should also keep constant touch with the principle suppliers like airlines, hotel, transportation etc.

Some travel agencies avail certain other functions like car rental, cargo, package tours etc. These facilities are provided either to attract customers or to gain reputation in the market. Package tours with reasonable price and attractive destination are now becoming a trend. A travel agency organizes tourism and they also play a crucial role in promotion of tourism in a country. They also make all the travel arrangements and offer it to the public.

All the travel formalities are done by these travel agencies and in short, we can say that, they make travel and tourism easier.