After a week of listening to the MLM crowd say that what they offer is no different than Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity, I found a great article on Travel Weekly that sort of spins it a different way. Seems that Orbitz is migrating away from the "go to our website and book" mentality and are providing service. Just Picture That! Did you hear about Expedia opening a brick and mortar cruise store in Redmond? Hmm, Just Picture That!
As the TTAs have been saying for the past year, consumers are getting tired of the websites. They are looking for service and are migrating back to agencies. For those opposed to agencies, they will migrate to customer friendly websites that offer service. Unlike this one. FYI, all of the big online agencies have always had trained support for the customers. The MLM crowd seems to overlook this fact. Seems that MLM is just making one mistake after another when it comes to travel, but I guess that is to be expected when most of the recruits and all of senior management has no background in the business.Orbitz said each of its specialists has completed training and spent significant time in their select locations.
Destination experts are currently in place for the Hawaiian Islands and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula (Cancun, Riviera Maya, Cozumel). Orbitz plans to add specialists for Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, the Dominican Republic, Orlando, Miami, the Florida Keys, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Las Vegas, Southern California and Puerto Rico.
"For new visitors to popular places like Orlando, Las Vegas, Hawaii or Cancun, access to a travel expert with local insider knowledge can be invaluable in helping make decisions that will ensure a memorable trip,” said Tom Russell, Orbitz Worldwide’s group vice president of brand marketing.
