An independent agent is usually family owned, they have been in the business for a long time and have years of experience and built up a lot of knowledge. They usually only have 1/2 branches and have a loyal customer base in their local area. Also they are independently owned. They are usually found in the back streets rather than on the high street or in shopping centres. An example of an independent agent is fails worth travel.
The role of an independent travel agent is to sell holidays; they give advice on destinations and provide excellent customer service to their customers in hope of building up repeat customers.
Independent agents offer a range of products and services such as tailor made holidays and charter flights. A tailor made holiday is a package suited to the needs of a particular customer. The joy of a tailor-made itinerary is that your holiday is designed around your requirements and you are not restricted to the set itinerary of a group departure.Dynamic packaging is when travellers use the internet to research their holidays and make their own travel arrangements direct with airlines, hotels, and car companies
A charter flight is a private flight scheduled to meet the needs of specific passengers or organisations. Some flights leave at regular intervals with tickets being purchased up to the day of departure by the general public, where as charter flights are arranged by request. They can be used for a variety of purposes for example flighing time and moving passengers, the price for this service is usually higher than using a traditional passenger or cargo airline
The products and services are made available to agents due to who they are linked with.
Independents build links with accommodation providers so they can book rooms for their customers, they will have negotiates rates with accommodation providers especially if the agent does a lot of booking. An example of an accommodation provider is Ramada.
Multiples
A multiple