It could be easy to believe that the time of the human travel agent is over: with the proliferation of free-access travel platforms online, it’s all too easy these days to cut out the middleman and book a trip on your own.
Also, given how these platforms are now augmented by the use of agentic and predictive artificial intelligence, it seems that the world is literally at a traveller's fingertips, and all they need to do is pick and mix.
However, as we highlighted in May of last year, the demand for human interaction in travel planning has waned but little in the face of technological innovation.
With this mind, this follow-up piece highlights the continued importance of travel agents and how their work remains a vital part of the global travel planning process for everyone from individual travellers to major corporations.
Does anyone still call a travel agent?
You’d be surprised to learn that the answer to that particular question is yes, and it isn’t exactly the people whom you’d think would rely on human-run travel agencies.
According to the study What’s Old is New Again: Travel Agents in the Digital Age published by Phocuswright in October 2025: “Even in an era dominated by online booking, human travel agents still matter. 16 percent of US travellers used an agent in 2025, with younger consumers surprisingly more likely than to turn to professionals for flights and complex trips.”
Alicia Schmid, lead analyst on the study pointed out how guidance from a more experienced individual still matters to contemporary travellers.
Likewise, along with that experience, consumers also consider convenience, trust, and access to a greater number of options in the process of choosing an agent.
It also matters that a new generation of travel agents, often the same age or just slightly older than the Millennial / Gen Z market, are digitally savvy and are able to maximise the use of available tools to deliver great service to their customers.
A strong hand to steer one away from mistakes
In a September 2025 piece for Sri Lankan publication The Morning, writer Dimithri Wijesinghe reminded readers of one particular reality:
“Travel is expensive, and mistakes can be costly. What happens if your flight gets cancelled or delayed? What if you suddenly need lounge access or a rebooking at the last minute? Who do you call?”
It is in such circumstances that a human touch is more than necessary; not only can they reduce the guesswork and time involved in travel planning, but they also take the tedium of logistics away from the traveller, enabling them to get on with packing and other preparations.
Another advantage human agents have over technology is their insider’s knowledge of destinations, something that enables them to steer travellers to options within their budget whilst protecting them from adverse situations or, in the worst case scenario, offering relevant solutions to make their circumstances better if not more manageable.
Chris Scott, a travel advisor for TravelManagers Australia, points out three advantages a human agent would have in a crisis situation:
- Agents ensure that a traveller never feels alone Travel agents are there to provide support, prior to, during, and even after the trip, and may be accessed via phone, email, and messaging apps;
- Agents offer immediate solutions for practically any issue Whether one needs to rebook a trip, get a refund for one that got cancelled, or even those times when other arrangements need to be made, travel agents take the guesswork out of the equation. This ensures a client’s satisfaction and even safety, as in the case of arrangements made by numerous travel agents in Southeast Asia, West Asia, and the United States for clients who found themselves stranded in Dubai and Qatar when the Iran conflict began in late February; and
- Agents serve as their clients’ advocate whenever necessary Rather than leaving their clients to deal with airline, hotel, and tour company staff in the event of untoward incidents, agents do the talking to relieve them of a great deal of stress. Agents can also escalate issues to the relevant authorities whenever necessary.
While online travel platforms and LLM modules like ChatGPT and Google Gemini offer a convenient way to plan trips, even to skew them towards personal preferences, it is a comfort to know that there is an actual human being who has your back.
In these uncertain times, and given the way global travel has been impacted by ongoing issues, that matters more than even the most technologically advanced application in one’s hands.
