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Most Americans Would Consider Using Travel Agents

Despite a wealth of online resources, travel agents remain an important and valued resource for travel planning. That's according to a recent survey from global travel insurance and assistance provider Mondial Assistance USA, which is known in the industry for its Access America brand of travel insurance. The survey found that most Americans (70 percent) say they would consider using a travel agent to plan important trips and special vacations.

Nearly one-half of respondents (45 percent) say that they would consider using a travel agent for an unfamiliar or exotic destination, while a similar proportion (40 percent) would consider using a travel agent for a longer or more complicated itinerary (i.e. multiple destinations). Others say they would consider using a travel agent for finding a great deal or best price (38 percent), for tours (33 percent), in order to save time by not having to plan on their own trip (29 percent) or for some other reason (7 percent). Just three in ten (29 percent) say that they would not consider using a travel agent when planning a trip.

While just 6 percent of respondents say that they get most of their trip planning information from travel agents, that proportion is slightly higher than those who get that information through other means including TV or radio (4 percent), newspapers or magazines (4 percent) or direct mail and brochures (3 percent).

Almost two in 10 (17 perceWritten by George Dooley, Aug 3, 2010nt) say that using a travel agent for planning travel is more important than in the past, and another 8 percent say their importance has stayed the same. Interestingly, retired individuals are most likely (22 percent) to say that travel agents are now more important than ever, as are lower-income (household income less than $25,000 a year) Americans (22 percent).

Written by George Dooley, Aug 3, 2010