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Online influencers help revive old-fashioned business that was ravaged by rise of the internet
Online influencers have helped bring an old-fashioned and dying industry back to life after it was ravaged by the rise of the internet.
Millennial and Gen Z influencers are flocking back to travel agents, reviving the industry despite predictions that the internet would make the business obsolete.
A staggering 38 percent of travelers under 43 prefer human travel agents over online bookings now, compared to a mere 2 percent of Baby Boomers, according to an IBS Software survey published in December.
Natalie Contrera, 35, of West Philadelphia, has jetted off to exotic destinations like Colombia, Belize, and the Dominican Republic - all thanks to her secret weapon.
'I give her a budget. I give her a couple countries I want to go to,' Contrera told The Miami Herald.
Natalie Contrera (pictured) has jetted off to exotic destinations like Colombia, Belize, and the Dominican Republic - all thanks to her secret weapon: a travel agent
A staggering 38 percent of travelers under 43 prefer human travel agents over online bookings now. Jennifer Byrne (pictured), CEO of The Tropical Travelers, said millennial and the Gen Z generations is they're overwhelmed with the information online
Contrera and her partner spend $1,500 and $3,000 per person per trip, she told the outlet.
Then, the travel agent organizes an entire trip for them.
'And if things go wrong - that is also what they are there for,' Contrera added.
'Why would I ever plan it myself again?'
The trend has been felt by those who work in the industry.
'We are extremely busy,' Pam Draper, owner of Travel with Pam Draper, told the outlet. 'It's amazing really.'
Other TikTokers swear by travel agents, with one saying, 'It's my new life hack'
Draper, a 47-year veteran of the industry, recalls vividly the dip in sales following the rise of the internet.
'What I'm finding with the millennial and the Gen Z generations is they're overwhelmed with the information online. They don't know what to do with all of it,' said Jennifer Byrne, CEO of The Tropical Travelers.
'The honeymooners that I get, they go, 'I just went crazy online,'' Paul Ferdinand, president of Rainbow Voyages, told the outlet.
'The first thing they say is they went online and couldn't get offline. They just went down the rabbit hole' of vacation research.
Other TikTokers swear by travel agents, with one saying, 'It's my new life hack.'
'We are extremely busy,' Pam Draper, owner of Travel with Pam Draper, told the outlet. 'It's amazing really'
'This will not be my last time, this is my life hack,' TikToker Jake Musser told his followers while promoting Fora Travel.
Another warned her followers that they could be missing it out if they don't use travel agents while insisting they are not 'relics of the past. '
'If you're not booking your hotels through a travel agent, you could really be missing out,' Michelle who runs the account LAXtoLuxury said in a video.