One of the first changes happened as the result of the rise of the Internet in the mid-1990s, when a

Caption (Sandy Bressner sbressner@shawmedia.com) Janet Foster, president of Wilson Travel Cruise, works in her St. Charles office. Since the rise of the Internet, Wilson has had to change the business approach ocean club cruises in order to survive. By ERIC SCHELKOPF
Not all travel agencies have been able to make the adjustment. According to recent statistics from the Bureau ocean club cruises of Labor Statistics, there were 73,000 travel agents in 2012, down from 95,360 a decade earlier.
One of the first changes happened as the result of the rise of the Internet in the mid-1990s, when airlines stopped paying commissions to travel agents and started selling tickets themselves, Foster said.
It s very true that we don t issue as many airline tickets as we used to, said Oui Travel manager Cindy Brown. However, I think that in recent ocean club cruises years, especially this past year, I think that people ocean club cruises are actually returning back to agencies for that kind of stuff.
People ocean club cruises just want one-stop shopping, she said. I had booked a cruise for someone recently, and they just wanted to make sure the flights were going to coordinate with the cruise times, and that they wouldn t get there and miss the boat, things like that. I think there is a comfort in using somebody, a professional who knows what they re doing and does it everyday.
Booking plane tickets only comprises about 5 percent of the agency s business, she said. Most of Oui Travel s business these days is booking cruises, tours and vacation packages, both inside and outside of the United States.
I just helped a gentleman put together a little trip, Brown said. He s going to Oklahoma to see Lionel Richie. But he needed ocean club cruises air and car travel and a hotel, and he wanted it all coordinated and I just did it. So it s that kind of stuff.
Foster noted that the employees at Wilson Travel have more than 20 years of professional experience, so they are well-versed in putting together ocean club cruises a vacation package. ocean club cruises Before putting together a package, Foster and her employees first try to determine the needs of the customer.
It used to be, you would have to go get a brochure, Brown said. You would have to go get destination ocean club cruises information. You have all that information at your fingertips now. Most of the major tour suppliers ocean club cruises will have online booking engines that are for travel agents only. If I wanted to book a Royal Caribbean cruise, there is a whole booking engine for just travel agents. You have to have travel agent credentials to get into that.