Travel agents have been told they have much room for improvement in their online services after a survey in which only half responded to email inquiries and 95 per cent were found to provide no self-help services for customers on their websites.
The industry replied that most customers used the telephone rather than the internet to make inquiries.
The survey was conducted by Talisma, a company that specialises in providing software to help companies deal with customers online.
It sent inquiries to 20 travel agencies with questions like, 'Can I make a booking online?' or 'What are the travel packages that you offer?'
Only half the emails were answered.
The company also said most agencies did not provide any channels on their websites for electronic self-help by customers.
