January is far the busiest month of the year for the travel industry, and wow what a month! The increase in air passenger duty has to come under the ugly category, with the airlines showing their ugly, ruthless side.

I think its’ great that consumers have the tools to compare the best deals, with sites like SideStep.com, Kayak.co.uk, TravelSupermarket.com, Cheapflights and Henoo – these sites belong in the Good category, in my opinion.

I also think it’s great that independent travel agents are getting stuck in and fighting the big boys – okay they don’t have the marketing budget of the likes of Thomson and My Travel but they are embracing the internet and good for them

From a consumers perspective though let’s leave travel agents exactly where they are – the high street! I’d be disappointed to see travel agents moving on to the internet completely, and shifting their customer service over to Asia.

No matter how cheaper you can book your holiday online, people want to communicate with humans, and I hope that for the sake of profit that we don’t see tons of high street closures. Let’s see what February has in stall for us consumers.

• High-street travel agents told change or die out
• Internet Impact on High Street Travel Agents
• Where is my Holiday Brochure?!
• Holidaymakers Frustrated by poor Customer service
• Searching for a holiday frustrates consumers

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