Skift Take
Every smart travel agency and consortium has plans to better integrate one-on-one service with mobile technology. But maybe English, with his established tech savvy, can finally crack the perfect formula for bringing agents into the digital age. The hard part will be acquiring customers, especially when using a mobile app as the sole method of client interaction.
The new travel app from a co-founder of Kayak is looking to recruit travel agents with a focus on service instead of selling.
Paul English is looking to hire 100 travel agents to staff his new consumer-facing mobile app Lola, while a separate development team creates tools to let agents use global distribution systems more effectively.
"We think what happened the last 10 years with all the do-it-yourself sites, is they lost that human connection," English told Skift in a Q&A. But the exact model that Lola will operate under is still unclear.
Since Lola's business model is still unclear, agents say the new company just shows that online travel agencies (OTAs) haven't been doing a good job providing customer service.
"We believe that the travel agency channel continues to prove its immense worth whenever those from the OTA world 'discover' the value that can only be found in the human equation," a Travel Leaders Group spokesman told Skift. "W
