Bird’s eye view of a travel agency

Travel agencies are notoriously crowded and cluttered. Brochures are constantly appearing in the mail, and each agent must have a large amount of equipment available. Psychologists have conducted studies that show that the environment has a significant impact on individual performance and therefore productivity. In the course of my visits to travel agencies over many years, I have identified some principles that can make designing a productive travel agency simpler and more straightforward.

Allocate space

First, it is important to allocate an adequate amount of space for each member of staff. Generally speaking, a suitable ratio appears to be 100 to 150 square feet per employee. You can have a 400 square foot office to yourself and a conference room that takes up another 200 square feet. Otherwise, the ratio should be maintained.

When considering your layout, group the specialties – business, vacation, or group travel, for example. A physical space must be designated for holiday sales. Similarly, a separate space should be established for business sales. The specific requirements of these two areas will be discussed later.

Please note that vacation agents deal with the public and must be near the public entrance. Commercial agents do not deal with the public and can be located in a back room. Ticket production and the physical ticket dismantling process should be located near an exit to reduce the traffic of delivery people through the office. It is advisable to have your main computer in a separate room.

Vacation Department Design

First, you must decide what business you are in. If you sell peer-to-peer tickets, the ideal setup is a counter for the general public to come in, receive their tickets, and leave. They are not encouraged to delay, but they can be served efficiently, as airlines discovered long ago.

However, if you are in the business of providing advice to vacationers, then a space more conducive to discussion, such as small conference tables with an agent at each table, would be appropriate. A shelf at each conference table should contain reference material. We recommend not putting any kind of reservation automation on these tables. Tables should be open, spacious and attractive. Officers must be disciplined to keep the space clear and free of stacks of paper. The reservation system for retail agents in this type of distribution should be located at a computer workstation in the back of the room. The same discipline applies here in terms of keeping the station orderly.

Vacation agencies around the world are experimenting with destination video displays. Such a facility, if you can afford one, is extremely attractive and appealing to the general public. A small room with comfortable chairs and a video screen can double as a waiting room. Again, the key is to keep the space uncluttered, attractive, and as spacious as can be achieved within the constraints of your facilities.

One of the biggest obstacles in an attractive vacation office is the proliferation of brochures that pile up on the floor, in boxes under desks, and drip from shelves on the wall. If you are going to have brochures in your office, it is extremely important to establish a formal library. Someone must be assigned the duty of maintaining this database. To some extent, there is little that can be done to make a large number of brochures attractive. Therefore, we recommend that brochures be kept in filing cabinets out of sight of the general public. These brochure files must be maintained, and obsolete brochures must be removed on a regular cycle. Clearly, for these files to be viable, a neat indexing system must be available so agents know where to find a brochure on a particular destination.

An electronic message board in a vacation office adds a degree of light, color, and interest to the visiting customer. A message board can show special rates, packages, and destinations.

Commercial Department Design

Commercial travel agents essentially function as order takers. Your space requirements are considerably less than a vacation agent. There is a need for more coordinated activity in a commercial reservation center and therefore the supervisor must be centrally located, with clear visibility of all areas within the reservation center. Ideally, to improve visibility, this area should be raised six to eight inches off the ground on a platform. We recommend a glass enclosure built around the supervisor’s platform to provide privacy, without losing visibility.

Because agents often have less work space, the commercial area needs disconcerting sound to keep the noise level below a threshold for distraction. We recommend channeling furniture for commercial agents that provide a 14-inch fabric panel around each work station.

Raceway is a type of furniture developed for high-density work areas that includes a “race” or channel for all the cables and wires of each workstation. It works particularly well for computer workstations. It also usually comes with “privacy panels” with sound baffles around each workstation.

Electronic message boards also have application in the Commercial Department, serving as vehicles to communicate important last-minute messages, such as fare changes or even airline bankruptcies or major weather emergencies. They can also be used to boost productivity by tracking how close agents are to a target sales goal.

Computer room

Many of the automated accounting systems available to travel agencies work on minicomputers that require a controlled environment. ADS and ABS fall into this category. These computers should be placed in a small room with a tile floor. There should be no jobs in that room. There should be no equipment or supplies stored in that room. Ideally, there should be no printers in that room. Ticket printers produce dust. Office supplies collect dust. Dust and static electricity are the enemies of a mini computer.

Every time someone passes a computer, the possibility of a static discharge arises. Static discharge can cause a head accident, knocking your computer out of operation until a person can be dispatched for repair. Head accidents are extremely costly in terms of downtime and potentially dangerous in terms of data loss.

Remember, your goals when planning your installation are:

• Provide enough space for your staff,

• Comply with the particular space requirements of each specialty area, and

• Create a clear atmosphere that leads to greater efficiency and attractiveness of agents.

A well thought out and well designed office can maximize your professional image, minimize your expenses and stimulate productivity.