International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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Evolving Roles of Travel Agencies: Functional Analysis from Maharashtra Survey

Author(s) Mr. Nishant Sureshkumar Sutare, Dr. Harshada Rajeev Satghare
Country India
Abstract Travel agencies are still the key players in tourism distribution although online travel agencies and direct booking systems are developing at a high rate (Buhalis and Licata, 2002; Kracht and Wang, 2010). This paper analyses the current functional profile of the travel agencies in Maharashtra, India and offers a functional definition of the agencies that currently gives the changing functional profile of the travel agencies and service agencies. The survey was a descriptive survey of 70 travel agency professionals based on the use of a structured questionnaire that captures the organisational characteristics and functional activities. The prevalence of various functions was summarised using descriptive statistics and the responses of qualitative nature were clustered into themes. The results show that the agencies also undertake a wide range of other activities other than the traditional ticketing where agencies and tourism organizations are now involved in itinerary planning, tour packaging, advisory services, documentation support, multi-component booking coordination and customer relationship management (Bhatia, 2012; Cooper et al., 2008). These findings are discussed according to the literature on tourism distribution and service-dominant logic, and the new definition of the operational meaning of the travel agency is a value co-creating professional service organisation (Vargo and Lusch, 2008). The research provides contextual data of a key Indian state and gives implications to the practitioners, educators and policymakers interested in the future of travel intermediaries (Dolnicar and Laesser, 2007).
Keywords travel agents, Functions, Tourism intermediaries, Operational definition, Maharashtra, India.
Field Sociology > Tourism / Transport
Published In Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On 2025-12-22
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.63633
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