做业内领跑者

    旅游刊物出版商Travalliance创始人马克•墨菲深知，时下广为流传的旅行社将被淘汰的预测并不准确。即使现在大量消费者选择在线旅游预订，但“目前，70%的邮轮旅游、各种旅行及飞机票预定还是由旅行社经手，”马克•墨菲说。但同时他也清楚地认识到，在科技不断进步的今天，旅行社业务正趋于多样化，例如有些旅行社甚至可以在家办公，这让许多跟不上潮流的传统店面式旅行社被迫关闭。

    为了迎合旅行社工作模式的不固定性，这位来自新泽西州西塔普顿市的企业家创办了一个新的刊物：Agent@Home杂志。不仅如此，他还据此扩展出众多小众产品，如提供网上课程服务的网站：TravelAgentAcademy.com；为让旅行社及时掌握某特定类型产品的最新情况，开设了众多分众网站，如内河旅游路线销售（Sell River Cruises）等；并提供平台，让旅行社能够廉价且快速地建立自己的网站。同时，他还继续经营名为旅游部落（Travel Tribe）的消费者旅游社区，并把它和其他项目一起进行统筹管理。同时，公司的销售总额也在稳定增长；预计到2011年，销售额将从2009年的950万美元攀升到1,100万美元。

    译者：李淑玉/汪皓

Stay ahead of trends

    Mark Murphy, founder of Travalliance, a trade publisher in the travel industry, knew that widespread predictions about the death of the travel agent were wrong. Even with many consumers booking travel online, he says, "travel agents still sell about 70% of cruises, tours and airline tickets." At the same time, he knew that some travel agencies based in traditional storefronts were closing, as improving technology made it possible for agents to work from home.

    To target these mobile folks, the Westampton, N.J.-based entrepreneur started a new publication: Agent@Home magazine. He also branched out into niche products, such as TravelAgentAcademy.com, a site offering online courses; niche websites to get agents up to speed on particular types of products, such as one called Sell River Cruises; and a platform that lets agents build their own sites quickly and inexpensively. Meanwhile, he continues to grow a consumer travel community, called Travel Tribe, that he brought under the same corporate umbrella, and the company's overall sales are percolating. They grew from $9.5 million in 2009 to a projected $11 million in 2011.