Looking for a good hotel at a good price in San Diego, California is really no different than looking for one in London, England. The problem is that there are numerous online agencies to choose from. You definitely do not want to hear that the people in the next room at your hotel got the same holiday package at half the price you paid for it! It leaves you feeling a little foolish and thinking you have been scammed.
What inflates prices in the tourism industry?
Working as a receptionist in several hotels in The Canary Islands, Spain, I would often see what the hotel was charging the agency for its services; and during casual conversation with the guests, I would, often unwillingly, also end up knowing what the agency had charged the clients for their holiday package.
What I was amazed to see, was that there is sometimes even an abysmal difference in price for the same hotel services from one agency to another! I'm not going to mention any company names at this point, but let's just say that some companies work with a bigger overhead and need to cover costs just to stay alive.
All this is changing now with online travel agencies becoming more popular. They do not need so many employees as conventional travel agencies and can sell to anyone with a PC, a credit card and an internet connection, instead of limiting their sales to people in their area. The more middlemen and employees there are, the higher the price for the service.
So, what's the problem now?
With middlemen out of the way, now the problem lies with the surfer who has too many offers and doesn't know which to choose! All agencies can come up with an excellent one time offer for a holiday package, but the chances of getting that splendid offer when and where you want are rather slim.
