The modern agent needs to be adaptable and insightful when dealing with perceptive clients and therefore must to be able to rely upon flexible and contemporary technological products - enter Travelport.

Industry service provider Travelport’s latest release, GalileoTerminal, became available to agents in the Asia Pacific region this week.

GalileoTerminal is “a very useful tool” aimed at delivering maximum mobility for agents on the run, Travelport general manager Pacific Alex Fitzpatrick told e-Travel Blackboard.

“These days agents have got to go out and meet with customers,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.

“It’s a very useful tool as they can work on site or from home and make changes to bookings remotely.”

One of the ways in which Travelport manages to stay ahead of the competition is to remain au courant.

“If you read the statistics in the States, most of the sales people today don’t even have a laptop, they’ve got a smart device or a tablet of some sort and that’s how they do their business,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.

“Open technology, innovation and customer support are the three key areas that comprise our value proposition and influence the way we conduct business.”

Flexibility has also been an integral component and constant concern for Travelport when developing new products or performing system adjustments and upgrades.

“This is where some of our other tools come into play, like Universal Desktop,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.

“We’ve also got another product, Galileo Mobile Agent, which works on all smart devices.

“You can work... Basically, you can work anywhere in the world.”

When it comes to booking holidays Ms Fitzpatrick insists agents are essential, despite today’s ever-changing and diverse technological landscape.

“Particularly in the leisure space, it’s such a personalised experience, and relationships like that are very important in this part of the world,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.

“If they’re just shopping for a price, ofcourse that’s going to go to the online space, but when we’re talking about more complex itineraries, and geographically here in Australia it is quite complex when you want to take a big trip, you’re much better off going to an agent and I think that’s why they are so strong and why you have them in every major shopping centre and high street.”

Providing useful technology equips agents with inimitable information and assists in finalising sales.

“People are so knowledgeable today they do so much research on the internet before they even think of going to an agent,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.

“If the client is well-informed, obviously the agent has got to be quite knowledgeable and so have we, to provide the right tools in order for them to be able to sell properly.”