Reading the article, the author doesn’t actually define the work of either.
A travel agent’s job is very specific. Plan travel, buy tickets, help make decisions. With the internet, that job is no longer important.
If someone can define a developer’s job and how a regular Joe can do all those things, thatll be helpful.
Tbh I don’t think travel agents are done yet, was in my local mall this weekend and it was interesting to see how many people sat at the travel agent desks (but mostly older people, so the days are still probably counted for travel agents).
My sister-in-law just started a side business as a travel agent this month and she’s already planned 5 cruises for people.
The other move is to broaden. If you’re a backend engineer who’s always avoided frontend, now’s the time - agents can bridge the gap while you learn. If you’re frontend-only, lean into backend, devops, infrastructure. The engineers I see thriving are the ones who can own an entire problem end-to-end, not just their slice of it. The generalist travel agents got wiped out, but the generalist engineers - the ones who can move across the stack - are more valuable than ever.
Anecdotally this is what is happening and I see it the 15 years i have been at my current job and the 25 I’ve been in Corporate IT. As budgets shift the focus is on people in IT understanding more and more while automation (LLM) taking more and more. You are expected to be a full stack dev IMHO. It could be python. It could be java. But you’re expected to know it all.
Coronavirus is not mentioned, but had some impact on the travel industry as well.
Travel agents don’t provide any value in modern day. You don’t get a price discount, booking trips online is easier than paying taxes, plus influencers show people where to stand in line to eat and take pictures. It’s sad I used to love to travel but the world has gotten a lot smaller and generic. The fake plastic corporate capitalism has done to the earth what they did to Christmas.
My travel agent i can call / email / text during a trip and theyre able to pivot and get me different flights or rebooked so incredibly fast. It has come in amazingly helpful when flights gets cancelled or extended delays. Paying someone you trust to take care of your travel arramgements in advance and live is a nice luxury.
Yeah bro I can pivot and get a different flight 24hrs and a day right from my phone before talking to a third party. You’re situation sounds awesome in the 1990s though.
As long as they’re a good agent. I did a trip this year with my aunt, she booked through a travel agent who was absolutely useless. Messed up a couple of reservations which made the whole thing way more stressful than if I’d just managed it myself.
The point is the do all the work for you, and usually know where to go and what to do. Why the hell would want to find an “influencer” and watch their nasty shit?
How old are you? Lol nasty influencers include websites like Tripadvisor and Rick Steves.
My age has to do with not wanting to listen to people who have been paid to promote a thing?
Travel other places. The world is big.
I been everywhere except antarctic, Russian, India, and central Africa. I’m good thanks.
Have you been everywhere, or just at the “sights” and in major cities?
My most memorable holiday was a 4 week hiking and camping trip all within 50 miles of my home.
Visiting a friend’s family in their tiny Eastern Polish village was a close second.
Third would be traveling the length of Patagonia using only public transportation.
The touristy trips to Thailand, the USA and the European capitals don’t even make the top 10.
