How to Choose Best Travel Agency in Istanbul: 7 Tips for Better Experience
What to look for in a travel agency in Istanbul? Let us tell you a secret. If you are familiar with Istanbul, you may achieve organizing most of the travel details. But, even for you, such as a metropolis with an extensive area of touristic attractions, high population, and busy lifestyle, it can be a daunting task.
Especially if you are traveling with a group and organizing your trip through incoming travel agencies, you will need trusted business and travel partners in Istanbul.
Choosing the Right Travel Agency for Your Guests
There are hundreds of travel agencies in Istanbul. But, most of them cannot provide full service and support for tourists, especially for corporate visitors. Some of them offer partial services while some only organize mass tours for certain tourist attractions.
Full-service travel agencies, on the other hand, offer end-to-end travel and event management services; from accommodation, to venue sourcing, event production, and even team building activities.
For a travel company that provides tours for people and for outgoing agencies, reliability is essential. Finding out how trustworthy a travel agency in Istanbul is sometimes difficult. But, with the growth of the internet, we can determine whether they have timeshare expertise and information of past travelers who have utilized their services.
Some of the benefits working with a travel agency:
• Travel agency services help you save time, money and stress.
• Travel agencies offer extensive local knowledge.
• They offer a variety of services, customized tours, special events for business trips, leisure trips and luxury holidays.
• They have a trusted network of local travel suppliers. Therefore, your guests can enjoy the expertise while you save on your budget.
If these cannot be sufficient to make you decide, in this regard, let’s dive into all aspects of choosing a travel agency in Istanbul with more practical and detailed tips.
#1: Travel Agency in Istanbul Must Have Professional Network:
When it comes to getting what you want, it might be beneficial to understand the organization’s business partner and vendor network. Whether they operate as a small business or a major travel agency, they are almost always connected to a professional network.
When selecting an incoming travel agency in Istanbul, professional vendor networks may serve as a vote of confidence. They assure that your visitors will be accommodated by knowledgeable and courteous individuals.
#2: Proven Experience with Local Culture
Having an extensive understanding of the local culture is essential for touristic visits. It is also related with the previous feature of having a professional vendor network. The reason for that resides in knowing the best vendors with the help of local know-how. An experienced travel agency in Istanbul will know how the business works and can get the most out of a vendor with correct directives and briefs.
This aspect of working with a travel agency in Istanbul can make or break the deal.
To sort everything out from the first correspondence, here are some critical questions to ask:
· Do they charge a flat fee for services? How much do they charge?
· What is the extend of the customer support included in their offer?
· What about their cancellation policy? Are they flexible with their terms and do they provide you with alternatives?
Arrangements and costs for corporate trips might be revised and revised again. The ideal travel agency should be able to keep up with this pace without causing you any bother or charging you more.
In this regard, you can consider inquiring about some references from previous works of corporates. Be completely honest with them about your travel budget and make certain that it is something they can assist you in making the most of.
#4: Being a Digital Travel Agency
In a market where online travel tools and information are abundant, travel agents must keep up with the latest trends and developments. When you’re working with a travel agency in Istanbul, the majority of your customers will have already done their research on the destinations they wish to visit. So, travel consultants should do their homework too!
Having a digital-native travel agency with a solid booking and planning infrastructure can be invaluable. Because digitalized travel agency can reorganize and reschedule plans. They do not get drowned in forwarding emails, and earn you time.
#5: Do They Have End-To-End Event Management Services?
When selecting a corporate travel agency in Istanbul, consider if they provide full-service. Do they offer incentive travel services? Do they have the expertise to assist you with your gala dinner? Are they experienced in event production?
Because we know that working with different travel agencies and vendors is quite a hassle. You need to plan your travel and event booking with one reliable agency. This way, you can plan the leisure time of your guests with another efficiently.
#6: Do They Have a Strong Background in Travel Industry?
An agency may have never been on a site inspection trip to Istanbul, and may have never had a personal vacation there. This is where the local agency comes in. A local agency that have been offering their services Istanbul for a long time. They have firsthand knowledge of it through past customers and interactions.
A travel agency that has a strong background in Istanbul will offer you its expertise. It will also have contacts that may be valuable in obtaining further benefits and favors in the future.
#7: How do they communicate?
Communication is synonymous with customer service. Everything else does not matter if the customer service is bad. In that case, that travel agency is not the correct one for you. Some of the first indicators to look for are things like response time.
· How long did it take the agent before responding to your initial email or phone call?
· When they call you, did they do any preliminary research on your inquiry?
· Or do they need to ask you any further qualifying questions?
A reputable travel agency in Istanbul would first get in touch with the client. They first try to understand clients needs and offer services accordingly. They also check to find out or offer any missing information that may have been overlooked.
Some travel experts will even include recommendations that may be helpful to you in your decision-making process. The ability to provide comfortable services may be obtained by staying in touch with a client from time to time. Keeping in touch will also be helpful for promoting new sales in the future.
And as a rule of thumb, they should offer customer service that will never make you and your guests feel alone. Right from the planning phase to the travel experience itself, your travel agent should be following up with you. Just like we do!
What makes Oskar Tours a leading Istanbul travel agency?
Our company offers a wide range of group travel and event services throughout the best locations of Istanbul. We deliver high-quality tailor-made services for all kinds of events and gatherings. Our guests can customize the content of any service depending on their needs.
Our extensive knowledge and passion about Istanbul identify our company as one of the best tour operators and travel agency in Turkey.
From incentive trips to private tours in Istanbul, we strive to deliver the best experience and provide with an excellent service.
What to do next?
Do you have questions in mind? Are you still looking for a travel agency in Istanbul for your next business trip, incentive travel, or luxury travel?
As Oskar Tours, we have been offering our services to our guests from all over the world for over a decade! Our passionate team is ready to deliver you an unforgettable experience in Istanbul. We ensure the satisfaction of our guests with our tailor-made event and luxury travel services. Tell us what you are looking for and we will deliver it right away!
Contact us now and we will be happy to clear all question marks floating in your mind and deliver you a non-binding quote!