Nowhere is it written that a parent’s holiday wish list should only contain other people’s dream gifts. What are you hoping for this Christmas? We asked a few of the parents we’ve met in this space over the past year what one thing belongs on their wish list. Mike Biewenga runs Chicagodads.com, a networking site for local dads. He has a toddler and a newborn at home, so his wish involves, understandably, sleep. I wish that not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, but who knows what goes through their heads? I read the right story, they sat on my lap. Finally…I could get a long winter’s nap! No such luck, there’s the usual clatter.

I flop out of bed to see what the matter is.”Janet Penley is a parenting coach and author of “MotherStyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths.” Her wish makes us want to stand up and cheer.”I wish that supporting our country’s mothers would be considered as patriotic as supporting our troops. Every day about 35 million mothers dutifully tend to the needs of our next generation, changing diapers, making sandwiches and drying tears. For their efforts, they earn no pay and little recognition. Yet without their service and dedication, our society would scarcely be worth defending. Maybe we should start thinking of mothers as our ‘home-front soldiers.’

What affects the travel agent today more than anything else is, arguably, his loss of position as the sole information and distribution channel for airline tickets, hotel packages and several other travel products. Gone are the days when we, as travel agents, used to ‘control’ the tourism industry. Today, the biggest challenge is posed by the growth of the Internet, followed by the reduction in airline commissions and the increasing popularity of credit cards and e-payment gateways, which have further weakened the travel agents’ standing in the industry. The scenario has changed now as airlines are decreasing their dependence on travel agents as a distribution system. Simply put, the airlines are taking advantage of a system that has made zero commissions inevitable - The Internet.

A travel agency selling air travel today has little to look forward to in the overall scheme of the airline distribution. With the advent of the Low Cost Carriers (LCCs), which have now to some degree achieved success by marketing the product online for the customers, the online system is finally gaining ground in India. The online system will not take too long to become the preferred channel of distribution for all the tourism-related service providers - be it hospitality or aviation. But then, the most interesting thing is that despite the availability of Internet-based alternatives, most customers still prefer to deal with travel agents.

The most important reason for their continuing popularity, believe 90 per cent of travel agents, is their industry knowledge that helps them offer clients the best travel packages. The key lies in the comfort level that clients share with traditional travel agents. Besides reliability, the clients believe that travel agents will provide them with the best prices for their tours.