Travel agents in Mbeya:

Numerous Travel Agents and Tour Operators sell Kilimanjaro and Safari. Some of them live in Arusha. Some live in other parts of Tanzania and the world ,  they normally contract with the owner/operators in Tanzania. 

Let’s review the definition of each.

Travel Agents:  assist travelers by making travel arrangements such as transportation, accommodations, and tours. Often, Travel Agents have business relationships with tour operators that allow travelers to join groups and enjoy discounts and other special amenities.

Tour Operators: assemble the adventure, that is, they prepare the itinerary, arrange transportation, transfers, tours, and accommodations, often in a seamless way so that the client does not need to interact with each individual component of the adventure. Tour operators utilize, and depend upon, the service of a local representative whom actually conducts the service. Some remote Tour Operators send representatives with the tour, to ensure things run smoothly for their clients.

Owner/Operators:  are those organizations who actually own the facilities and equipment, and actually conduct the service. They tend to be local people; most knowledgeable of the tour/adventure. Often, they rely on remote agents to market their service and assemble bookings.

Given the above definitions, travelers tend to either:

• 1) Rely on remote Agents and Tour Operators to assemble their trips.
• 2) Assemble their own trips by contacting directly with such things as airlines, owner/operators, and lodging.
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In either case, when deciding with whom to book many travelers compare price, product, success rate, and how cool web sites look, to rate an operator.

Important additional considerations for you should be:

• 1) Budget vs. luxury,
• 2) Business history,
• 3) Middle-man vs. owner
• 4) Local connections.