| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 29/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 5 |
| Copyright: Other |
Advantage to set targets for members
Advantage held its 2000 conference in Hammamet, Tunisia.Steve Jones reports
ADVANTAGE Travel Centres is expected to start setting individual targets for members in an attempt to improve sales of preferred operators.The move followed the unveiling of a new commercial deal with Airtours UK Leisure Group, which provides all Advantage members with the same terms.
Commercial manager Julia Lo Bue-Said warned agents during a speech at the Advantage conference in Tunisia, that they risk punishments for not toeing the line.
Commercial police – officially called merchandisers – will also be employed to ensure promises of racking space, in-store promotion and window displays are not broken.
“Within the next 12 months, we will recommend action which should be taken by operators who are not receiving a justifiable amount of business from individual members,” she told delegates.
“We do appreciate the anxiety and frustrations you face as suppliers.”
Later, Lo Bue-Said revealed Advantage is looking at individual targets but denied fines would be imposed for not hitting targets. Instead, they are likely to have commission reduced and marketing support withdrawn.
Describing the need to work together as “imperative”, Lo Bue-Said rallied members to pull together.
“Our success is determined by each individual member supporting our commercial and marketing initiatives,” she said.
But Lo Bue-Said also criticised operators and announced plans to name and shame operators who do not pay promptly.
Afterwards, Advantage president Roger Smith said late payments is a major problem for agents. “We will write to every one of our members telling them of operators who have not paid up within three months,” he said. He denied it was a thinly disguised tactic urging agents not to stop selling offending operators.
“We cannot tell members not to sell a product. We’re just informing them of the situation,” he said.
Advantage is believed to have recently received one payment dating back to 1998.
Other demands on operators include the Advantage re-route number on brochures, guaranteed brochure supplies, commission share on direct bookings and marketing funds.
n For further Advantage coverage, see page 20 and Cutting Edge page 78
Lo Bue-Said: warned agents to toe the line on improving the sales of preferred operators or face being named and shamed