| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 28/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 10 |
| Copyright: Other |
Letter of the week
Don’t believe all the hype…
I AM constantly amazed at the naivete of travel agents regularly displayed in your Letters page. We constantly hear complaints of excessive discounting. If brochures were stocked in local libraries they would be listed under fiction – I am not talking about hotel descriptions here, I refer to prices.The astronomically high brochure prices have been created to enable tour operators to be able to give ‘fantastic discounts’ of 20% to 30% on an almost constant basis.
Tour operators have learnt well from the double glazing industry on how to hoodwink the public on costings. We also read constant complaints about excessively early brochure launches. It has, of course, nothing to do with tour operators wishing to get early bookings – it’s all to do with cancellation charges.
The earlier the public can be conned into booking, the greater the number who will have to cancel. With deposits at an amazing £110 per person, retention of deposits on cancellations has become the major profit centre for many tour operators.
I am glad travel agents have some way to go before becoming as cynical as tour operators but Iwould have thought that most could have spotted the truth beyond the hype in these more obvious cases.
Early launches, discounting, excessive deposits are all here to stay, and as for bogus ticket-on-departure charges, well…
R Hudson, West Bridgford, Nottingham