NEW MyTravel commercial director Steve Endacott has warned in-house
agents will have to prove they add value to the distribution chain in order to
survive in the long term.
Endacott, who recently claimed agents were nothing more than “brochure
warehouses” (Travel Weekly March 18), has pledged to spend his first six months
in the job concentrating on the basics of the business.
Although the founder of Holidays By Phone maintained the group’s retail
network was the right size, he has not ruled out shop closures in the longer
term.
“I think travel agencies are very useful as long as they add value. As
soon as they stop adding value we will shut them,” he said.
“I don’t know if any Going Places shops are just brochure warehouses,
but if they are, they will have to change.”
Endacott has criticised travel agents in the past for not keeping in
touch with customers and they are likely to come under pressure to improve
repeat visitor levels. He insisted MyTravel bosses were aware of his views and
agreed with most of them.
“They just want me to implement them,” he said.
Due to start his new job at the end of next month, Endacott confirmed he
would be looking to bring new staff on board but would not be drawn on
potential job cuts.
“I have a budget to recruit who I want but first I want to make sure it
is a focused and motivated team. I will concentrate on developing people
internally and balancing that with recruitment,” he said.
“I want to concentrate on the basics, which are buying, packaging,
pricing and selling. The fancy stuff can wait.
“I intend to spend the first two hours of every day in the yield
department to ensure we make every penny we can,” Endacott said.
He said there were no plans to make immediate changes and strategic partnerships
with JMC and First Choice would remain in place.
It is widely acknowledged that MyTravel has “lost its way” in recent
months, mismanaging its seats-to-beds ratio and selling flight-only too cheap
too early because of a lack of experience and support at a senior level.
Endacott, who worked at Airtours from 1990 to 1997, admitted he left
because he could not get the job of managing director of Airtours Holidays.
“I had a talented boss called Peter Rothwell and he
was in my way,” he said.