The ABTA Convention highlighted to me a growing problem within our industry between the two key sectors, operators and agents.
There seems to be an underlying mistrust of one another by both parties – agents believe operators are trying to steal their customers by encouraging direct bookings with larger telephone numbers on brochures and customer discounts, while some operators see agents as little more than a brochure pick-up point who book their product by default rather than design.
There seems to be valid arguments from both sides, but not too many from either side are trying to rectify the situation constructively.
The irrefutable facts are we need each other, but at the same time, nobody owes anybody a living.
What we actually need is positive dialogue to rebuild trust and confidence in each other, the dynamics of each other’s business need to be recognised and understood.
This is where we at Advantage Travel Centres have been working hard to develop the partnerships between operators and agents, by getting an undertaking of support from each side to the other’s benefit.
What we want to do is engender a greater recognition by each other to work more closely together, understanding the concerns and issues and then seeing how we can build interdependent and trusted partnerships.
The relationships we are building with our suppliers are more than just commission driven. Both sides need to make a commitment.
That is why we are working on our Integrity Partnership scheme.
We expect a level of commitment from operators. In return, operators can expect our members’ support of their product in deed, not just word.
The travel agent can no longer expect to make demands while offering no guarantee of commitment in return. Suppliers cannot expect support as a right just because they produce a brochure.
While the travel market has been growing naturally, the relationship between agent and supplier has been taken for granted. But as the growth patterns slow and alternative distribution methods threaten the traditional travel agency network, operators will be looking for more value out of their agency partners. It is up to agents to offer that value in cost-effective distribution.
Operators are spending large sums setting up telesales units when the call-centre network is already in place – they are called travel agents.