DURING the open session on the final morning of the ABTA Convention in Cairns, a sweeping attack was made on tour operators.
It is only the vertically integrated operators that pose a threat and undercut offers available to agents or tell them that a holiday sold out while then miraculously conjuring up availability when phoned directly.
We at Mundi Color, and I am sure I speak for many members of the Association of Independent Tour Operators, could not live without our travel agent friends, nor would we want to. We work in full partnership with agents – if we offer vouchers as part-payment against a future holiday we make it a condition that they be used through agents through whom they booked.
Agents who query the ethics of some operators have a clear choice – direct your efforts to those you can trust.
Reinhard Wiersum, product development and marketing executive, Mundi Color, London