TRITON has vowed to start supplier negotiations with a “clean slate” to go beyond previous deals as it unveils a rewards scheme for members.
Bosses of the commercial buying group made up of Worldchoice, Global Travel Group and Advantage claim negotiations with suppliers will represent a radical new approach as well as being more extensive than previous commercial relationships, based on incentives, commissions and technology.
The pledge comes as Triton unveiled Advantage Rewards, which went live this week and allows Advantage members to earn points by selling preferred suppliers. The scheme will be rolled out to all members next month following talks with suppliers, starting at the end of this month.
Global founder George Begg said: “Our first question to suppliers will be: ‘How can we help you?’ We want to be more proactive.”
Advantage managing director John McEwan said by identifying suppliers’ needs, such as driving more early sales, a win-win situation could develop. “We want to understand what Triton can do and we want our preferred relationships to go beyond conventional commercial relationships.”
All three have pledged to put past problems – such as those between Worldchoice and First Choice – behind them. Worldchoice chairman Colin Heal added: “We want to be real partners. We’re not saying ‘We are Triton and we expect more commission.’”
McEwan put paid to speculation about deals with the big four.
He said: “It could be we work with all the big four. We may work with individual companies slightly differently depending on their needs, but all the big four will need some third-party support.”
Triton will tier members, rather than operators doing it. Begg added: “We will tier members according to performance. At the moment, operators determine this. This is a fundamental change.”
Although agents will not be prevented from dealing directly with suppliers, all communication will need to go through head office