Co-op travel agents to strike deal with First Choice

THE CO-OPERATIVE Travel Trading Group is close to striking a commission cuts-busting deal with First Choice Holidays.

The news was announced at the annual conference for Freedom Travel Group agents, part of United Co-op Travel Group. It follows a breakdown in relations between CTTG and Thomson Holidays following the tour operator’s decision to slash commission to travel agents in November.

Freedom Travel Group general manager Trevor Davis said CTTG signed new deals with Thomas Cook and Airtours in the last fortnight and was confident negotiations would soon be completed with First Choice.

He said the First Choice deal would buck the trend of recent commission cuts. Davis said: “We don’t do business with people who offer 8% commission because you can’t make money out of them. Even at 10%, it is difficult to make money because of the overheads.”

CTTG chief operating officer Mike Greenacre said the deal was being struck for the group as a whole. “We are having positive discussions with First Choice.

“As an independent group, we want to offer a wide choice of product. At the moment, with just two vertically integrated operators signed up, we can’t offer that much choice.”

He added the group had looked beyond commercial terms. “There are so many relationships based purely on how much commissions people earn and they don’t look at the long-term,” he said.

Since the start of the year, Freedom Travel Group has taken 51% more Airtours clients, while numbers for First Choice and Thomas Cook have increased by 19% and 17% respectively. Thomson, however, is down 21%.