Suppliers risk losing preferred status with Advantage after a survey found just over a third fully support agents.
Operators will be categorised based on their responses to the survey’s 18 questions, with suppliers earning up to five ticks. Agents will be able to see how many ticks operators have been awarded when they make a booking.
Commercial director Julia Lo Bue-Said said: “The survey was not run to attack operators. But some operators are not giving us the full potential to deliver business. It is almost inevitable some will not feature at the status they have now.”
Advantage will hold talks with operators based on the survey, which covered direct marketing, commercial deal, training and support, and brochures.
In total 35% of operators were considered “whiter than white”. The biggest problem area was direct marketing, in which only 59% of operators were deemed agent-friendly compared to 64% for commercial, 89% for training, and 66% for brochures.
Key findings show 40% of suppliers who do not offer the same discounts to agents as consumers give average discounts of more than 20%. Discounts are up to 5% for 47% of suppliers and up to 10% for 13% of suppliers.
Lo Bue-Said said: “It’s a big issue. We’ll look at how frequently there are discounts of 20% and why it’s necessary.”
The survey showed 34% of operators who discount direct to consumers – 47% of those surveyed – did not offer the same deals to agents with the commission protected.
The survey, completed by 110 of 120 preferred suppliers, may run annually – and even become part of commercial talks.
Meanwhile, Triton Travel Group will give an award for the most agent-friendly operator as voted for by member at its May conference.