Worldchoice and Global Travel Group members have slammed the exit of Advantage as another blow for the Triton Travel Group.
Agents said the news that Advantage boss John McEwan would depart as chairman of Triton had come as no surprise.
The relevance of Triton was already called into question at its conference in April and the departure of Advantage has been seen as another setback for the superconsortium.
Rendezvous Travel director and Worldchoice member Gabi Birbeck said: “If it is only us and Global, then I don’t see Triton lasting long. This is the beginning of the end.”
Advantage members welcomed the decision and backed chief executive McEwan, who was accused by Global Travel Group chief executive Andrew Botterill of not fully committing to Triton.
Sandy Travel owner Sandra Murray was confident the consortium could stand on its own.
She said: “We’re a power to be reckoned with. Advantage was good before and it will be even better now.”
Barrhead Travel founder Bill Munro said there were too many differences between Advantage and the other consortia for the group to work together.
“Big is not always beautiful. There are fundamental differences between Global and Advantage. There is nothing wrong with either, but it made no sense for them to be integrated.”