Consortia will be forced into further consolidation as more agencies are forced out of business and in order to compete with the big two.
Speaking at the Global Travel Group conference in Manchester, Virgin Holidays sales and distribution director Chris Roe predicted Advantage and TTA Worldchoice would merge.
He added: “We are seeing two or three Abta agents go under each week. Advantage and Worldchoice have lost direction.”
Jet2holidays managing director Steve Heapy said further consolidation was “inevitable” as independent agents suffer from increased commercial pressures.
“The big two are getting bigger and stronger and that makes life more difficult for everyone else,” he added.
However, Travel 2 sales director Gordon McCreadie was more optimistic. He said agents were finding new ways of doing business, adding: “For every one agent that closes, three others open or agents go into homeworking.”