THE troubled franchise between Advantage and Airtours has effectively been scrapped amid a litany of broken promises, poor sales and in-house bickering.
But the two parties will attempt to rekindle a partnership under new commercial agreements involving the entire Advantage membership.
Advantage president Roger Smith said the deal will reunite the membership while Airtours insisted it will help increase sales through the consortium.
The new deal, struck during crisis talks involving Airtours UKLG chief executive Peter Rothwell, will see the enhanced commission levels of franchisees offered to all members.
Performance-related overrides will also be available for every travel agent along with a range of other benefits.
The franchise board, which included three senior managers from Airtours, will be wound up while the operator will no longer fund the marketing of the Advantage brand or develop technology for the consortium. It is also believed £3m invested by the operator in the franchise, which Advantage was due to pay back, has been written off.
In a further change, commission withheld from franchisees to pay for running costs, marketing and advertising, will now flow directly to agents. Smith denied the franchise had been wound up, insisting it was a new approach. He added a rethink was needed to stem a growing rift within the consortium.
“The way the franchise was developing and being funded created a division,” he said. “With the exception of UKLG products, the commissions for non-franchised agents were better than those of franchised members. Consequently we could not increase membership of the franchise.”
He said franchisees were frustrated at a percentage of commission being withheld to fund marketing and running costs of the operation.
Airtours, which drafted in Steve Kimber, managing director of Airtours-owned Cresta to sort out the crisis, said a united consortium will increase sales of UKLG products.
“Benefits, including enhanced commission opportunities, will be offered across the membership,” he said. “There are agents who have supported Airtours outside the franchise and we want to bring them into the fold.”
“We are investing around £300,000 to £400,000 in commercial activity and want to create a special relationship with Advantage,” added Kimber.
Franchise development director Andrew Williams and a team of regional sales development managers will continue to work with Advantage members. Airtours will remove its direct telephone number from the back of the brochure and replace it with a number directing customers to Advantage members.
Other new initiatives include the appointment of an Airtours Holidays key account manager for Advantage. Airtours will also carry out a brochure review to ensure agents are receiving brochures relevant to their local market.
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