Balkan Holidays has come under fire for cutting commission and offering enhanced savings online.
The Bulgaria specialist defended an online discount increase from 7.5% to 10% as a temporary weekend promotion and insisted commission levels were “on a par with the rest of the industry” after an agent reported a cut from 16% to 13.5%.
Andrew Earle, owner of Andrew Earle’s World of Travel, has written to the operator calling for it to stop discounting online.
He said: “Increasing the online discount seems like a deliberate move to get more direct business and it makes it very difficult for us to promote Balkan Holidays.
“My post-Christmas campaign won’t involve promotional work with Balkan Holidays.”
Earle also highlighted Balkan’s decision to offer online affiliates – who offer click-throughs to Balkan – 3% commission on the price paid. He added: “This is more than I’d earn if I matched the online price.”
Rupert Diggins, sales and marketing manager of Balkan Holidays, said: “Balkan Holidays recently ran a weekend initiative on its website, but this has now finished.
“We do not disclose details of individual commercial deals. We remain confident the commission levels we offer are very much on a par with the rest of the industry.”
Freedom Travel Group members are understood to be among those affected by the cuts. However, Advantage said its commercial arrangements with Balkan were unchanged.