Fundamentally, travel agents live or die based on the quality of their suppliers. And while some have taken advantage of modern technologies to cut out middlemen and source product direct, many still rely on good trade-friendly operators.
So it was impossible this week to find anyone who was negative about the news that Gold Medal was back in independent hands having been sold by Thomas Cook.
Even agents such as Hays Travel, which has evolved its businesses away from being reliant on such third parties, said what a positive sign the deal was for the UK travel industry.
Some agents had moved away from Gold Medal after Thomas Cook bought it. But now its new owner, Dubai-based Dnata – which bought Travel Republic in 2011 – has promised to invest in Gold Medal and to make independent agents a cornerstone of its considerable growth plans.
That’s music to our ears here at Travel Weeklyand, while there are already many fantastic operators who support agents, we believe the more the merrier.
Flood is too close for comfort
As I write this, a colleague is at home, piling up sandbags and moving furniture upstairs having evacuated his children to the safety of his parents’ home.
Hopefully, few of you are as badly affected by the flooding, but we know some of you have had problems. Thankfully, reports of any damaging impact on travel businesses seem few and far between. Let’s hope that continues as we want the country to dry out, not bookings to dry up