A TOTAL of 27 suppliers have been selected as members of the Truly Independent Professional Travel Organisation – but there are five places still available.
Founder and Cadogan Holidays managing director Gary David said applications for the five remaining categories – ski, Channel Islands, ferry, UK holidays and boating holidays – would be welcomed. However, he plans to go ahead and launch TIPTO on September 1 with the existing line-up.
David said there were very few companies not owned by major tour operators or travel agency chains that might be suitable for the vacant slots.
“Inghams is possibly thinking about the ski category, but hasn’t applied,” he said.
Altogether, 42 applications to join TIPTO were received, with the most hotly contested slots being the US, Canada, Cyprus, Greece and city breaks.
Cyplon Holidays is believed to one of the tour operators which failed to get a place. However, David refused to say which companies had been rejected.
“Where there was an operator that was the clear market leader, I went for that one. If there were two companies competing on an even keel, I made my choice on a first-come, first-served basis,” he explained.
David claimed the number and calibre of applications received had vindicated his original idea to set up TIPTO.
“Everyone slagged it off and cast doubts. The Association of Independent Tour Operators said I wouldn’t get 20 operators putting their hands in their pockets and paying £25,000 each,” said David.
Out of the 27 founding members of TIPTO, only seven are also AITO members – David’s own company Cadogan, Travelscene, Somak Holidays, Citalia, Amathus, Manos Holidays and Keycamp.
Meanwhile, David claimed he had not decided whether to put himself forward for election as chairman of TIPTO at the first meeting on July 2.
“There are several good people in there, including the present chairman of ABTA’s Tour Operators’ Council and a past one,” he said.