On the evidence of last week’s conference in Portugal, Advantage is heading for a split between the 350 members which have signed up for the franchise with Airtours and those which haven’t.
At the conference, there was tension between the two camps and the difference is only going to get bigger.
A key point is availability of product. During peak periods, non-franchise members won’t have the same access to available holidays as franchisees.
Meanwhile, Going Places deputy managing director Paul Evans is going round renegotiating for franchise members. I may have done him a disservice a few weeks ago when I said he will get 18% off specialist operators – many are paying more. That’s great for franchise members but the flip side is that those specialists won’t have much left to pay non-franchise members.
I believe Advantage’s management expects a split because it didn’t do much to try to prevent one at the conference. President Roger Smith sent out the wrong message to non-franchise members when he said they could join the franchsie for ú3,000, but this “could change at any time”.
Meanwhile, news of a separate conference for franchise members hardly bodes well for unity.
I’ll hold my hands up if I’m wrong, but Ithink it’s time for Advantage’s non-franchise members to either join the franchise or look elsewhere.
Jeremy Skidmore – editor