ARTAC Worldchoice is seeking urgent talks with a number of operators to renegotiate its commission levels now that it has been forced to have separate deals.
Previously, when it was an alliance partner with Carlson Worldchoice, the consortium had joint deals with Carlson for all operators. But following the merger between Carlson and Thomas Cook, ARTAC is now having to negotiate as a separate organisation for all but the major operators (Travel Weekly March 29).
ARTAC chairman Colin Heal said it made sense for ARTAC to work separately because Thomas Cook does not sell some of the operators that its members work with.
He claimed with many of the smaller operators, ARTAC had outsold Carlson so it would be better off under the new system.
But industry sources said ARTAC would have to settle for worse deals because it has lost the extra buying power of a multiple.
Heal: said ABTA’s plan to demand bonding from agents will cost the consortium £75,000