British Airways Holidays managing director Roger Heape has branded multiples as car showrooms for their in-house tour operators and has called on the Office of Fair Trading to act now over transparency.
His comments came as Heape was presented with the coveted Odyssey award for outstanding contribution to the industry at the annual Institute of Travel and Tourism dinner.
Speaking about the huge consolidation sparked by the outcome of the 1997 Monopolies and Mergers Commission report, Heape said: “I rather naively thought it was the job of the MMC to prevent the development of monopolies, not encourage them.
“The basis of the business is changing fundamentally. To describe the major multiples as travel agents is skirting close to a trade descriptions’ offence. They are distributors, like car showrooms, the only difference being that they do not tell you which franchise they represent.
“It is time the OFT came back with strict requirements to make sure there is transparency of ownership for the consumer.”
Heape also called on the independent sector to unite behind one body to tackle the increasing consolidation.
The single European currency is also a threat, he added, claiming it was crucial the pound enters at the right level.
“Too high a level and we lock Great Britain into forever being a high-priced destination for Europeans. Too low and it is bad news for Britons going abroad,” he said.