Global under fire over conference charges

GLOBAL Travel Group has come under fire for the amount of money it wants operators to pay to attend its overseas conference.

A select group of 40 tour operators have been invited to pay sponsorship money to help fund the conference, which takes place on March 25-27 at the Elysium Beach Resort in Paphos, Cyprus.

But the costs, which start at £4,000 for Bronze sponsorship rising to £20,000 for Platinum, have been criticised by smaller operators for being too high. Last year Bronze sponsorship was £1,750. Silver sponsorship has risen from £5,000 to £7,500.

Jewel in the Crown Holidays sales director Paul Cowley said: “I can’t afford £4,000. There are a lot of smaller operators like us for whom money is tight.

“For three days away, £4,000 is a lot of money and it won’t stop there. There will be additional expenses on top.”

Cowley alleged various operators had been given reduced rates from the official price tags making a “mockery of the whole thing”.

“As a preferred supplier, why should I have to start negotiating to reduce the price?” he said.

Peltours sales and marketing manager Darren Panto said: “Demands are being made on operators that are quite simply unrealistic.”

Independent Options business development director Sue Foxall said she had limited the number of operators to stop industry “hangers-on” attending.

She said £4,000 was not a lot of money when operators would be surrounded by “wall-to-wall” agents. About 300 Global members are expected to attend.