A case ofmistakenidentity

I really enjoydoing businesswith Jetset

AFTER absorbing SirTrevor’s Holiday Haggleswith my team, we concludedthat we didn’t really carewhat the programme had tosay about travel agents.

Where does Trev get his information from? Servicecomes with a price. As I amsure all your readers knowonly too well, agents offerknowledge and customerservice levels that matchthose of any other industry.

Travel has gone throughso much over the last fewyears, so a few negativecomments by Trevor is water off a duck’s back.

Oh, and thanks forshowing it on Friday – wehad a fantastic Saturday.

Paul Smithdirector, Quartz Travel, York

Vocationalskills are vitalto the industry

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31NEWSTRAVEL TRADE GAZETTE www.ttglive.com 28 January 2005

30

Letters

WHAT DO YOU THINK?Please include your name, job title andcompany address. These will be withheld onrequest. We reserve the right to edit letters.

ttgletters@cmpinformation.comFax: 020 7921 8033Post: Travel Trade Gazette, Floor 7, LudgateHouse, 245 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 9UY

I’M FED-UP with the general disregardshown towards agents – a problem typifiedby the tone of last week’s Tonight withTrevor McDonald: Holiday Hagglesprogramme (TTG January 21).

As a branch manager of a leadingmultiple, I seem to spend all my timehelping my consultants close sales. Somedays I feel like a market trader trying to sellmy wares.

Customers no longer appreciate the hardwork and passion that most consultants putinto finding them a holiday. All they areinterested in these days is getting theirholiday for the cheapest possible price,regardless of quality. They don’t care that

they never see the person who is bookingtheir trip, or that they have no idea wheretheir tickets are coming from. All they see isthe bottom line.

I’ve even hadcustomers in my shopusing mobile phones toget direct-sell quotes,and then trying to play usoff against each other.

Sir Trevor did little tohelp this situation.

Anne O’Donovan branch manager, Thomas Cook, Chatham

I NOTE that Ray Webster ofeasyJet thinks travel agentsare “parasites” in his assess-ment of the British Airwayscommission cuts.

He does not, however,complain about agents usinghis airline when puttingpackages together, whichthey then sell direct to thepublic. Webster should notunderestimate the numberof agents who are supportingeasyJet in this way.

What is totallyunacceptable to operators,however, is the fact thateasyJet is openly advertisingski holiday “packages”. Hiscompany is well aware that a package is required by lawto include full financialprotection, with thecompany selling such apackage required to take full responsibility for everyaspect of the package.

Yet easyJet has no bond in place, and no one takesultimate responsibility forthe overall arrangements.

How is the consumerexpected to differentiatebetween package holidaysthat comply with regulationsand those that don’t?

While companies such aseasyJet take advantage ofloopholes in the system in

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Not Tonight, Trevor –haggling hints giveagents a real headache

EasyJet’s ‘parasite’ jibedoes airline no favours

TRAVEL TRADE GAZETTE UK & Ireland EditionWHO WE AREJohn Welsh 8005Editor

NEWS TEAM

Lucy Huxley 8008News editor

Robin Searle 8001Deputy news editor (leisure travel/operators)

Gary Noakes 8010Reporter (aviation/business and finance)

Louise Prior 8009Reporter (leisure travel/cruise)

Finian Davern 8006Reporter (business travel)

Justin Rahman 8011Reporter

Samantha Mayling Chief correspondent (on maternity leave)

Linda FoxReporter (on maternity leave)

FRONTLINE AND DESTINATIONS

Debbie Ward 8004Features editor

Rob Gill 8003Deputy features editor

Dan Uglow 8038Reporter

SUPPLEMENTS AND GUIDES

Adam Coulter 8007Editor

EDITORIAL PRODUCTION

Mike Walsh 8013Chief sub-editor

Darron Kirkby 8018Deputy chief sub-editor

Julian Cresswell 8016Art editor

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Fiona Pettitt 8005Editorial secretaryfpettit@cmpinformation.com

COMMERCIAL/ADVERTISING TEAM

Paula Martin 8026Commercial manager

Caroline Jones 8029 Sales supportcaroline.jones@cmpinformation.com

Deborah Dewe 8025Deputy advertising manager

Lisa Hopgood 8028Key account manager

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RECRUITMENT AND CLASSIFIED

Craig McQuinn 8019Recruitment and classified manager

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ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION

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PUBLISHER

Ben Greenish 8084Publishing director

STAR

LETTER

NUMBER 2650

The Star Letter is sponsored by Holiday Brokers, the dynamic packaging firm which provides agents with a search engine for low-cost flights and quality accommodation in more than 38 destinations, including ski resorts and cities. It also

works with resort transfer operator Holiday Taxis. The Star Letter wins £25 worth of Agent Points or a bottle of champagne

I WOULD like to praise theefficient way Jetset dealtwith a recent inquiry.

They responded verypromptly, with an acceptableprice and two options.

Seats were held while Iconsulted with the client,and as soon as I emailedJetset with the customer’schoice, they finalisedeverything in double time.

I wish all operators wereas efficient. Thanks, Jetset,for making my life easier.

Jean Youngowner, Genie Travel, Lancing, W Sussex

JOHN HARDING was beingunfair when he describedagents as “headless chickens” at a recent Londonevent hosted by marketingbody Cimtig.

The best agents areembracing the continuingchanges in consumer

I WAS slightly worried to seemy name below a pictureaccompanying your reporton the job losses at the Co-operative Travel TradingGroup (TTG January 14).

I assume it was a mereprinting error that lead tomy name appearing below

THE INDEPENDENT SchoolsCouncil claims league tableswill become “useless” if thegovernment goes ahead withproposals to take vocationalqualifications into accountalongside GCSEs.

While we do not questionthe importance of academicskills, we must recognisethat vocational skills areequally vital to the success of our economy. We cannotafford to continue to treatthem as the poor relation of traditional academicdisciplines.

People 1st, licensed by the government to ensuretraining and qualificationsare driven by employerneeds, has undertakenresearch which shows thatnearly half of employers inthe hospitality, leisure, andtravel and tourism sectorsbelieve recruiting goodpeople is their primarychallenge. A staggering 85%do not believe the schoolsystem adequately preparespeople for work.

If we want an effectiveworkforce, vocationallearning must be a part ofthe way schools are judged.Indeed, if the TomlinsonReview is implemented,vocational learning will forma much greater part of ournational curriculum and be placed on a par withacademic disciplines.

Too few children are ableto start on a vocational path

booking trends and lookingfor new ways to service theircustomers. That is why thereis so much focus on dynamicpackaging as the way forward for our sector.

The view that agentsshould be the servants of theoperators is outdated. Yes,we must continue to workwith operators to supportthe industry as a whole – ourresearch shows that demandfor package holidays remainsstrong. But if we ignore the demand for dynamicpackaging, retail agents will lose custom to othersales channels.

Any retail organisationmust be customer focused.As the cliche goes – theyalways come first.

Alistair Rowlandhead of retail distribution, United Co-op Travel Group

WHEN I saw the trailers for Holiday Haggles, I wasintrigued to see what advicewould be on offer.

Sadly, it came as nosurprise that Martin Lewissuggested finding a suitablepackage with a high streetagent, then playing one offagainst the other to get arock-bottom price.

What was a surprise was his recommendation of taking the lowest pricewithout giving any warningsover the security of thecompany taking your money.

It is all very well takingadvantage of the free advicefrom the knowledgeableGoing Places staff beforebuying from a home-basedagent. They may be cheaper,but what happens when the agent goes under andcustomers discover theywere not Abta bonded?Agents have got enough todeal with without this kindof advice, Trevor.

Neil Smithsenior applications consultant businessapplications, MyTravel UK, Rochdale

Agentsare not‘headless’

at school. The result issevere skills shortages across crucial sectors.

Tim Sinclairsales and marketing director, People 1st, Uxbridge

WE AND our fellowmembers within AitoSpecialist Travel Agentsare somewhat bemused byeasyJet’s recent Ryanair-liketirade against travel agents.

So Ray Webster thinksagents are “parasites”?Turning to a thesaurus forclarification, we wereinterested to read thatparasites are leeches orbloodsuckers; socialparasites are hangers-on,scroungers, sycophants, freeloaders, cadgers, toadies and– wait for it – passengers.Presumably easyJet stillneeds passengers to fill itsplanes, whether they bookdirect or via a travel agent?

The best response to thisranting is, we think, to pointout that many Aito agentsare making more scheduledairline bookings than everbefore, and that even leisure

the full knowledge that they are bamboozling theconsumer, it seemsextremely hypercritical of itto criticise agents and rivalairlines in this way.

Noel Josephidesmanaging director, Sunvil Holidays, Isleworth, Middlesex

clients are happy to pay a fee for the benefit of ourexpertise, financial protectionand help in navigating themaze of websites.

For Aito agents, it is allpart of the caring service we offer – we want ourcustomers to return and totell their friends and familiesabout us. We would hazard a guess that Webster isless concerned with highservice levels than we are,which is a shame. He ismissing a key component inthe armoury of switched-on21st-century companies.

Whatever caused thisventing of spleen abouttravel agents, biting thehand that feeds you doesn’tmake sense. Perhaps wecould invite you, Ray, tocome and meet some of theUK’s best independent travelagents at the Aito SpecialistTravel Agents overseasconference in June? Wethink you might have to eatyour words – and perhaps alittle humble pie.

Andrew Brownrigg chairman, AITO Specialist Travel Agents andmanaging director, Haslemere TravelKristina Hulmepanel member, AITO Specialist Travel Agentsand managing director, Travel by Design

Mike Beaumont’s picture.Either that or I have hadsome dramatic plastic surgery.

On a serious note, wehave been able to redeploystaff to new roles already. Ican assure you that themeasures we have takenhave been made purely on a cost-cutting basis. Anyobservations of “unrest” aretotally incorrect.

I would also like to placeon record my sincere thanksto Mike Beaumont and JaneCarty – and their respectiveteams – for their excellent

achievements while workingfor CTTG over the past twoyears.

Mike Greenacrechief operating officer, CTTG, Stoke on Trent

THE ITV Holiday Hagglesprogramme was a huge disappointment. It misrepre-sented the hard work manyretailers put in to lookingafter their customers.

A fairer concept wouldhave been to show peoplehow to buy the best holidays– not simply the cheapest.

The programme merelyencouraged customers to tryto squeeze more out of theirretailers.

Perhaps quality makeslittle difference to the £99bargain hunters who do notreally care where they stayor how they get there.

But for those looking forholidays that really meettheir expectations, a retailercan play a very importantrole. How many clients wanta service, information onchildren’s facilities, bettervalue, luxury without anexorbitant price tag or acruise that really suits?

Tonight producers reallygot it wrong.

Mathilde Robertmanaging director, Planet Holidays, Barnet

MONEYSAVING expertMartin Lewis obviously hadfew morals when it came todishing out advice on theTrevor McDonald programme.

I was extremely irritatedto hear a so-called people’schampion advocating thatagents should be played off against each other. Histheory depends on the firstagent approached having todo all the groundwork fornothing, and I found thistotal lack of respect for thepeople in our industryparticularly galling.

I pity the agents whoseconvenient locations make it easy for people to followLewis’s advice, although Isuspect that most of themare sufficiently well-trainedand experienced torecognise this type of client,

LIKE MANY of your readers,I too watched Tonight withTrevor McDonald last Fridayevening. And, like many, my initial feelings were a mixture of anger and disappointment that the programme so obviously had an anti-agent agenda.

However, before we getcaught up in adopting aposture of hurt pride andanger, we should assess ifthe programme actuallypointed out anything new?

The consumer has alwaysshopped around for the bestdeal, be it for food, holidays,cars or furniture. The mostsuccessful retailers knowthat price is only onecomponent of the overallsale. The key is in the levelof customer service.

My advice to fellowretailers is to build yourbusiness with the focus onguarding your customer baseas the asset it truly is. If wecontinue with our excellentcustomer service andcompetitive pitching, wehave nothing to fear fromprogrammes such as Tonightwith Trevor McDonald.

John McEwanmanaging director, Advantage

and know not to waste toomuch time or divulge toomuch of their knowledge.

The treatment ofmainstream packageholidays as a commodity is the reason why manyindependents, ourselvesincluded, are no longeractively marketing them.

When I tried to addfeedback to the ITVwebsite, I was referred toLewis’s own site – where Inoticed that a couple ofhomeworkers are actuallyexploiting the chat forum to their own advantage.

Geoff Dykesmanaging partner, Peregrination, Manchester