Advantage Travel Centres needs to become a more powerful lobbying force in the industry, according to its managing director John McEwan.
Speaking at the consortium’s Business Travel Conference in Amsterdam, he said Advantage has successfully established its brand and should now be taking a more active role within the travel industry.
“We need to be a more powerful voice,” he said. “We need to tackle issues such as airport security and the current negotiations between the airlines and GDSs.”
He said Advantage could not risk sitting back and allowing the airlines and GDS companies to have a “cosy cartel” and pass the costs on to agents.
“We need to be prepared to face the situation, which could bode badly for our members,” he said.
But Tony Stone, incoming chairman of Advantage’s Focus Partnership, said the consortium has already approached the airlines and the GDSs about the negotiations without success.
“We were met with the same rebuttle that the Guild of Travel Management Companies was met with. I think it’s a sad thing that the airlines and GDSs seem to have forgotten that there are four parties in this relationship – airlines, GDSs, agents and the end user.”
By Bev Fearis
